Direct play buffering

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#:
Player Version#:

hi all,

i’m using this as my PMS:

8 gb ram
os hw: ssd
media hw: external hdd connected via usb3 to the router and shared
windows 10

i understand that it’s unreasonable to expect it to be able to transcode 4k videos but even in direct play i sometimes get extensive buffering. is this the server hardware fault?

thanks,

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If you are having issues with direct play, then it could be

  • the client not being able to handle the bitrate of the video, or
  • your network is too slow, or
  • the connection between the client and server is actually going out through the internet and back so it takes twice the bandwidth of normal
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  1. could you please explain

the client not being able to handle the bitrate of the video

?

  1. my internet connection is very fast (2.5 gbps) and the connection to the living player is over lan. how strong should my hw be to direct stream/play 4k hdr content?
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Some clients may not playback very high bitrate files very well. So it’s not actually buffering, it’s just struggling to play. These could be things like the Plex for Smart TV app or some older or bottom of line streaming boxes.

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the player is the tv app for

and it plays 4k hdr content very well from a friend’s server (outside my lan)

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In the app there is an option to send logging data to the server it is accessing. Enable that, reproduce the problem, gran the server logs and post them here.

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sent you directly.

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Your logs indicate that the file was being direct played so it’s not a transcode issue. The file looks to have a bitrate of around 80 Mbps. That sound right?

It looks like your server and TV are only able to transmit the file at around 5-10 MBps, which is not enough to transfer that file in real-time. Do the 4K files from your friend have this high of a bitrate?

Is your TV connected by wire or wireless? I found the WiFi on LG TVs to be horrible, I have one. Even with my Router nearby, it still slow. I had to wire it to get decent performance.

Another possibility is that your NUC is just too underpowered to act as a server and can’t push enough data out. It has a very slow cpu so this is very possible too. Have you asked your friend to try playing this file from your server? If he sees the same issue, it points more towards your NUC being the issue.

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Hi. I am having the same problem with MKV 4k (2160P) h265 hdr10 movie file. Very strong new desktop computer (Windows 10). The network runs on new Asus AX4500 router. Movie file is on external USB3 disk. No problem playing it with VLC on the computer. My TV is Samsung Q900R (82"). Direct (cable) Ethernet connection (Checked speed 100Mbps). No problem playing file when the disk is connected הןש USB directly to TV. But with Plex it plays for about 1 min and then 3 second stop for buffering. Can not figure out how to fix it. Any idea ?

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What is the client ?

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thank you @anon18523487 for your continued effort and help on this!

okay, from reading the logs i also understood that the problem was with getting the file to the client, so i’ve done some experimentation and think i’ve found the rood cause:

  1. i copied the file to the local drive of the server and played it from there. played well.
  • means that the problem lies with the drive or the router it was connected to (which acts as nas here)
  1. possible cause son the router side: upnp media server was enabled, drives were connected in daisy chain configuration. disabled both. problem persisted.
  2. disconnected the drived and connected them directly to the usb3 port on the server. played well.

my interim conclusion: the issue is with the router here acting as nas, not being able to read fast enough from the drives.
pretty disappointing as this is supposed to be a high tier router (RT-AX86U).

what do you think?

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My client is the Plex for Samsung Smart TV. My TV is Samsung 82Q900R

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