Server Version#: 1.14.1.5488
Player Version#:2.25.2.70
This is getting REALLY frustrating, these buffering issues with 4k HDR content have been going on for almost a year now and the Devs have not given an update as to WTF is oging on? As 4k HDR content become wider used this issue is just getting worse and worse each day
Today on my Xbox one X I tried playing 4 different 4k HDR vides and they all started buffeintrg constantly at 3 mins in. almost like clock work they play fine and after 3 mins buffering buffering buffering. My Xbox is fine my streaming system is fine, my disk array’s are fine this is a continual issue with Plex and Xbox where the 4k stream goes into some trascoding loop and buffers forever.
The audio on these videos were a range of 5.1, 7.1 and stereo audio so the only consisten thing was 4k HDR mkv.
Can a dev please speak as to when this issue will be fixed?
I’ve managed to play 4k (HDR and normal) content without more than a second or two of buffering with my Xbox One X. I’ve never seen that amount of buffering.
I suggest looking at a log to see what is happening. Are you transcoding something? If yes you’ll need to wait for enough of that to be done before playback will start, I assume. No idea how efficient that is. Nor if playing remotely needs a bigger buffer (I’m local though across otherwise unused wifi). Or if your wifi isn’t fast enough for the data level needed.
I seem to just play the files directly (no transcoding). I’ve done Atmos, DTS, and DD5.1 (my soundbar supports those natively).
Just read there is a particular audio codec that Microsoft has issues with, somehow related to 4k content. If you can do bitstream output then I’d give it a try.
Any word from @Moussa on this? These are the same type of Buffering issues we’ve been seeing for over a year now. Now oddly though I’m getting buffering at pretty much exactly 3 mins
I’ve tried AC3 audio on the videos files as well and still get the buffering at the 3 min mark on multiple 4k HDR mkv files
So I’ve sent PM’s to 3 different plex employee’s on this forum and still have not gotten any word. What is the process to actually get a support ticket opened and have it worked on until it is resolved?
Direct Stream, and Direct Play are a little different. I believe with Direct Stream that although the actual data is compatible, it is not in a compatible container. This causes a data extraction, which could introduce complications.
Next thing to look at is your setup. The bitrate on 4k files is on the higher side, If any part of your setup is wireless, you could be experiencing throughput issues.
I posted in another thread the HandBrake settings I use to get Direct Play. Since I’ve started converting my files, I’ve not had a buffering issue. I do experience jitters and audio sync if I pause and try to resume. In those scenarios I have to shut down the stream and resume that way.
I’m good on the network/ through put side, my hard drives get 150mb read/write, the temp drive on plex is pointed to an even faster drive, My Xbox gets 300mb to the internet and my home network can easily do 1gb. I have zero issues with streaming anything else. My pc where my plex server is on is a I7 with 16gb ram hard wried to the router.
The key here is the files play fine and then hit 3:00 and go into buffering. What could cause this at the 3 min mark consistently?
This resembles the issue last year where the files would play for a bit and randomly go into buffering and the Plex devs said it was some Xbox api issue dealing with 4k HDR content.
The only difference is it is consistent now that it happens after 3 mins where before it would happen from 1-2 mins in.
Of course a Plex dev could chime in and actually shed some light on this instead of us guessing.
Well their is nothing further I can do with my system, everything involved is about as high end and as fast as you can realistically get from CPU, Disks, Network.
I guess the difference for me, is that my files never buffer. Plex is passing it along without doing anything to it. So, if you’re getting buffer issues, maybe there’s a bigger difference between Direct Stream and Direct Play than I thought.
I’m willing to work with a plex dev pulling logs and all to see if they can narrow down a cause other than the known Xbox API issues, however that would require a plex dev to actually respond to anything. I’ve sent 3 pm’s to 3 different plex employee’s on this site with zero response
Guess I’m going to have to start making a fuss in the general section but my god does plex have any employee’s anymore? Still no reply to any of my threads here or PM’s to devs
Apologies for cross-posting, but I have the same issue, and I’ve been beating my head against the wall looking at CPU, GPU, RAM, Disk IO, network and trying various clients. Before even reading your thread, I had identified that the buffering seems to happen around 50-60Mbps+ bitrates.
I can not find a bottleneck in the systems I can control. I was having an issue with IO, but I moved the temp folder for transcoding from a RAID array to an SSD. The issue materializes on both XB1X, my 2018 LG C8 TV and a Sony XBR. The specs on the LG OLED do say that software installed on the TV only supports bitrate up to 50Mbps, but I’m not sure if that limitation comes into play with 3rd party sw like Plex or not. However, this doesn’t explain why the $500 Xbox One X chokes.
I’m running on Linux with sufficient hardware. I’m a tech consultant in my day job, so I have a pretty good grasp of all of the moving pieces involved, and I can only point at the software client at this point. Can anyone from the Plex team please shed some light on this issue? I’m avoiding that type of bitrate for now, because I have spent far more time than I should have trying to troubleshoot this issue. Thanks.
I can reproduce this issue at will with a dozen different video files all start buffering after 3 mins. This should be pretty easy to nail down. I’ve been reporting the issue on my Xbox, why can’t a plex dev work with me to determine the cause?
So I’ve isolated the issue to the audio codec being used, found some reddit posts and use this command using ffmpeg to strip out the audio and replace it with AC3 and got it to play past 3 mins
This REALLY sucks going to take me weeks to recode all the 4k HDR video I have, WTF Plex and MS really need to get this fixed. Audio codec bug between Plex and Xbox
Hi there. Sorry for the late reply, its been a very busy period for us. But we have not forgotten about you or this issue, not by any means. We’re still in regular contact with Microsoft about the issue, and there are still investigations ongoing (both by us and Microsoft) around this issue. I wish I had more details to report but I hope to have better news for you in the near future.
@swanlee Could you post the media info xml for one of the affected files? Extra data is always appreciated.
