Hopefully, this is a better place to post this problem than a new thread:
The plex client struggles a lot playing 4k videos on more than capable and recent apple machine.
The same videos play fine through smb mounts and with other players, as well as using plex in the browser.
My LAN speed is upwards of 150mbit, so not a network speed issue either.
more info in this thread:
Has anyone had issues with direct playing 4K content recently? My users are reporting buffering on the windows desktop client for direct play of 4K content over network connection speeds far exceeding the content bitrate. More details here: Multiple PC's unable to play 4K Files without Buffering
Hello all,
Thanks for this thread which is a mine of interesting informations.
I am about to buy a brand new 4K HDR TV (Panasonic TX-65JZ1500E) and a Sonos ARC and an Apple TV 4K 2021.
I already have a Plex library (plex pass user) on my personal NAS that is a QNAP TS251A.
I play content following two use cases :
I really want to enjoy movies in 4K HDR with :
4K 2160p HDR EAC3 x265
Would you think it is possible (my NAS is powerfull enough) to transcode a 4K HDR x265 EAC3 movie to make it playable on my iPhone while being out of my home ?
If not possible, which type of encoding would you recommand to best match my requirements ?
Thank you in advance.
Regards
Only 4K h.264
I would recommend getting a Nvidia Shield Pro instead of the Apple TV. There are some issues playing some formats. Do a little research before you make up your mind.
That goes both ways. Android can’t do subtitles based on .ass/ssa properly. Can be pretty annoying if you watch a lot of content with subtitles.
Thanks for your answers.
I would really prefer getting an Apple TV 4k as I am in the Apple ecosystem …
Anyhow, I did a quick search on VIDEO/AUDIO specs for both AppleTV4k and Shield Pro.
both supports H265, H264 and majors audio formats…
@premikkoci : what do you mean by “only 4K H264” ? Do you mean that with my NAS I would only be able to transcode in realtime this format ? Or Apple TV 4K is not capable of playing this format in direct play ?
To be honest with you, I haven’t found any movie in 4K H264. Only 4K 2160p HDR EAC3 x265 or 1080p
@Alucard1 : I do not see any issues playing formats with apple TV ? Which ones do you refer to ? Is if for Direct play or transcoding ?
Thanks a lot for you highlights.
Have a good day
I only remember seeing people having issues with the Apple TV hence why I said you might want to do some research on both before you make you decide which to get. I can’t remember but it may have been an issue with HDR and no Atmos and problems with HD audio. Do a Google search Plex Apple TV 4K and you should find what issues people are having.
4K is usually H.265 unless someone encodes in h.264 but the movie file will be much bigger as the compression is not as good as H.265.
It can’t pass thru HD-Audio of any description in Plex. It transcodes it to FLAC lossless.
That’s simply a Plex failing.
It can’t pass thru lossless Atmos. (Device limitation)
It can do lossy Atmos.
No issues with any HDR10 whatsoever.
Dolby Vision it can only do profile 5 but will fallback to HDR10 for any other profile.
Pretty sure it’s a tvOS limitation. No way to output HD audio.
I was thinking LPCM.
Hello all,
I am please to let you know that direct playing 4k hdr x265 eac3 mkv files from plex through new apple tv 4k 2021 works perfectly on my new hifi hardware.
Transcoding this file on other devices is impossible. I have another 1080p library for this use case.
Thanks for your help
Regards
Hi TeknoJunky
I need some advice again. I’m one of those who WANT TrueHD/Atmos. But heres the thing.
In one if your posts you said and listed some info, it means that my current setup cannot do this. I have ARC and not eARC. Denon S950H in 5.2.2 with Polk in-ceiling. 2019 Nvidia Shield Pro and a Samsung Q65R.
If I play a movie with TrueHD Atmos compression: Lossless my PMS shows direct play and receiver shows Atmos.
Connection setup:
Shield HDMI to AVR HDMI.
AVR eARC HDMI to Samsung ARC HDMI.
So this works over ARC then?
Earc/arc only matter when playing from the tv itself, or the shield/streamer is plugged into the tv.
Shield/Xbox directly into receiver is the best/right way.
Thank you.
Comments on Roku Ultra?
if you want full 4k experience (or as close as you can get) including HD audio, then above is your only options.
roku are designed for streaming netflix etc (as are most all streaming devices/tvs), not full 4k remuxes, they do not support any hd audio, but various models may support 4k+dolbydigital type audio formats.
appletv comes closest to shield/xbox, but also does not pass through HD audio, however IIRC it can decode hd audio to PCM/flac (but losing atmos).
neither shield, nor xbox are perfect, but they are still the best you can get.
I expect no other new (or existing) devices to come close.
no known smart tvs support hd audio either, with or without e-arc.
re-read the first post, not much has changed other than plex adding better gpu transcoding/tone mapping, and the trickle down of newer hardware becoming older and more accessible.
If this has been posted before, please forgive me, but why can’t I optimize a file 4k to 4k? This seems like a simple add to the optimize menu. Plus, it will force HDR tone mapping which is why I want to do this in the first place.
Thanks!
That’s a great question @williamthrilliam! Make a #feature-suggestions post and I’ll vote for it too.
Can anybody report on the Tube’s performance with the latest updates? Any improvements?
Ive been driven to an old version of the app due to recent updates. High bitrates kill it. Commonly the app just restarts. Avoid it if possible.
