I would like to use the built-in webOS Plex client to access my 4K files. What kind of setup will I need to make this happen?
I’m hoping to just put everything on a NAS and play natively on the TV using the webOS Plex client. However there are quite a few posts on the forums saying there are issues with LG webOS’s Plex client and 4K.
This is very good thread on streaming 4k content in general, but I’ve also weighed in with my experience with LG 4k sets and Sony home theatre equipment.
I have no issues at all playing back 4k content on my setup (an LG OLED55B8 and a 55SK8500) with the following caveats:
the TVs and server are on a wired network
most of my content is reencoded (as opposed to remuxes); the LG sets only have 100mb/s wired interfaces and some remuxes are over 100mb/s. WiFi has the possibility of higher throughput but is generally less reliable.
my home theatre gear is connected via ARC output from the TV. This means no HD audio. DD and DTS will play fine, as will the DTS component of a DTS-HD MA track. TrueHD will trigger a transcode, so avoid it.
the LG sets can’t display bitmap subs natively so PMS will trigger a transcode and burn them in if you select. Avoid this by only using SRT or similar subs
Your NAS doesn’t need to be particularly high spec to stream 4k, it’s transcoding that uses all the CPU and RAM and you want to do everything you can to avoid transcoding 4k content anyway.
Disagree
DTS-HD MA 5.1 will (direct play) on a LG OLED55 or 65B8 without a ARC connection
DTS-HD-MA 7.1 will (trans code) and or result in bleeding, DLNA will play.
But the OP was talking about the LG WallPaper, if it’s the 2019 model it supports eARC. With this TV
I would gather with it’s included speaker system / soundbar it will support MA 7.1
The OP stated they were thinking of buying the OLED65W7T. The “7” indicates it’s the 2017 model which has ARC, but not eARC, so they’ll be limited to DTS and DD output over HDMI to a receiver or soundbar.
DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 7.1 would both direct play in any case, as the TV extracts the DTS core from the DTS-HD MA stream and passes that over to the audio equipment if it’s not capable of playing the HD stream. Even with no external audio equipment attached it would still direct play as the set is capable of downmixing internally to 2.0
You only really run until problems with TrueHD, which has no lower bitrate core, and will force a transcode unless you’re using eARC and compatible audio equipment. FWIW I remove the TrueHD streams from my movies and just leave the Dolby Digital track.
If 4K is a prerequisite without issue or involving to much re encoding, Yes. But if it’s on dollar constraint, No. If it’s new superseded stock, maybe. If secondhand that a gamble. Ohh, so much to think about…
