Heavy performance issue playing 4K HDR remuxes with release 8.12

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Server Version#: 1.29.2.6364
Player Version#: 8.12
Apple TV 4K (1st gen - 2017)

This morning I updated the app on my Apple TV to the newly released 8.12 version, and tested a few of my files.

Since this update, the picture of some 4K HDR files is heavily stuttering. It’s like they are always skipping frames. It’s very noticeable and it does it on ALL the files that are straight 4K HDR uncompressed MKV remuxes from discs. Please note that the other types of files do seem to still work correctly (1080p, 4K without HDR, etc.)

Playing these files was working perfectly fine with 8.11. But with 8.12 it’s suddenly very broken. Please help!

6 Likes
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I just want to add that I use the Movies side of Plex to play the movies I own on disc. So this new issue is a huge showstopper for me.

Please let me know if I can help in any way.

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Can you share the media info XML for an affected item, and possibly a sample of a file that exhibits the issue?

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I just updated my ATV4K gen 2.
I powered it off and unplugged it.
I plugged it back in and tried it out.
Blade Runner 2084 in 4K HDR plays perfectly now without banding.
Looking forward to your samples and logs.

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On 8.11 and below I primarily saw this issue on 24 fps HDR content only. This was also more noticeable on my Apple TV 4K first gen. As of 8.12 I’m seeing the stuttering/frame loss issue on all of my HDR content on both the first and second gen Apple TV 4K.

Please let me know if I can assist in tracking this down.

It may also be worth noting that in 8.12, the issue only appears on HDR content in the modern video player. If I turn off HDR or switch to the old player, the stuttering/frame loss issue is no longer reproducible.

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Sure, here’s the media part of the Plex XML for one of my files (but again, all 4K HDR uncompressed MKV remuxes I have are having the same problem):

Here’s a more complete MediaInfo log, in case it can be useful:

I hope it can help.

As for a sample file, I would be happy to provide a Plex employee with one if it can be useful to investigate and resolve the problem. But really, it’s very easy to reproduce. Here are the steps:

  1. Have the 8.12 app on an Apple TV 4K 1st gen 2017 (mine is a 1st gen. Does it matter? I don’t know.)
  2. Take a UHD disc and remux it to MKV. Adjust the tracks of the MKV file using MKVToolNix, as needed.
  3. Add the file to your Plex library.
  4. Play the file using the Apple TV app with the default “modern video player”.
    —> The picture will heavily stutter like if it was dropping frames.

If it can help, I have Match Frame Rate enabled in the Apple TV’s settings, but this setting doesn’t seem to make any difference as far as this issue is concerned.

Everything was working fine with 8.11 (and with all the other older versions since I began using Plex).

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Could the issue be specific to the Apple TV 4K 1st gen?

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Thanks! Yeah, it’s what I’m seeing too. Heavy stuttering/frame loss on 4K HDR remuxes using the modern video player. The issue seems to be with HDR, as I can’t reproduce the stuttering with 4K only files.

It’s interesting that you’re mentioning seeing this on the second gen Apple TV 4K too.

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I was also seeing it on the 2nd gen Apple TV. Enabling frame rate matching seemed to fix it.

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I agree with robot3humans0,

When I turned on frame rate matching on my 2nd gen Apple TV 4K, the stuttering/frame loss issue is no longer reproducible. This includes 24 fps HDR content that was problematic in 8.11.

At the moment, with frame rate matching turned on, this is only an issue on my 1st gen Apple TV 4K. For those of you using the 1st gen Apple TV 4K. The only workarounds I’ve found is turning off HDR or switching to the old video player.

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Thanks for the info! And that explains why I still see the issue even if I have Match Frame Rate enabled.

But it was working perfectly well for me with 8.11 and below… what happened? :frowning:

Turning off HDR or using the old player and transcoding everything aren’t great options. I really hope this gets fixed soon…

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You’re welcome!

I agree, I hope they fix it soon. In 8.11 and below I was only reproducing this on 24 fps HDR (at least that’s what I think I narrowed it down to) whereas it wouldn’t happen in other HDR content at a “normal” fps of 23.976. I believe they updated the underlying open source software used in the modern video player to fix the color banding issue. That could have exacerbated the stuttering/frame loss issue on the first gen Apple TV 4K.

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So I guess if it isn’t fixed soon my only option is to buy a newer Apple TV? That’s kind of a bummer, especially since everything was perfect before updating the app this morning…

Anybody from Plex could chime in?

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I feel your pain. :slightly_frowning_face: I had to downgrade from my 2nd gen to the 1st gen (found and bought) when I realized the color banding issue only happens on new apple hardware.

Hopefully the 3rd gen behaves the same as the 2nd gen.

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I wish I had blocked the 8.12 update honestly :frowning:

1 Like
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I’m personally not part of Plex’s beta program and I only use TestFlight for iOS at work. Though on iOS I know it’s possible to get previous versions of our app through TestFlight. You could try that to see if it’s possible to get 8.11 through TestFlight.

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sample, logs, models of all hardware, OS versions, connection path from PMS to TV

The TV model and chain of devices are important. Match frame rate on my ATV4K g2 does nothing when my TV doesn’t go down to 23.976 but it’s happy to run at 60 where 59.94 fps is smooth.

In my comment where I said this worked, I didn’t post my TV model or any real details.
That was a failure. It’s an older LG. Sorry about that.

server logs and the apple tv log after you restart all the hardware on your LAN involved in this, then demonstrate the problem for 30 s. Please zip and upload them. Realistically we only need to see the logs with timestamp after you restarted the computer.

Any of you can do this, but to make a clean topic, it’s better if only the OP posts them.
Downgrading sounds like a great idea too.
Let us know!

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As stated, I would happily send a sample of one of the movies privately to a Plex employee if it’s really needed for debugging purpose. I really appreciate the help, but I will not post this publicly. Same with logs. Also, like I said, the steps to reproduce are very easy (but reproducing the issue seems to depend on the model of Apple TV 4K, according to what people are saying).

As for the rest, nothing changed on my end today. It was working this morning with 8.11, and the issue appeared right after updating to 8.12. My server is on a Mac (13.0.1) using an ethernet cable, and the Apple TV is also using ethernet. The Apple TV is connected directly to the TV. As for the TV brand, it really doesn’t matter given the issue. Especially since it only started happening right after updating to 8.12.

I would really like if a Plex employee could chime in.

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I can work on grabbing logs and samples. I rip my content from discs I own, so I’m not worried about sharing. I’ll send that later since the TV is currently being used.

Though here’s everything else:
Server:
PMS version: 1.29.2.6364
macOS 12.6.1 (12G217)
Mac Studio with an M1 Max, 64 GB of RAM.

Mac studio is connected to a Qnap 10G switch. An amplifi alien is the router. The Apple TV is connected to the PMS through the same Qnap 10G switch via a cat 6 cable.

Apple TV:
Model A1842 (32 GB)
tvOS: 16.1 (20K71)
Resolution setting: 2160p UHD - 60Hz HDR10 4:2:2
The Apple TV is connected directly to the TV with a high speed HDMI cable. The exact cable can be found here: Belkin UltraHD High Speed 4K HDMI Cable (2m) - Apple

TV:
SAMSUNG 65-inch Class QLED Q90T Series - 4K UHD Direct Full Array 16X Quantum HDR 16X Smart TV with Alexa Built-in (QN65Q90TAFXZA, 2020 Model)
Samsung TV software version: 2303

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What kind of sample do you need?