I’m having some audio sync issues with the Plex app on my Bravia TV when viewing live TV Streams where the audio lags about half a second behind the video. I’ve isolated it to just this app (and it’s been updated to the latest version as has the server running on an i7/16GB) as there are no sync issues when using the iOS Plex app, using the native channel viewer on the TV or viewing it through the HD Homerun web interface (running a Connect).
Has anyone else had this problem? Are there any settings I can tweak to try and fix this?
Any ideas or anyone else having this issue? The Bravia TVs seem woefully underpowered, so it might be that. Anyone else have a 2015 Bravia that is doing the same thing?
Yep, 2017 Sony X900E, and I saw it regularly when I first started playing around with Live TV (it was in the TS container by default at that point). Switching to MKV remux (mostly) resolved the issue, and I’m hanging out on the 1.7.5 server because of the MKV container for Live TV. Sync when watching Live TV is is spot-on 95% of the time from 1.7.5, but I still see it crop up occasionally. I had the same issue with DVR when it was configured to use TS in 1.7.4. All content coming from the a Plex library in a supported container is perfect, but yes, I’ve had plenty of issues with this and Live TV.
My playback on the Bravia TV is also bad… when i play a TS recorded show it lags here and there. I also have many problems skipping the commercials with the playback failing on me. I also have two Nexus players and both got 0 problems playing recorded content… This is over ethernet so no wifi lag possible.
If i select a lower resolution profile like 720p plex server transcodes and the problem go away.
@Xetal said:
My playback on the Bravia TV is also bad… when i play a TS recorded show it lags here and there. I also have many problems skipping the commercials with the playback failing on me. I also have two Nexus players and both got 0 problems playing recorded content… This is over ethernet so no wifi lag possible.
If i select a lower resolution profile like 720p plex server transcodes and the problem go away.
Sorry but the Bravia TV sucks.
I agree, it sucks that the Sony Android TVs have terrible support for the TS container, but I don’t hold the TV fully accountable. I have an HDHomeRun Extend, so it’s not an issue with the underlying streams, but rather with the container. As you note, you can work around the issue to an extent by forcing a transcode or direct stream (remux) for DVR content, but it’s certainly not ideal. I suspect we’ll see remux to MKV come back in 1.8.x PMS (or sooner), which is also going to get us timeshift support and open up the potential to start an actively recording program from the beginning with the 1.3 client. When we had cable, we never watched anything live-- basically always paused it at the beginning for a commercial bypass buffer, so when they finally manage to pull off time-shift in 1.3 with mkv-remux available on the server, I think we may approach “good enough.”
Edit: Every relevant A/V component in the stack is connected via ethernet here as well, and I have 0 issues with any downloaded/ripped content, plus forcing a re-mux/transcode does resolve the issue for DVR, so I think it’s pretty clear where the problem lies.
Yeah, I suspected as much. I was really hoping I wasn’t going to need to get an external Android TV box but the performance of the internals of the Brava TVs just aren’t beefy enough for what I use it for. PS Vue app also has issues and none of my other streaming devices give me this much headache. Even my Fire TV stick performs better.
I was hoping there was a setting I could tweak but it seems like the TV just doesn’t have the power to process TS containers well on the fly.
@Allerun said:
Yeah, I suspected as much. I was really hoping I wasn’t going to need to get an external Android TV box but the performance of the internals of the Brava TVs just aren’t beefy enough for what I use it for. PS Vue app also has issues and none of my other streaming devices give me this much headache. Even my Fire TV stick performs better.
I was hoping there was a setting I could tweak but it seems like the TV just doesn’t have the power to process TS containers well on the fly.
There was a DVR remux setting in 1.7.4, which was removed in 1.7.5 and switched to forced MKV, which was switched to forced TS in 1.7.6… I’d be really flabbergasted if they don’t add the DVR/Live TV remux configuration back in the next couple of server updates. Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I think it will improve in the next couple of updates. But yeah, I’ve been a bit disappointed with the TV in general, and I don’t mean in relation to Plex. Lagging menu navigation, lagging volume change UI response, 10/100 ethernet in 2017, etc. Way to make an amazing platform perform like crap, Sony.
