I’ve decommissioned my Apple TVs but will dig one out and connect it up to investigate what’s happening.
Apple TV 4K (original one)
tvOS 17.0 -
-
Plex app - version 8.26 – had the expected pause while starting playback
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Plex app - version 8.30 (7668) – Almost instantaneous start of playback. “couldn’t get my finger off the button fast enough” fast starting TV and movies
tvOS update -
- Old version - 17.0 - 21J354
- New version - 17.3 - 21K646
I tried multiple ways (long play , double tap, triple tap, etc) to get it start paused.
I can’t repro this:
For confirmation:
Model: A1842 (32GB)
tvOS: 17.3 (21K646) - with reboot after update
Res: 2160p UHD - 60Hz YCbCr 4:2:0 (I run the appletv menus as SDR)
What am I missing?
Which video and audio engines are you using?
I know that the issue disappears if you disable the new version of one of them. (I think it’s the new audio engine that’s the culprit but can’t double check til I get home.) I’m pretty sure it’s codec related also.
Engine ?
Might you mean CODEC ?
- HEVC, H.264, and MPEG2 - CODEC
- 2160p, and 1080p resolution
- Audio CODECS: TrueHD, AC-3 5.1, DTS, and Stereo
can you show me how to recreate the fault ?
I believe the member is pointing to the Old Player in the Plex app
Ohhh… all this terminology can be confusing 
Fortunately, my setup does not exhibit this issue.
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As @SE56 mentions, I don’t mean codecs allthough I believe they do play a part.
Plex Apple TV settings
Use Old Video Player.
Use Old Audio Player.
I was just curious ihow you had those two settings toggled.
Given I have mostly H264 and H265 media, I don’t use the old player.
(It was really rough). I use the new player.
I will retest with the old player.
I will say this; there’s a reason it’s the “old player” (pre-mpv based).
I tested and now I remember … (sorry, it’s been a while)
The work began when the ATV 4K was known (it would be coming).
We quickly learned -
-
Playing any 4K using the old players has problems.
Either the video can’t keep up with demand
-or-
The built in audio didn’t understand the newer codecs.While OK for older content , it wasn’t going to be sufficient for the targeted media (4K/2160p)
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The new player was created to address that.
-
Since then, they’ve started another effort to go further (because of DoVi, AV1, etc). I don’t know anything about any new development other than they are working on something. When I know, I’ll be able to share but that’s all I know at this time.
To ask about the old player starting playback in the “Stopped” state ?
I was able to recreate it.
I will ask but because I can’t recreate the error using the new (default) player, I don’t know how they’ll handle it.
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Correct Chuck as I only use the Newer Player without it pausing. Good to hear there is some intended progress with player development on ATV.
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Sadly though although the solution would seem to be to use the new audio player that wouldn’t be a solution for anyone using HomePods or any other airplay capable speakers. At least one Plex employee reproduced the issue that within a couple of minutes the audio will go mute indefinitely. That was around September/October last year if I recall.
This doesn’t happen using the old audio player, so for some it’s catch 22.
So again an ability to switch video and especially audio players on the fly (via the dropdown where we can select audio track, subtitles etc…) would be a great compromise. As someone who also owns AirPods which actually requires the new audio player it’s just too much hassle.
I use Infuse mostly because I have to and not because I want to.
The issue I have is almost completely different to what this most recent discussion has covered. I watch content in Plex (8.31 Build Number 7809) on my ATV4K 3rd Gen (tvOS 17.3 Build Number 21K646) with AirPods Pro 2 connected. No matter if its H264 or H265 content at 1080p or 4K resolution, some videos will always start in a paused state and cannot be forced to start by scrolling forward/backward or play/pause. New Video Player and New Audio Engine enabled. My understanding is that it’s got something to do with the New Audio Engine. If I switch to the Old Audio Engine I don’t experience the issue, but then I lose Spatial Audio (Multichannel or Spatialised Stereo) which is a main feature of the AirPod line and Plex is capable of. I can also go to Playback Settings while the video is paused and select Convert Automatically which will maintain Spatial Audio in the connected AirPods, but that means I’m constantly having to transcode 1080p and 4K video in instances where I should not (if not for any other reason) need to do.
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This. ^^
Although I’m curious? You actually see MultiChannel in the Spatial Audio settings? I only ever see Spatial stereo although it’s clearly actually MultiChannel. If however I happen to play some older media with only stereo sound I get no Spatial effects at all.
It really helps to know all the pieces.
I was not testing ATV 4K with Airpods.
I’m going to step off the path here a moment – (personal consumer rant )
– In general, as an Apple user, I’m not at all happy with all the bugs I’ve had to endure with their products recently and this isn’t the slightest bit Plex related.
– My biggest complaint is with all the airpod pro failures I have. They will screw up at the slightest opportunity / fail to connect when they previously did without issue. answering a call or switching a call to the airpod after you’ve answered is “automatic” … but not anymore for me. (no there’s nothing wrong with them)
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Yeah when using my AirPods on iPhone I have seen similar things just lately. I haven’t really noticed anything funky on the Apple TV though.
As a side note you mentioned earlier that things are being worked on?
I did kind of think that any progress hinged on the vacancy for an Apple device lead playback engineer being filled?
FWIW,
I tried the first homepod.
Brought it home. Set it up. Played first audio expecting spatial playback.
Put it back in the box. Drove back to the Apple Store. Instant return for refund.
Not even close to the hype. 
( I have an Onkyo TX-RZ receiver with Polk Signature ES)
I’ve since retested my ATV 4K with airpods.
Unfortunately, I can’t recreate the ‘start in paused state’ error.
Is this HomePod-specific?
I can’t speak for anyone else but for me it’s absolutely definitely HomePod specific.
With AirPods playback starts instantly.
Then to add it doesn’t happen with HomePods when using the old audio player.
Then finally (again with HomePods and the new audio player) when I do finally get playback to start after a few minutes audio dies after a minute or two and needs either a short backwards or forwards scrub to bring the audio back.
I recall @DaveBinM getting the go ahead to purchase a HomePod to troubleshoot one of the issues (I can’t recall if it was the initial paused state or the audio dying) then sadly he was immediately laid off so nothing became of it.
Since then @chrisallen apparently reproduced the issue with audio dying using speaker based airplay devices (via if I recall his soundbar that supports airplay) then stated he would be OOO for a while, which I took to mean Out of Office?
That was around early November after first being reported in September and there has been no news since. AirPlay issues with the new audio engine on Apple TV - #11 by Trust_The_Process
Then throw into the mix the often reported video stutter issues regardless of it being caused by thermal throttling or not (I barely see this myself lately but clearly plenty of others do) what we seem to have is a hot mess.
Since this has already been diagnosed & confirmed, there’s nothing I can add here.
I do not wish to / will not contribute to the well-documented video-related thermal throttling problems which is often piled onto the wrong issue solely because it’s “Apple” related.
I will remind we did have a staffing reduction which did force re-prioritization of all open problem tickets.
I will inquire and report back if I can ascertain current status on this problem.
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Yeah It’s all good.
For me Plex will fix the issues on Apple devices (the HomePod audio issues being the most significant one) or Infuse will finally let us use nfo’s for TV shows and I will just switch to using Infuse natively.
Until then I will keep using Infuse in Plex direct mode.
Adding some clarifications for my case
- I use a HomePod Mini.
- No bug if not using the HomePod
- I use the new video and audio players because the old ones have worse issues. For example if I use the old audio engine, videos just play with no sound or the sound drop out and a random point.
I’m going to try Infuse but if it doesn’t work I’m gonna have to look for Plex alternatives 
