best client for direct play? (4k - HDR - DTS)

General Discussions
1

hey guys… months ago i buyed an panasonic 4k hdr tv and now more and more 4k videos are coming up.
at the moment i am running the latest raspberry pi with rasplex which works very well as long as it is not a 4k movie.

well now i would like to switch to a plex client which supports my needs and can play it directly without transcoding.

here is my situation:
i installed plex server on my synology DS718Plus.
The NAS is setup as RAID 0 and is connected via 2 ethernet cables with linkt aggrgation wich should give me the best performance possible.
The client will also be connected via ethernet and everything is connected via en enterpise level ethernet switch.

so i guess no problems from this side

specs for movies i am watching the most for now:
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 8.91 GiB
Duration : 1h 56mn
Overall bit rate : 11.0 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2016-10-20 00:33:41
Writing application : mkvmerge v8.5.2 (‘Crosses’) 32bit
Writing library : libebml v1.3.3 + libmatroska v1.4.4

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate : 8 665 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.235
Stream size : 7.05 GiB (79%)
Writing library : x264 core 148 r2638 7599210
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.99:0.01 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=18.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Mode : 16
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 768 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Frame rate : 93.750 fps (512 spf)
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 640 MiB (7%)
Language : German
Default : Yes
Forced : No

and what i would like to watch in future for example:
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
File size : 48.3 GiB
Duration : 2h 15mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 50.9 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2017-09-15 23:45:13
Writing application : mkvmerge v14.0.0 (‘Flow’) 64bit
Writing library : libebml v1.3.4 + libmatroska v1.4.5
DURATION : 02:15:57.365000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES : 764753
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 3413933504
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP : mkvmerge v14.0.0 (‘Flow’) 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC : 2017-09-15 23:45:13
_STATISTICS_TAGS : BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES

Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main 10@L5.1
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 2h 15mn
Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Default : Yes
Forced : No
DURATION : 02:15:57.024000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES : 195573
NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 45018046930
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP : mkvmerge v14.0.0 (‘Flow’) 64bit
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC : 2017-09-15 23:45:13
_STATISTICS_TAGS : BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES

Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile : MA / Core
Mode : 16
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 2h 15mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : Unknown / 1 509 Kbps
Channel(s) : 8 channels / 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, Back: L R, LFE / Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossless / Lossy
Title : German DTS-X 7.1
Language : German
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes

what would be the best plex client for that to be able to direct play?

2

For playback I think the Shield is about the best there is. I do not really know the details of what it will and won’t play directly but I know it direct plays everything I have thrown at it.

I have issues with the Android interface in general so I do not use my Shield for playback much but when I have used it it has performed well.

One further negative on the Shield is that some poorly formatted videos will cause the Shield to freeze and reboot while those same videos play fine on my Rokus. A simple failure would be acceptable but the freezing and rebooting is unacceptable for me so I do not use the the shield for that reason as well as my distaste for the interface. But, again, the Shield does direct play virtually everything.

3

i was also looking at the nvidia shield but was not sure if its good… but your answer lets me hope
is there anyone who can confirm that the shield would fit my needs?

4

I’m in the same dilemma although I’m not doing link aggregation. Overkill for the home so I’ll leave that at work where it belongs.

I’m struggling to find a simple 4K/HDR Plex client that my wife will be able to use. I had the last generation of Shield TV and it was a pretty horrible device. I ended up returning it as Android stuff is just so flakey.

Currently I’m running an Odroid C2 with OpenPHT, which is perfection as it not only supports 4K @ 60fps (films only 24fps though) without transcoding but also does pass through for all audio formats including the HD ones (DTS-HA Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD, etc). The only downside is that while HDR videos play, they look all washed out as it can’t use the correct colour space and doesn’t support HDR.

What I need is an Odroid embedded type device that supports HDR. Then I’ll be a happy man!

If you find one, other than the awful Shield TV device, let me know!

