I run a synology plex server. For the most part I use .mkv media, but have some .mp4.
I have extreme buffering when playing .mp4 files, remote or locally. This happens with my TV, PC, and phone. It’ll play for about 10 seconds, then buffer, and repeat. But all my .mkv files play fine. I can have a .mkv that’s 6 times the size of the .mp4, and it plays without any problems at all. And if I play the .mp4 files without plex, they play/stream fine.
Any ideas on this, or anyone running into the same issue? I’ve already disabled transcoding.
MKV and MP4 are merely containers – envelopes of kind – for your media.
Those don’t usually have much impact on the streaming/transcoding behavior of your media.
Your server’s dashboard should display some more details about what’s going on in its “Now Playing” section. This tends to be useful if you experience buffering due to transcoding (e.g. to pin down what’s actually being transcoded, if this is due to the server not being powerful enough for the job or if there’s a possible network issue – in your case it seems we can rule out a network issue… that leaves the two other questions). https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/
I checked the dashboard as you suggested. It’s listed as direct play, which is the same as what .mkv files show when playing.
Also I think networking can be ruled out. All my devices are able to stream larger files file (when .mkv), and TV (which is what I use the most) is connected to switch which is connected to NAS, both of which are gigabit connections.
Have you verified the client in question can direct play your 4K DoVi content and the EAC3 5.1 audio? IIRC, DoVi is a tricky beast and even platforms supporting it don’t necessarily support all of its aspects – so Plex serving the content as-is might not be what the client can actually deal with.
I have, probably about 1/5th of my content is in Dolby Vision and plays find. I also have a bunch of EAC3 5.1 files, none of which have issues unless .mp4.
I’m fairly sure it’s related to .mp4, as none of my other content buffers at all, but every single piece of media that is .mp4 buffers, every time.
If an mp4 file is lagging in Direct Play, there’s a good chance that it’s caused by missing interleaving.
Try dragging one file into MKVtoolnix, then press “Start Muxing”.
Now add the resulting MKV to your Plex library.
Play it.
If this is now fluently playing, you have pretty much confirmation.
Slap the person who produced the mp4 on the back of her head. Slap the person who coded the software which produced the mp4 on the back of her head.
It’s supposed to do some good.
Thanks for the advice. I ran the file through MKVtoolnix and converted to MKV. After doing this however, I cannot play the new file in Plex or in windows through any of the video players. Just doesn’t do anything, opens to a black screen and stays there.
