Issues streaming 4k(mostly audio transcode related, in theory)

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
21

Thanks for all the help so far.

not sure if PMS logs like my systems at work. but ive restarted it and replayed this file in hopes it it makes a new log for you and is thus cleaner

I was playing archer(without issue) before playing the movie again(which errors out just as before). So if the log is still together with old stuff. Skip past anything about playing archer.

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*I feel like it might be worth noting, I have 4k files with much higher stream rates(a couple near 100mb/s that play just fine, highest being 93209 kbps)

22

Let’s wait for David to catch up. I’m sure there is a simple answer for this.

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No word from him on his Monday, maybe something tomorrow.

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Any word on David taking a look at this?

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Lurker here. Could I suggest you try a couple things, and ask a question. Question: what is your shield hooked up to? Explain audio and video (4K display? receiver? soundbar? etc) in detail if possible. Also do a speedtest with maybe your iPhone or laptop right at the shield’s location to get an idea of your wifi Mbps at that locale. 4K streaming needs at least ~150-200Mbps reliable in my experience. You might also try direct wiring your shield with a long ethernet cable.

I see your MKV has two tracks, TrueHD and AC3. What happens when you choose the AC3 track for playback on the shield? I would also like to suggest you remux a test 4K file with either no audio at all, just the AC3 track, or convert one of the tracks to AAC stereo audio and try to play that on your shield. Also suggest perhaps transcoding one of your 4K HDR files to just 4K BT709 as a test.

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I dont really have a way to measure lan speed, I could do an outbound wan test but that would just confirm my 150/15 internet connection. my server and shield are intranet. But I can play files with double or more the bitrate as this file without issue and my dashboard peaks well over any bitrates I have when it initially starts buffering 4k files. This file is 46Mb/s and the intial stream to it to buffer peaked at 286Mb/s and ive seen over 500Mb/s.

I could mess with the audio channels and see what happens.

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You mentioned initially that you see this on devices other than the Shield, correct? If you’re seeing this across multiple devices, that would cause me to think it’s more likely to be something server related. However, logs from the clients (alongside server logs from the same time) when you encounter this would definitely help to narrow it down :slight_smile:

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Before DB optimization certain files wouldnt play anywhere. Now(without going through my entire library), I am just experiencing the issue described.

How do I go about getting logs from the shield TV? most of the time when this issue happens the app crash completely after going unresponsive.

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Have a look here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201573117-android-android-tv-fire-tv-logs/

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On this thread it states “If you can send h265 video with supported audio your player will happily (direct)play it, but if Plex has to transcode the audio, and the streaming container doesn’t support h265 video (like HLS), it can’t re-package the original h265 video with that ‘new’ audio, therefore even video needs to be transcoded.”
If you can confirm Direct play of the audio, I am at a loss. However, I suspect your shield is not hooked up to a device that can direct play/decode TrueHD, and what would be a simple computational act for your server of transcoding the audio is, due to a plex “bug” I suppose, making your server do something computationally complex it is not powerful enough to do: transcode 4K video. I don’t know of many TVs that can decode TrueHD so if your shield is hooked straight to your TV by HDMI (vs a TrueHD receiver) that could be your problem.

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Video is being direct played as that is what is showing in dashboard when playing. My sheild is locked into 2ch mode as my dac can not handle surround being a stereo system.

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I will do this tonight and provide a new PMS long and STV log.

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that’s your problem.

you need shield > 4k/atmos receiver > 4k tv if you want to direct play 4k/hdr/hd audio

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To test wifi LAN speed for your shield, transfer a large file between your server and a laptop by Wifi (ideally laptop in same location as shield). The transfer speed will be roughly equal your (possible) wifi LAN speed. Another thing to test is get some app for your shield to test your broadband speed. You have a 150mbps internet connection; if you aren’t getting 100+Mbps WAN at your shield the LAN wifi signal may not be as reliable as you hope in that location.

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@TeknoJunky I dont tho, I expect my server to do the audio transcode and it does with many other videos

@scarbrtj My network is plenty fast enough, here is my dashboard stream rate. the only traffic at the time was the video going to the shield TV on wifi. Just shy of 286Mbps the file is 46Mbps. wifi is not my issue.

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Many other H265 4K HDR videos?

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I guess it doesn’t matter what you expect.

But now you know what you need to get.

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Ill wait for one of the plex support people to tell me that. I think ChuckPA and DaveBinM would have told me that already if it was the issue.

@scarbrtj yes

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scarbrtj already explained this @ Issues streaming 4k(mostly audio transcode related, in theory)

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If your server is transcoding the True HD audio to stereo in many other H265 4K HDR videos without causing transcoding of the 4K video too it would appear that your server and PMS version has been accomplishing something that no one else’s has. I’m not saying it isn’t but if it is we will all want to know 1) why it’s been happening for you and 2) how to get it to happen for everyone. It will solve a lot of problems


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