5

Have you tried the built in plex media server on your tv ? Make sure you go to settings and set it to direct play forced etc. And try looking at a latest Roku player.

6

My setup: Shield TV <–HDMI–> Denon 4300 <–HDMI–> LG OLED B7

Shield works great.
Direct plays all my videos, including 4K & 4K HDR10.
Bitstreams all audio to the Denon, including TrueHD, Atmos, dts-HD MA, & dts:X.

The Shield & Plex client are solid. It is rare to have a crash.

OS is Android TV, so you have the Android TV interface. Some like, some hate. Works fine for me. I’ve no issue navigating a ~500 title movie collection.

I use Plex to play movies, mostly straight DVD & Blu-ray rips, a few converted w/ Handbrake. No music, no Live TV / DVR, no VR, etc features.

The Shield TV does not support Dolby Vision or HLG HDR videos. That is a Nvidia limitation. Playing DV or HLG video in Plex client results in a transcode.

I use the LG Plex app to watch the few (<10) DV videos in my Library. It direct pays the video. Audio may transcode due to HDMI/ARC limitations (no support for lossless codecs).

7

I can vouch for the Shield as well. I also recently got a Mi Box, and that thing has been great too. It seems to do everything the Shield does, but at a lower price.

8

Which Mi Box did you get?

I am looking for a client that can direct play 4K MKV video files with HDR and DTS audio.

9

This one:

I have noticed one difference between it and the Shield though. On 1080p with bitmapped subs (pgs/vob), both the Mi Box and the Shield can direct play it. On 4K with bitmapped subs, the Shield direct plays it but the Mi Box requests transcode.

10

Samsung TVs have impressive format capabilities. Just plug a stick or hard drive into the USB port of the TV and it will play most file formats and most audio and videos codecs. I’ve got 30-40 devices accessing Plex and Tautulli tracks Direct Play, Streaming, or Transcodes for every single video. Samsungs have the lowest rate of transcodes–and this is with Remote clients outside the house.

I’m not sure if that audio track is ATMOS or just DTS-HD. My TV can’t do ATMOS but can do HighDef MA/Core. That might be TrueHD. I forget which is which. So I could play that content with or without Plex. I’m sure Roku Premiere+ and AppleTV 4K. Although older Apple TV lacked support for a/v codecs outside of Apple’s iTunes/TV standard. So personally I wouldn’t choose Apple TV.

My Samsung TV is a UN65JS8500 from 2016. And the biggest issue for me is Dolby ATMOS, which samsung only supports through expensive soundbars. I can play 4k video in Plex, I can hit my NAS through it’s DLNA server with Samsung My Connections, or put 4K encodes on a USB stick or USB powered Hard Drive and play off that (eliminates slow wireless or networks, and slow throughput via plex/dlna software/hw combos).

I can play large (65GB MKV, HDR HEVC Main 10-L5.1 High; DTS-HD MA 7.1, V/A bitrate avg 67Mbps) 4K movies wirelessly using the Samsung My Connection SmartTV feature and the basic DLNA server built into Netgear ReadyNAS OS 6.x (running on outdated Ultra 4 NAS(wired), circa 2011 hardware, RAID5 with four 7200RPM drives). It never buffers. If I use the Plex client and have Plex on my i3-based ASUS mini-PC(wired) from 2011 direct play the file to me I can almost watch it. However as other users direct play from the same server, it starts buffering that makes it unwatchable. The bottleneck here is the Plex fetching the file from the NAS and then turning it around to spit it back out to the TV. If I switch back to My Connections and it plays flawlessly while other users are hitting the Plex server (and also the same NAS).

Wireless is often unfit for 4K. I’ve had wireless suddenly start breaking down and stalling and it could be from many different reasons–including neighbor’s creating interference. Switching the TV to wired and performance is 100% consistent and can handle everything.

So you need to consider bottlenecks tripping 4k up performance even if your device has enough codec compatibility.