So - getting a “second” TV for my kids room. Don’t really want to get another Nvidia Shield or another streaming device, so currently considering getting a TV with Android TV built in.
I read that the Plex app/client works also on WebOS and stuff - so I guess the Android TV is not a requirement. On the other hand, I’ve read stories that plex never works well with built in smart TV devices and you need to get a separate one for it to work well.
Is that the case now even in 2023? (threads I found was a couple of years old). To be honest, I don’t mind having a lower quality setting on the kids TV, since it will only be 43" I’d be fine if 1080p worked well enough.
So, my question is - is there any smart TV on the market, right now - where the Plex client works well - or are there TV models / brands where the Plex client will at least work a little bit better than on other models brands? If so - which?
I can only speak for myself, and a few friends that have asked a similar question… but so far, the best experience i have had, has been with Samsung smart tv’s… the plex app has been pretty flawless!
My 2 cents:
As soon as you bring “lesser” client types into the mix, you better make sure that your files are prepared for a trouble-free experience.
Which means that:
no 4K
no HDR
use H.264, 8-bit color, level <=4.0 for video
the first audio track of each language should be AAC stereo, with max 224 kbps bitrate.
Adding better sound formats after these basic tracks usually causes no issues, but they will need to be selected manually on clients and setups which support surround sound.
subtitles, if any, should be in SRT format, verified for no overlapping lines, and in UTF-8 encoding
Sure, many other users may report that their particular TV supports files way above that spec. But this is the “safest bet” in my experience and will Direct Play pretty much everywhere.
If you exceed this spec, be prepared that your server will be taxed by transcoding – possibly severely so.
