4K videos are usually in an MKV format which Plex does not support. You have to transcode. You could change the codec and container but, for me, that goes at about 10 frames per second. Thus, a two-hour movie would take about six hours to transcode…
Ahh Plex does support MKV. My whole Library is .MKV and with many 4K’s in MKV all play perfectly.
According to plex.
"Some 4K (ultra high definition) devices are recognized by the Plex app. We’re working to bring 4K playback support to other devices, too. 4K/UHD content matching the following will Direct Play on supported devices:
Container: MP4
Resolution: 3840×2160 or smaller
Video Encoding: HEVC (H.265)
Video Frame Rate: 30fps
Video Bit Depth: 8
4K content not matching the above properties will be transcoded to 1080p. Transcoding 4K content is a very intensive process and will require a powerful computer running Plex Media Server."
https://support.plex.tv/articles/203810286-what-media-formats-are-supported/
Incorrect.
Plex absolutely supports 4K video in the MKV container. It is the only way to play 4K movies with lossless audio.
The article, which is specific to Smart TVs, contains outdated information.
The Plex app on my 4K LG direct plays 4K movies which are in MKV containers.
For me, the videos do not play that way. They play absolutely fine in VLC but in Plex the videos do not work. This shows it’s not a hardware issue.
The file I am speaking of:
H.265(HEVC),
3840x2160
TRUEHD(audio) one stream
AC3(audio) another stream
57024kbps
The video severely lags. It’s not playable for me.
Plex, as a whole, definitely supports matryoshka/mkv containers. What is probably the issue is that your TV does not support that container, and by extension neither does the Plex client running on it. In these instances PMS will say it’s transcoding, but it’s not really. It’s extracting the streams from the mkv and remuxing them into a container the client can work with, usually MPEG-TS. I see this happening all the time on my server with PS4 clients. This is direct play, as opposed to direct stream.
Having said that, I don’t believe PMS can demux and direct play 4k UHD streams in this manner, and it will transcode audio and/or video at this point.
Yes, and I’m sure it is frustrating. However, that does not warrant a blanket statement that Plex does not support 4K MKVs.
May I suggest opening a separate thread for the issues you are facing? People will jump in and help.
For best results, and to cut down on additional questions as much as possible, please include:
- PMS version & platform
- Plex client version & platform. Make & model numbers if appropriate (ex: Smart TV clients).
- Some basics on your setup - devices connected wired or wireless, local or remote streaming, etc.
- Plex XML for one of the problematic movies (FYI, the forum does not accept .xml attachments. Rename the file to .txt, then attach to your post).
- problem description
- anything diagnosis or corrective actions you’ve already tried.
One additional suggestion:
- If possible, play the movie w/o subtitles enabled and with an audio track that does not transcode (usually AAC or AC3). During playback note the status in the Plex dashboard and include that in your post (Plex Web → Status → Dashboard).
The reason I suggest this is the first question usually asked is, “Transcoding?” followed rather quickly by “subtitles enabled?” Including the info up front cuts down on the Q&A and leads to faster problem resolution.
after some time now, I have realized that there are still a lot of questions asked and not directly answered by my original post.
I would like to request the forum users to suggest good questions, and the answers/solutions if they have them, to be added to the original post.
example questions;
q: why does vlc/kodi/infuse/(any other common apps?) direct play my 4k content, while plex player doesn’t?
a: those applications are custom designed standalone applications which have their own built in codecs and capabilities and do not require a server, while plex clients are typically a lightweight app that depends more on the DEVICE to do the playback of directly compatible containers/codecs and make use of the SERVER to do the heavy lifting to convert (transcode) content which is not directly handled by the device/player.
q: why is my 4k smart tv app transcoding? its 4k it should be direct playing?!!?!? netflix/hulu/amazon/etc play in 4k with no problem?
a: smart tvs do not normally support the HD AUDIO that is included with 4k bluray rips/remuxes. when you are ripping your own 4k disks, you can see and choose which audio streams are included, make sure to include an dolby digital or dts 5.1 or stereo stream.
then when you are going to play a movie, make sure that 5.1 or stereo stream is selcted.
netflix etc does not use HD audio so it does not have this problem.
also, netflix etc have greater control over both their APP and the how their CONTENT is encoded, so they can match them up to get the best experience.
plex has to deal with content from all over the place, with unknown/inconsistent qualities and codec variations.
q: why doesn’t my 4k smart tv direct play hd audio
a: most smart tvs are made as cheaply as possible, have crappy speakers, and only include the bare minimum codecs and functionality required to get the job done.
so mostly only dolbydigital/dts 5.1 or stereo is directly compatible.
most smart tvs do allow for hdmi passthrough via something called ARC.
however ARC does not support the HD audio as explained previously, so again dd/dts 5.1 or stereo is generally the best that can come out of the tv.
some brand new tvs and receivers support a new version of HDMI which has hd audio support via E-ARC.
even then, e-arc support is still in its infancy.
q: ok how do I get my HD audio along with 4k to direct play ?!?!?
a: you must use a plex client that can directly handle the codecs you are using, including the HD audio. This will NOT be your smart TV, it will be a separate device. You must also have the HARDWARE (ie receiver) that can handle the hd audio, like an atmos/4k receiver.
