Server Version#: 1.45.0.3013-1676042f
Player Version#: 8.3 (2621)
This is driving me crazy!
I have noticed that all of my 4K HEVC MKV files that are played via my Apple TV 4K 2nd Generation (2021) have a slight stutter to them. About every 10 or 15 seconds a see a very slight hiccup and then it continues to play as normal. This is especially noticeable in scenes with a smooth camera pan.
I activated the debug display, but no dropped frames are reported. I have confirmed the files are good with other plex clients and other players on my PC and do not show the stutter. I have compared the same file on other Plex clients (including the built in Smart TV player on the TV the Apple TV is hooked up too!) and the stutter seems to be exclusive to the Apple TV client. I even had other people in my household take another look at it to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, and now they can’t unsee it while we movies.
Am I the only one? Is this a known issue? Any fixes?
It’s pretty common for downloaded files to be poorly constructed, and to have inconsistent timestamps between the video streams and the container.
Sometimes disabling Direct Play in the Plex app is enough to address this, because Plex will extract the video stream and put it into a new container on the fly.
Can either of you share a recording of what the problem looks like?
I don’t think it’s judder. I have a Sony X900H and use an Apple TV 4K. Playing the exact same file through Infuse doesn’t have any issues. It looks like the playback is dropping frames every so often. I have the Apple TV 4K hardwired through ethernet to the server so there isn’t any bandwidth limitations. Playing the same file on the official Plex iOS app and and on macOS also don’t have any issues.
I’ve turned on both the Match Dynamic Range and Match Frame Rate settings on the Apple TV - both have no effect.
I’ve also tried to disable Direct Play - but the video plays the exact same way through Direct Stream.
Have the exact same problem with the same type of files, can confirm it also happens with appletv 4k gen 1. Files plays fine in infuse or MrMc on same appletv. Hope we can get to fix this asap, it is very noticeable in person.
To follow up on this… I also noticed the same stuttering even when the built-in screen saver is playing. Changing the TV’s motion or clarity settings didn’t seem to have any impact on this.
