HEVC not direct playing on Galaxy Tab A SM-T510

[Sciguymjm]

Server Version#: 1.20.3.3483-211702a9f
Player Version#: 8.7.2.20952

Reviving this thread since it’s still unresolved. Direct play does not work (not even an error) on the Galaxy Tab A SM-T510 10.1". Leads to a loading screen when playing a media item and loads infinitely. Workaround is to play in an external player (VLC) but no tracking of watch history is a pain in the butt. Galaxy S20 5G plays everything fine.

HEVC not direct playing on Galaxy Tab A SM-T510

Server Version#: 1.19.2.2737 Player Version#: 8.0.0.17276 I have a similar problem to the one listed here https://forums.plex.tv/t/samsung-galaxy-tab-a-10-1-sm-t510-cant-direct-play-hevc-h-265-media/432684 Files which are HEVC do not play on my tablet, but play on MiBox S and Galaxy S7 with no problems. On the tablet I get a get yellow circle spinning. If I use VLC as an external player with plex the files play with no problem. plex-log-paulgerty.zip (428.8 KB)

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 SM-T510 can't direct play HEVC(h.265) media

Server Version#: 1.16.1.1291 Player Version#: 7.18.1.11300 I have a galaxy tab a 10.1 SM-T510 tablet and it will not direct play hevc media. When attempting to the plex ui spins and sometimes returns and error and other times just continues to spin for as long as I’ve waited. Setting the video quality to a lower quality forcing serverside transcode allows it to play. Since the newer android client no longer let’s you disable directplay the only workaround taht works is to set the quality to…

[wangmaster]

@anon18523487 You tried to help with the original topic. I think I had sent you a couple of sets of log files. I’ve been working around this issue by having my kids tablets set to trancode to 720p quality so everything is being transcoded down. This really isn’t ideal though. Any more thoughts? This is occuring on 3 SM-T510 tablets for me.

[anon18523487]

Please provide me a new log from the app after trying to play the hevc file.

[wangmaster]

@anon18523487 what is the easiest way to share that log with you? I can generate one in the next few days.

[anon18523487]

Post it here or if you are concerned about privacy, PM it to me. Click on my avatar and select message.

[reiko]

I have the same issue with my SM-T510.
Latest Plex Media Server on Ubuntu, latest Android updates (10) and latest Plex for Android.

[Igor-Pavlichenko]

Samsung Galaxy A7 10.4" (2020) SM-T500
Same problem.
HEVC 10 bit main 10 doesn’t play in Plex natively, but plays fine through external app (VLC).

Will try to provide logs asap

[Igor-Pavlichenko]

I was trying to watch The Expanse S04E01 New Terra (to help you search the log file).

I noticed some logs of android app are in device’s language (russian), sorry for that, let me know if you need help translating them. They all basically say “Neither direct play nor conversion is available.”

(File removed) (File removed)

Here’s the email text generated by the android app:

Manufacturer: samsung
Device: gta4lwifi
Model: SM-T500
Product: gta4lwifieea
Version: 10

[anon18523487]

Your logs shows that the app tried to DP the file, but the device failed. My guess is that the device does not support 10-bit hevc. Do you have an 8-bit hevc file you can try?

[Igor-Pavlichenko]

Any HEVC with profile other than main 10 plays fine.
The 10 bit only plays through VLC… Seems like VLC is doing software decoding but ExoPlayer used by PLEX doesn’t

It also blows my mind that a device with a seemingly capable cpu released in 2020 doesn’t provide hardware support for 10 bit HEVC, although according to this it should… I guess that’s what people get for buying budged samsung crap

[anon18523487]

@Igor-Pavlichenko

Seems like VLC is doing software decoding but ExoPlayer used by PLEX doesn’t

Correct. The Plex app relies mostly on the hardware.

[reiko]

Is there some way to force transcoding to be able to play the files on the tablet?

[anon18523487]

You can force a transcode by lowering the quality to something lower than the source.

Another option is to enable the automatic adjust quality setting which should also do it, but there is an issue with that setting and subtitles, so if you use subtitles, don’t use this option.

[Igor-Pavlichenko]

Hi. I’ve just tested this with Xiaomi Mi A2 phone and it plays those files just fine, no issues at all, and the Tab A7’s CPU/GPU are supposed to be a tiny bit better than those of the Mi A2, so I really don’t get it, is it possible that Samsung disabled support for 10 bit hevc intentionally? Is it possible that ExoPlayer is mistaken about the hardware capabilities of this device?

[anon18523487]

@Igor-Pavlichenko

is it possible that Samsung disabled support for 10 bit hevc intentionally?

Possible, but I don’t know.

@Igor-Pavlichenko

Is it possible that ExoPlayer is mistaken about the hardware capabilities of this device?

Exoplayer gets the info directly from the device, so if it’s wrong, then the device is reporting it incorrectly, which would not be surprising. I have seen devices report incorrectly.