I have asked a similar question before but I am still confused a little so I will ask it differently.
I want to compare the native video app on my Android TV to Plex video app on the same Android TV. The TV is connected to a Synology NAS (DS916+) running Plex Media server via Ethernet cable. The Plex settings are set to the maximum video quality via its web interface settings.
A 1080p video played from the video app has great 4K quality. But the same video played via the Plex app has good quality but not the 4K quality. I don’t know the language to describe it exactly but the video played the other Plex app has a more cinematic quality versus the native video app quality is more like watching a daytime soap opera.
I must be doing something wrong. Is there anything I can do to match the native video app quality?
I forgot to mention I contacted Synology support and they told me the model of the ds916+ uses hardware transcoding that the Plex Media server does not. I was told it is possible for the Plex Media server to use the same hardware transcoding but was not sure and said it might be a paid service.
The Plex Android TV app has its own in-app settings. They cannot be set via Plex Web.
Check the settings in the Plex Android TV app and make sure they are set appropriately.
Launch the Plex app. Select your Username. Choose Settings.
Adjust automatically = Off
Home Streaming = Maximum
Hardware transcoding in Plex requires a Plex Pass.
With Synology NAS, Plex uses the CPU’s embedded GPU/ASIC for hardware accelerated transcoding (Intel Quick Sync Video).
For Plex, the DS916+, which has a Pentium N3710 CPU, supports hardware accelerated transcoding up to 1080p. 4K/2160p is not supported. See spreadsheet linked below.
Some Synology NAS contain a dedicated chip for video transcoding. Synology does not allow non-Synology apps, such as Plex, to access this chip.
I have the same television, what are you talking about the native video app? Which app exactly? And are you playing the file over DLNA?
1080p is 1080p… there’s no 4K in this scenario. It could be a “Great Upscale” maybe… But that’s why it’s important for me to know which “Native Video App” you’re talking about.
This is called the Soap Opera Effect, and it’s caused by the settings within the television, not the settings of Plex. You like frame interpolation… Go into the Motionflow settings on the television when inside of the plex app and mess around with them.
Also, follow what the guy above me said as well, because if you’ve changed the settings via plex.tv that does nothing to affect your Plex Android TV app… you need to go into the Quality settings within the app itself to affect changes there.
Edit: So I think I found the app you’re referring to. That App is the Video App and it’s red with a film strip logo on it. Is that correct?
Some things to note about this app:
It plays over DLNA which is a direct play scenario
I had 0 Access to my “Custom” picture mode while inside this app
It seems it defaults to “Standard” and turns the Ambient Light sensor off resulting in an overly bright image
The Standard Settings are pretty garbage (which is why I have a custom picture mode)
I can’t be certain, but I do believe that particular app does allow the TV to upscale, and the Plex app I believe does not… But I could be mistaken here
You can achieve the same thing in the Plex app though if that’s how you want it. Just go to the action menu, choose picture settings, and set the mode to standard and turn off the Ambient light sensor. If you really want some Soap Opera Effect, you can turn on the Sports mode. Or to achieve the same level of SOE within your Custom setting, you can go to The same picture settings, go to Advanced at the bottom, and then go to Motion. Turn the Smoothness all the way up, and turn the Clarity all the way down.
Note: Smoothness is Motion Interpolation Frame Compensation (ie it inserts more frames that are generated by the software in the television and sticks them between the other frames) And Clarity is Black Frame insertion; if you turn this all the way up you will notice a significant dip in brightness as well as possibly a flicker to the screen. But what this does is tries to get rid of the ghosting/blurring of the image by giving the pixels a brief time to power down and recreate the flicker of a traditional CRT television, tuning both of these settings gives you more or less of the Soap Opera Effect, so just move the sliders on both until you’ve found an image pleasing to your eyes…
