Fire stick 4K Direct Play 4K HDR 10 as long as not TRUEHD 7.1 audio

[dannyz]

Oddity discovered this week. Maybe this is a known issue?

On a firestick 4K plugged into a 1080p TV, I can direct play 4k HDR content as long as I don’t try playing TRUEHD 7.1 audio. If I try TRUEHD 7.1, not only does the audio transcode on server, but the video starts trying to transcode. My server (5th gen Intel) can’t transcode 4K HEVC with hardware so the playback stalls.

Note: DTS-HD MA 7.1 tracks work, AC3 5.1 tracks work, but TRUEHD 7.1 causes video to transcode.

Server: Mac - plexpass Version 1.21.0.3711
FireTV Plex Player Version 8.10.0.21911

[Forusim]

I had same issue with older versions of the Plex FireTv client.
Using Plex for Android 8.11.0 and Plex server 1.21.1.3830 only the truehd audio gets converted and the 4K video is direct streamed. Make sure in the settings, you use the “new” exoplayer.

[TeknoJunky]

see also for truehd info @ Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you