I use an nvidia shield with no issues and I highly recommend them, but you still need an atmos/4k receiver to direct play 4k/hdr/hd-audio content.
nvidia shield + 4k/atmos receiver + 4k tv = the simplest full 4k solution (other than dolby vision which is not supported by shield)
there are other possible solutions, but I don’t have any experience with them and cannot recommend them, perhaps others will list their recommendations.
a few examples, please help me expand the questions, answers and solutions.
thanks for everyones help and feedback.
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Just to comment a little on this. Although Infuse doesnt necessarily require a Plex server, it can be connected to Plex and would guess that most people on these forums are doing it that way. Otherwise why would they be here. In these circumstances its just yet another Plex client. It happily does Dolby Vision even in Plex, it doesnt need all the Plex nonsense of Video Preview thumbnail generation as it does it on the fly and will happily direct play PGS subs.
But sadly Apple decided to severely cripple their own device on the audio side.
Bottom line is Infuse is just software running on the ATV in the exact same way as Plex on the ATV. Nothing Infuse can do cannot be achieved by Plex on that same device if they so chose. Personally I feel that with regards to the PGS stuff in particular the fact that just because the majority of Plex clients cant handle them and has to go crying to the server to help doesnt mean that Plex should stand still on replicating what Infuse can do on the same device. Sorry but being told we need to extract external srt’s doesnt wash any more.
This in turn brings me back to the essence of this whole thread (which on most points i agree totally with). Sure you can be vigilant in only having 4K media if you have a device than can direct play it. But that doesnt alter the fact that if you watch a new 4K movie and suddenly part way through they start talking in Mandarin, Swahili or Vulcan you’re pretty much stuffed in Plex. At least for the next few hours while you extract the PGS to srt. Infuse shows it neednt be that way.
Finally Im not a massive fan of the UI of Infuse. Sure its better than the Shield or any other non UNO UI’s i have encountered in Plex. So when the Shield gets UNO I may dig it out of the cupboard, blow the dust off and connect it up again. Thats how impressed I am with UNO, showing that although it often takes Plex a long time time to get there they do get there in the end.
Anyway just my thoughts.
Okay, I did make a new post. I am playing directly from the web client. I am not playing over the network. Here is the post, I have yet to receive any replies. It’s my first posted topic so maybe I did something wrong.
In a web browser… Oh dear!!
If you want to play a 4K video, honestly buy a proper client.
I don’t know what you mean by “buy a client.” You buy servers. The NVIDIA shield, and all those NAS devices are server hardware for Plex. My computer is more powerful than all of them.
In regards to clients, I have even used the client by Plex(the windows version) and I still have the same issue.
Which windows version app do you mean?
From the store or Plex Media Player.
Also Im not really sure why you think more powerful means more capable.
More powerful means it could transcode better. But yes, I guess it can be less capable depending on the settings and things of that sort.
The Plex Media Player. I downloaded it directly from the Plex website. I should also say that I think the PMP issue is the codec’s on my computer. I don’t know which one. The PMP and the Windows Media Player play the same way. But the video works fine in VLC. Thus, I think VLC has the proper codecs.
And thats the issue why would you even want a 4K file to transcode?
You really need to read this whole thread.
And at @TeknoJunky at his point please ignore my whole last post. I feel for you and that your efforts are going wasted. There are two types of users I guess. Those like me who will find slight nuances and exceptions in some of the “Rules” because (generally) we know what we are doing and others who wont read the “Rules” as I just discovered. 
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I don’t want it transcoded. I was just making a point. A 4K video won’t play on older processors. Thus, you need more power. My point is that Plex does not handle some videos very well. VLC does. I play my video in VLC just fine as I have stated a few times. It doesn’t work that way with Plex. It’s not even playing my files locally.
I just want to update my situation. The issue has been fixed. The issue was that I had hardware decoding off. I turned it on in the Windows Plex client. It seems to be playing fine now.
You did fine. And you received a reply from a Ninja within an hour, and the problem resolved within ~3 hours. Ninjas are volunteers w/ special access to Plex. They have a deep working knowledge of the product and extra capabilities WRT forum posts & such.
Again, refrain from making incorrect blanket statements. You might be using Plex Media Player as a client, but not everybody does so. While the NVIDIA Shield can serve as a Plex server, its primary use is as a Plex client. And yes, the Plex app is free, but the hardware certainly is not.
A short list of devices devices which cost money and work as Plex clients: Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV stick/boxes, Amazon Fire TV sets, Nvidia Shield, Roku sticks/boxes, Roku TVs. Also, Plex mobile apps require an one-time activation fee unless you’ve a Plex Pass or are a member of another user’s Plex Home (which requires a Plex Pass).
Glad you have things working.
Truer words have never been spoken.
My point was that the client is software. You can download one for windows, I am sure for mac too. You can get them for Android and a lot of other devices. It’s free. I am not sure about android. I heard about a 4.99 fee or something. I do have an android client, I am not sure if I paid for it or not. My mother also has one on her TV. In most cases, people don’t buy clients. if the NVIDIA shield was a client, it wouldn’t have any other programs. A Plex client is software, not hardware.
But, of course you need some sort of hardware to run the client.