Just wanted to note that even though MKV re-mux is not back yet with the 1.8 PMS release, I decided to go ahead and update, since 1.8 provides what’s necessary for timeshift support in the Android TV app. Audio sync with Live TV and the first two DVR recordings appears to be spot-on so far. Don’t want to pop the cork on the champagne yet, but the audio sync issue has been the only thing giving me “wife endorsement” headaches since we cut the cord. Hoping all continues to be well with 1.8+. Let me know if the update shows any improvement for you.
Ooooh, I’m going to update and see what happens here. Thanks for the news.
Update: Unfortunately I still have massive audio lag on many channels, though not as bad on a few others. Maybe when they update the Android TV app that will help.
@Allerun said:
Ooooh, I’m going to update and see what happens here. Thanks for the news.
Update: Unfortunately I still have massive audio lag on many channels, though not as bad on a few others. Maybe when they update the Android TV app that will help.
Hmm, that’s disappointing. What tuner are you using, just out of curiosity? I’m using an HDHomeRun Extend, and I’ve gotten perfect sync on Live TV and DVR since the update this morning, but I also have 65+% signal quality on all the channels that we watch, so I wonder if that could be a factor.
I’m running a Connect. I don’t think it’s the tuner. Watching channels through the Live TV app on Android works perfectly, no lag at all. I recently installed an attic antenna which boosted the signal for the channels I received before and netted me around 12 more, and I’m running 80% + signal quality on all the channels I care about. Also, watching through my iPhone is perfect as well. I think it’s the Android TV app running on the anemic Bravia TV hardware.
I can no longer watch live TV on my Bravia TV… I have being plagued for a little while. When i select a live program i get the spinning loading loop and it keeps on going forever… My Nexus player still plays live tv fine. My server is at 1.8 and the sony TV on the current plex version.
@Xetal said:
I can no longer watch live TV on my Bravia TV… I have being plagued for a little while. When i select a live program i get the spinning loading loop and it keeps on going forever… My Nexus player still plays live tv fine. My server is at 1.8 and the sony TV on the current plex version.
Anyone having the same issue with live tv ?
Thanks
Have you tried restarting the Plex app (Force Quit) and restarting the Plex server? There’s a bug being discussed on the Android TV beta forum (which I was able to reproduce) where switching between channels multiple times in sequence can cause this or something similar to occur. Live TV still functions correctly for other clients when this state is produced, but it takes a restart of both the server and app to resolve on the Android TV. When you get into a spin lock like that, the HDHomeRun config gui shows no tuner activity, so basically either Plex just fails to request that the tuner tune to the channel, or it fails to connect to the stream and the tuner stops the stream.
Not sure if the hardware/software differences on the 2017 models are making the difference for me, but my experience so far on the 1.8.x PMS and 6.3.x Plex client is that the audio sync issues have not returned.
Perhaps some Bravia TV model and Android version info could be relevant in this discussion:
I’m not getting any lag on Live TV, but I still get it on CBS DVR recordings, so am forcing a transcode whenever I watch them now. I’m still convinced it’s the ts container. Direct stream (remux) now occurs when watching DVR recordings without forcing transcode in 6.4, but this produces the sync problem like a magic charm for CBS recordings. Will update my table for the new beta app. It’s not markdown; had to do an html table, since the forum markdown doesn’t support tables. :neutral:
Anyway, I’m about to break down and implement post-process remux to .mkv. I was sure that feature would be back by now, but no luck just yet. Maybe just disabling direct stream is easier for now. All of my ripped/downloaded content is direct play-compatible.
Edit: And they’ve done away with the Direct Stream option in the iOS and Android clients. The gift that keeps on giving.
I’ve updated to the latest version (6.3.4.1485) and there is still massive lag on live tv. Recordings are fine. Guess I’m switching to a Shield or ATV.
