Server Version#: Version 1.15.4.993 running on a MAC with Mac OS Mojave
Player Version#: Plex for Android v7.14.1.9954
Is it true that I cannot stream 4K UHD videos from the Plex Media Server to my Sony Android TV? The video will be transcoded to a lower resolution version to play on the TV.
Thanks in advance.
No, not true.
I have a 4K video on my Mac with Plex Media Server. When I stream to my TVā¦ it saysā¦
Player: ExoPlayer v2
Video: Transcode
Audio: Transcode
Size: 1280x676
Can please let me know what I need to do to get 4K video to play on my TV? I have already set whatever settings on the media server to stream at Maximum resolution.
Thanks.
Might be worth posting your server logs and details of the file you are trying to play.
I have a Sony Android TV and all my 4K films play just fine although because my soundbar only does Dolby Digital it will transcode the audio if it is in 7.1 rather than 5.1.
OK. Would the fact that I am using the free account have anything to do with it? I notice you have a Plex Pass. Oh and thank you for your repliesā¦ it is much appreciated!
Iām looking at the Plex features and it does promise 4K support for both Free and Premium users so I guess thatās not it.
Not sure if it means anythingā¦ but the file I am trying to stream is a mkv file and the name of the file is MovieName2018.2160p.UHD.BluRay.X265-DEFLATE.
What settings do you have for:
Video Quality
In the app settings on your TV
I have a top of the line 2018 Sony TV, and it can play 4K via plex but stutters. Iām āDirect Playā 60GByte 4k h.265, and what it comes down to is that Sony cheaped out on the network connectivity. The ethernet is 100Mbit, not 1Gbit, and the AC WiFi āapparentlyā runs through a USB2 controller so never reaches itās potential. A 4k video that needs under say 80Mbit throughput should play fine when wired.
Itās not a weak CPU like some sopurces claim, beacuse if you plug in a HardDrive and play the native 4k video via VLC, it plays fine.
Regarding your lower quality, Iām guessing that you have the settings in plex enabled to reduce quality if there is not enough bandwidth.
This is is all assuming that the Plex app is making use of hardware decoding like VLC does.
Video Quality Settings on the app on the TV isā¦
Adjust automatically: On
Home Streaming: Maximum
Remote Streaming: 2Mbps 720p HD (I wonāt be doing any remote streaming)
Play Smaller Videos: On
As a test you could try setting Adjust automatically to Off
And then see if it attempts to Direct Play / Direct Stream.
If it does, you may well find that it buffers for the reasons rdorian mentions above
Yeah on mine the ethernet is slower than the WiFi connection, Sony must have saved pennies per TV to cripple the connectivity but I do get 200Mbps+ to the TV though on a speed test so plenty enough for 4K video.
If you post your server logs itāll say in them why the TV has chosen to transcode.
Oh and no, as far as I know Plex Pass makes no difference to what Plex will play. I have it for additional local users and hardware transcoding although Iām not sure that still needs Plex Pass.
Sorry, my post above was aimed at yourself 
Out of interest, which Sony TV is it?
That sucks what Sony did with the Ethernet portā¦
Itās a Sony Bravia KD55X7500F.
I turned Adjust Automatically to OFFā¦ now I get:
Player: ExoPlayer v2
Video: Transcode
Audio: Transcode
Size: 3840 x 2026
It still does not DirectPlay. And the video also stuttersā¦ tells meā¦ āYour connection to the server is not fast enough to stream this video. Check your network or try a lower quality.ā
I tested and I have a 216Mbps Wifi connection to my router.
I also get an error message that says " This server is not powerful enough to convert video."
sighā¦
I have been testing my Sony Android TV and it struggles with 4K
Does the plex app not show you the reason for transcoding or are you trying to use subtitles?
for example, this is what I get on one of mine
(If I do not choose the correct supported audio track):
Player: ExoPlayer v2
Video: Transcode
Audio: Transcode
Size: 3840 x 2160
Transcode Reason TrueHD audio is not supported by the device
^^^^^ Is this correct? as I would expect it to be 2160 not 2026
And for the speed test results, are you running that from the TV or your Computer.
If I run a speedtest from my laptop with wifi, I get 382Mbps.
If I run a speedtest app on my tv I only get 77 Mbps
Both in the same room connected to the same 5Ghz wifi network
to augmentā¦ it seems to only struggles with the high bandwidth files. (Remuxed files rather than re-encoded) which makes sense due to the poor networking capabilities Sony have decided to provide in their TVās
But depending on the audio stream in the video file, they may still attempt to transcode.
Edit: And I am guessing the file you have may have a TrueHD.7.1 audio track, which may not be supported on the TV (They are not supported on mine)
Just to add to the conversation. My 4K video is direct play (MKV container, h.265 video codec), but the audio is a transcode from True HD or ATMOS to 2.1.
The average file Bitrate should be around 65MBit/sec for me so both ethernet and WiFi should be fine, but my issue is the audio conversion. True HD conversions and ATMOS seem to be too much for the Shield 2018s general CPU cores.
Iām testing with a 2 core Celeron and an i7 6 core 5820k to see how much CPU is actually needed to transcode TrueHD and ATMOS.
@Andrew_Tang So youāre now streaming in 4k, so that one step closer. Now to figure out why your transcoding. What is the container and audio/video codecs for the file thatās transcoding? e.g. MKV, h.264, AC3. You can get this information with something like the MediaInfo app.
My TV is a Sony BRAVIA KD65XF9005BU.
Update: I downloaded another file ieā¦ [FileName 2018 REMUX 2160p (10bit) BluRay UHD HDR HEVC TrueHD DTS-HD MA 7 1-LEGi0N] and this does DirectPlay for me. This is a 61Gb size file. Though itās about 99% smooth, not 100%. There are barely noticeable glitches every now and then but the video does not stutter to the point where itās unwatchable. The speedtest I posted above is from the TV. I donāt know why the first file gave me 3840 x 2026ā¦ might be that was what was wrong with it in the first place. I do use subtitles. But there are also subtitles in the second fileā¦ but it did DirectPlay for me. Yes seems to be TrueHD7.1 is not supported but then the video shouldnāt say Transcode only the audio? I am just guessing. lolā¦
And I truly appreciate all comments hereā¦ you guys have been really helpful to an Android TV, 4K and Plex noob hereā¦ haha. Thanks again!!
