Server Version#:1.42.2.10156
Player Version#:
On NVIDIA Shield PRO and Google TV 4k, both wired into 1Gbps on the same network as server. Server is very strong and not under any load at all while streaming. Both sound and Video are on direct play. REMUX HDR Dolby and 7.1 surround sound (don’t know the specific one). Bit rate averaging 70. Buffering every minute or so. Does not happen on desktop client. Network traffic comparison on desktop client v.s. Android: Desktop is fluctuating higher peaks and lower valleys. Where as Android is more stable, with smaller peaks and valleys. It almost looks like it can’t buffer enough. Seems to have gotten worse in the last month or so. Some videos will buffer at a back off rate, i.e. after 1 minute, after 2, then maybe 10, and then it stops the buffering through the video. Almost as if it is deciding how much buffer is appropriate as it goes.
oops, forgot. Player versions are fully up to date in all cases and tests.
Even the shield will have issues with files like this, especially when the bitrate peaks.
Look at the bitrate graph in the Plex Dashboard while playing these files.
If the graph is showing significantly higher bitrates being sent through the network adapter, then your file might be missing interleaving.
Jellyfin → Kodi works just fine, not a single issue. Same output
I don’t know what you mean by “Significantly Higher Bitrate”. What is my comparison? What is my baseline? What am I looking at for “normal” versus “Sginificantly Higher”?
Also, as far as I can tell these aren’t missing interleaving. This started happening a few weeks ago for high bitrate files which used to run pretty smoothly. MKV files, from different sources and underlining encodings.
Those exceeding 3x the average bitrate as shown in the media info of that particular item are worth a second look.
Those exceeding 5x the average bitrate are very likely to have an issue with their container.
You left out this information in the beginning. MKV are usually not affected by missing interleaving, but mp4 are.
On the other hand, some client platforms have issues with DoVi in MKV containers and work better with (interleaved 
) mp4 files.
Nah. Mine play fine. My Rokus play fine.
Hello,
I’m experiencing the exact same issue. It started a few days ago.
As soon as the file is a huge remux, it buffers constantly with direct play and no transcode.
My setup: NVIDIA Shield pro with the Plex client version 10.30.8.4222.
On the other hand, when I test the same files on a Fire TV Cube 3 with Plex fully up to date, everything plays perfectly fine.
So it really seems to be related to the Plex client / Android TV ecosystem on the Shield !
My server is Version 1.42.2.1015
Went in to the dashboard to check. Peaks and valleys are no where near 3x and 5x
It’s starting that any uhd 4k direct is unplayable.
I’m having the same issue now with older UHD videos. It looks like the Plex client update on the NVIDIA Shield is broken.
How does this work? How do we get a support ticket or fix in?
After exhaustive testing all bottlenecks are solved for and lots of power coming into Plex on Shield pro.
Network is stable, the valleys and peaks are in regular bounds.
All signs point to poor.buffering strategy on the Plex app on Shield pro and Android Google TV 4k.
How do I get support from the engineering team?
Shield Pro has always stuttered on high-bitrate DV remux for me. Not an Android or Plex issue because same remux would play fine with Plex app on other Android streaming boxes like Xiaomi Gen 3 or Zidoo.
Shield Pro has powerful hardware, but very poor cooling (plastic case and a tiny fan that likes to break). Thermal throttling kicks in after that and you get stuttering. Get a different streaming box, Shield Pro 2019 is seriously overrated, and I own 2x.
It’s not a cooling issue, as it starts immediately, it is a Plex issue. As I said above, other players play just fine on the same device.
I am having the same issue on an NVIDIA Shield (tube, not PRO) when playing 4K High Bitrate (70Mbps plus) HDR and Atmos. Everything works well for a while and at some point it starts stuttering. Not buffering, just stuttering. The Shield is barely warm to the touch.
Server is laughing during playback. Nothing is stressed at all. 1Gbps wired connection to everything. Kodi against the same server works perfectly well.
Any ideas / have you been able to fix yours?
ps: Sorry for hijacking the post, but it seems better to have one chunky post that several of the same problem.
The Tube model has always been known to handle high-bitrate content poorly.
I replaced my NAS with a Synology 822 and also replaced the drives with new WD Red 10 TB 7200 ones. The network is 1 Gbit, but the problems are still the same. If I play the files through Kodi, there is no issue. There is no transcoding involved. The problem occurs with older UHD remux videos with very high bitrates, like Star Wars 4-5-6. I definitely played these files before without any problems. It seems that some update in the client caused this.
Just wanted to throw in a data point here. A couple nights back I was trying to watch a 4k UHD remux (with Dolby Vision) on my Shield Pro, and the playback hung (spinning loader) twice in the first 25 minutes of the movie. I had to exit out of the Plex app and relaunch to resume play. When it happened the second time I switched to using Plezy for playback, and was able to watch the following two hours of the movie without issue.
I fixed the issue. I replaced the HDMI cable — it seems the previous one was somehow partially broken.
