It needs to decode what it is given to it. So yes it has to do something.
03-05 15:03:44.886 i: [LoadControl] Detected memory pressure, reducing segment count to fit available memory: 256 MB
This appears several times in your client log.
I don’t know if this is the reason for your failing, but as other users with Shields have reported the issue to be resolved by selecting the old player, the reason has to be your client.
You can see with the recent issues on the Shield tube with 4k material that even Direct Play situations do not guarantee smooth playback.
TVs are known as being notoriously underpowered.
I found the memory warnings. Im a little bit shocked about this available memory only being 256Mb. I have a cheap phone and even that thing has 6Gb…
So buying a shield (which is quite expensive) might not be such a good idea right now since a lot of people have issues with them.
Are there cheaper alternatives? I just happen to be a data horder, but its not my tv and also not my living room, so I’d rather not spent to much it 
There is one thing I don’t quite understand yet. The TV can play pretty much all audio formats just not EAC3. A possible cause is that it doesnt support EAC3 and that it needs to transcode the audio and that it has not enough memory to decode the audio stream. But I don’t see how this can be the problem, because I can transcode 1080p H264 video with ACC audio just fine to any other quality.
Does Android TV have ‘Display Information’ in the Plex App settings?
and if so, does enabling it offer any more or different details about the stream it’s trying to play?
It most likely has more, this is “segment size” whatever that means.
Nope, it is awesome. It also has its problems, but in general it is the best client around.
Cheaper is always worse, but you could go with a Fire TV device or Mi Box. But I cannot guarantee for them.
Maybe @sixones or @anon18523487 can also have a look at the logs and the subject, I am just an amateur trying to help.
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I would like to sincerely thank you for all the help. We may not have found a fix, but at least I know that it is probably hardware related and not caused by the plex software.
I’ll start looking into buying a good media box.
If anyone else still has suggestions, feel free to share them!
It pretty much says the same:
Player: ExoPlayer v2
Video: Direct
Audio: Direct
Size: 1920 x 1080
Reason for transcoding: Dolby Digital Plus (EAC3) is not supported by this device.
That last part is odd, since it says it Direct playing the audio while at the same its not supporting it.
Computers Suck!
Does the Plex app allow you to disable the new player?
I’m reaching.
Yes it does, this information is being displayed when the new player is disable (so using the old player)
The new player doesn’t play anything, the old player only can’t play files with EAC3 audio. (Which is about half of my library)
Does the app have any settings related to Direct Play and/or Direct Stream?
Have you fiddled with any HDMI passthrough settings - if any exist?
There are no Direct Play/Steam settings in the android TV app. I have “Home streaming” setting set to “Maximum”, but settingit to 1080 or 720p doesn’t change anything.
I have tried the diffrent audio passthrough settings. By default it is on “OFF” but changing it to “HDMI” or “OPTICAL” doesnt do anything, so I’ve left it at “OFF”
Yea, that’s all the tricks in my bag.
The general flaw in the Android Death Star - apart from that hole no bigger than a Womp Rat - is Plex’s inability to transcode an audio stream nobody can use into one they can use.
Seems like one of Plex’s core components, but I’m sure you’re already thinking that…lol
Carry on.
Thanks anyways. Looks like I am going to need to save up some money 
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The Mi Box S is 60€ here. It won’t be updated as the Shield will be, but it might resolve your current issue.
The shield on the other you might enjoy for several more years and will be the better choice also money-wise on the long run.
I was thinking about getting the shield anyways, since I can just take it with me when I get my own place.
Is it worth getting the Pro shield? I don’t think I’ll need the 16Gb of storage and I don’t plan on adding any drives to it.
Check the h264 profile level in the app. Seems like you have it set to 5.1, but your TV probably can’t handle that. Lower it to 4.1 and see if that helps. If not, try setting it to the lowest and try again. If that works, raise it slowly until it fails to find the cut off.
It was indeed set to 5.1, which used to be the recommended setting, but it now recommends 1.0 so I put it at that, but the result is still the same.
(I have also enabled hardware acceleration now, by passing /dev/dri through to the plex docker)
That is bogus - an effect of an errant update.
Set it to 4.1 as suggested - that’s kinda the safety zone for about everything.
If the media is encoded with a level higher than that - Plex will/should transcode. Display information will tell you that - THEN you can try a higher setting to see if it’ll work (Direct Play).
In theory a setting of 1.0 should have transcoded everything, but turns out it’s transcoding nothing, for some reason.
You don’t want that setting wide open - or slammed shut.
4.1 is about the middle of normal operation range.
A good place for now, at least.
I’ve tried 4.0 and 4.1 also. Again same issue.
Leave it at 4.1, retry, get me the Android log.
Pardon the late reply.
Here are the logs using the old player and with 4.1 as max h.264 level.
plex_client_logs_031020_0859.txt (37.5 KB)
