This doesn’t have to do with the current topic but I thought I would mention it.
If yo don’t have a active connection to the internet, you can’t even access the Plex app on your tv. Plex does not need the internet to work over a local network in your house. So what good is the app on the tv if you cant access it without internet?
Back to the Pixelating problem, I think my solution will be this because Im stuck with this tv:
I am going to buy the Nvidia Shield. Connect that to the hdmi input on the tv, then I can just abandon all the apps on the junk tv. The Nvidia Shield has alot more options and you can run your Plex server on it if you wanted to. Now I wont be trapped with Vizio problems, I can move the Nvidia shield to any tv that I want to just by unplugging the hdmi wire and plug it in to another tv, simple.
I purchased this tv thinking it has everything I needed. I didn’t plan on having to spend more money to fix vizio problems, but I guess this is a lesson learned. I will never buy another Vizio again and anytime I see someone trying to purchase one I will go out of my way to tell them what kind of junk they are buying.
Current problems:
First tv was replaced under warranty do to some strange picture problems the tv was having. It was replaced with a “Refurbished” tv and it was only covered for the balance of my original tv purchase warranty. For me, I only had 3 months left. Of course nothing happened in these 3 months.
3 burned out LED sections so now there are 3 dark spots on the tv. Started happening as soon as the tv went out of warranty, imagine that. I can fix it, its an easy fix for me, just very involved because you need to just about break down the entire tv to get to the LED’s. You need alot of room and alot of time. The only way to stop this problem from happening is to turn off the auto backlight feature and turn your backlight setting down to 50% to prevent them from being over driven to burn out again. If you dont have this problem yet, you will if you dont turn down the backlight and turn off the auto backlight feature.
Now this problem we are talking about, the last Vizio update broke the Plex app. All kinds of pixelating problems almost to the point of making it not worth watching. No fix at this point in time.
Vizio tech support is a joke, especially frustrating for people that “do” know what they are doing.
Seems to me that Plex support is non existant, atleast not in these forums.
Again, my fix is to get the NVidia Shield. Apparently it works very well and I can move it to any tv I want to, even if its not a smart tv.
This is what Im currently working with, still the same problem.
Model -E70-E3
Version - 5.0.14.1
Cast Version - 1.27.96538
Wired ethernet connection to gigabit network. Plex server on same network.
My last Vizio update was on 12-19-2018. TV still says its up to date at this time.
Heres another firmware update coming in from Vizio on my tv. 5.0.16.1
Lets see if that fixes the Plex issue. I will let you know when its done updating.
I have the Vizio E70-E3. Last update about an hour ago was 5.0.16.1.
Navigating through the Plex app on the tv is alot faster and so far no pixelating has happened. Streaming 4k HDR10. Same movie yesterday was pixelating right off the bat. Now it seems to be fine.
Last email I got from Vizio said:
Plex sent the firmware update to my tv. Vizio doesnt handle app firmware. OMG, are you kidding me?
What a bunch of programmed idiot tech support people they have. I wonder what will happen when youtube updates our tv’s firmware?
Plex updates your server periodically. When they do, click “whats new” next to the update. It will tell you about any new features and fixes. As far as Plex doing firmware updates on a Vizio tv, that was a joke. App developers cannot write firmware updates for a tv. They can only update their own app, then they must submit it to Vizio so they can incorporate it into their next firmware update.
So I watched movies all night. No more pixelating at all. App is working much faster, more responsive. Someone must have heard us complaining. Maybe Plex is watching these posts, just not commenting. Anyhow, its good to have it working again.
Ok, still having pixelating issues. It’s not as bad as it was before, but its still happening now and then. No reason for it on my end, running Plex server on a gigabit network, storage and the Vizio tv on the same network. Restarted everything a few times and still the same.
Still having occasional pixelation even when doing complete transcode. For movies, I have started to switch over to my PITA HTPC using the full desktop app since the vizio TV is sub-par.
I thought the problem was fixed with the last firmware update, but apparently it was just tweaked a little. It is better than it was, but I am still having some pixelating issues that I never had before. The latest Vizio firmware for the E70-E3 is 5.0.16.1. Plex for Vizio version number is 3.13.13. I have tried to get help with Vizio support for this issue but they keep telling me its a problem with Plex, not the tv, even though their firmware update caused the problem. They did tell me there is no way to roll back the firmware to a previous version that did work so we are stuck with the latest update. Vizio support it pretty much a joke and it seems that Plex support atleast in here is non existant due to them not responding to anything here. So it seems the only answer is to ditch the tv apps and use an external device from a company that provides some sort of good tech support if the need ever happens. Atleast then we would be dealing with one company for support instead of two or three blaming each other for the problem.
This, unfortunately, is the reason I was hesitant about buying a Smart TV with the manufacturer’s own operating system. I “upgraded” from a TCL 55" Roku TV to this 65" Vizio SmartCast. I sorely miss Roku. I’ve been contemplating buying a Shield TV to fix these issues, but I’ll lose one of my already meager 3 HDMI inputs. Not thrilled at the situation.
You’d think, by now, given the popularity of this thread, that plex would step in and say something. Even just drop a single message saying they’re working on it or something.
They take away transcoding of 4K video because it “Puts a heavy of a load on the CPU”. How about you you let the user decide what is a heavy load since many of us build computers specifically designed as plex servers that could easily tranacode 4K. THEN they give us an insanely specific format that 4K videos can be played in and not downgraded to 1080p.How many of us have spent hours upon hours converting 4K video to their specs? Now that doesn’t even work.
This is getting mildly infuriating. If I buy a TV based heavily on the fact that plex is built in, now plex is broken and they don’t say a single word to say about it, this is basically just a big “F**K YOU” to all of us.
I feel that Plex has stretched themselves way too thin. Between attempting to flesh out a feature set that no one asked for, and making apps for most/all Smart TVs. I feel they’re out of resources to focus on maintaining their app across all platforms.
I agree completely. And I also get that on its surface, it’s a free app. But many people do pay for it. And again, because they’ve integrated their app into so many devices, people do base their purchases on it the fact that it’s part of the product.
Absolutely. I’m not giving them a pass on this by any means. I’m saying their business model is screwed up and needs some serious work. They also need some real competition. I was hopeful that Emby would give them a run for their money, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening.
