Black screen for AV1 encoded videos only on Android TV

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Server Version#: 1.29.2.6364-7000
Player Version#: 9.21.1.1169

Hi,
I have PMS installed on a Synology DS214 (ARM based) which doesn’t support transcoding.

I use a Nvidia Shield TV 2017 version and a Xiaomi TV Box as my regular Plex players. When I try to play AV1 encoded videos (mostly 720p), I have a black screen with the audio playing. I’ve tried with other video players and they play perfectly fine, so it’s not a performance issue.

Funny enough, playing these AV1 videos work fine on my OnePlus 5 with Plex despite its lack of HW decoding for AV1.

All the Plex clients have the same Player Version.

Do you have any idea why it doesn’t work only on Android TV?

Thanks.

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The problem started with Plex for Android 9.16 when they added AV1 Direct Play. The issue is that AV1 is direct playing on devices without AV1 hardware and that’s why you get the black screen with audio only.

It works on your OnePlus 5 because your phone is capable of software decoding AV1.

I made a post about it over 2 months ago and I’m still waiting for Plex employees to respond:

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Ok thanks for your answer then it seems to be a bug that should be fixed soon.

Do you know if there is a previous version of the Player that forces software decoding for AV1? Fortunately I can sideload APK to my Shield TV and Xiaomi TV so that could be a workaround for now.

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I doubt it’ll be fixed soon since Plex hasn’t even responded to my post yet.

If you downgrade your Shield to Plex for Android 9.15, then your server will transcode AV1 and you won’t have the black screen with audio only.

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Thanks but my server can’t transcode anything, so the client has to decode AV1.
Do you think downgrading will still work?

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The Shield isn’t capable of software decoding AV1. It’s just not powerful enough. That’s why you’re getting the black screen. If you want to play AV1 on the Shield, your server has to do the transcoding.

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I assure you my Shield and Xiaomi can decode 720p AV1 just fine with other video players. Even my old core i5 3570 can do that with Plex Desktop.

I’ll try to downgrade the APK then and hope that it will work.

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Downgrading will only lead to your server doing the transcoding. I highly doubt Plex will ever add AV1 software decoding to the Shield.

Your best option is to get a client that has AV1 hardware support.

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