No easy way to say this, but the new app is just plain awful. It’s also extremely buggy.
Problem 1 - Seems stuck in 720p no matter what settings are used, old app played 1080p content without issue. As such quality is vastly reduced.
Problem 2 - Videos will randomly get stuck and have to be completely stopped, exited and then resumed to get working again. Old app had no such issues. Occasionally as well the app will stutter without getting completely stuck.
Problem 3 - Just my opinion this one but navigating around the new app is just plain awful when you have multiple libraries. Previously I could add new content to my server and it would all be present on the main home screen, now I have to go through multiple menus just to find the content. This change just smells of changing something for changes sake, a bit like the windows 8.1 ui update that just made everything hideous and more difficult to navigate.
As such I’ve uninstalled this garbage and reverted to using the Plex LG smart TV app which is 1000 times better.
Except it isn’t just the ui. Playing 1080p content reports in the plex app as being 1080p but it simply isn’t, it’s running in 720p. The quality difference between it and the built in smart TV app is very noticeable. If I independently verify the stream resolution using plexply it reports it as being 720p.
I noticed this yesterday but assumed it was my internet or Shield crapping out, But trying the same file today on both Xbox One & LG Tv, & Indeed the Plex for Xbox One app is now downgrading/transcoding it seems while my LG Tv is direct playing the file at its original quality. File is 1080p x264 AAC .MP4. Just like the OP, Playing movies through the new Xbox One app look garbage compared to other devices, But the original Plex UWP app plays them just fine.
@Strategizer8520 said:
Plex for Xbox One app is now downgrading/transcoding it seems while my LG Tv is direct playing the file at its original quality. File is 1080p x264 AAC .MP4.
Do you have a server log or can you create one for when this file plays? I have successfully played all the way up to a 4K file while testing during my playback attempts so trying to find what is causing the issue is being difficult since anything I change to make it transcode wouldn’t help figure out why it’s transcoding for others.
But the original Plex UWP app plays them just fine.
The current app is the original UWP app. The previous app was built on the old framework.
In my case both Xbox one and lg TV app are transcoding (purposely set this way). I prefer to transcode as I had issues with large high quality rips stuttering under direct play.
@SirCozak said:
In my case both Xbox one and lg TV app are transcoding (purposely set this way). I prefer to transcode as I had issues with large high quality rips stuttering under direct play.
Just to make sure I understand then, you have it set to transcode automatically, but not matter the source it is transcoding to 720p? (just want to make sure I understand what is happening)
If that is the case, is it possible to provide the server log from one of these files? Because unless a bandwidth restriction is set on the server or in the app it should try and match whatever the original resolution is, so we would need to track down where the disconnect is at for that issue.
Yes, essentially it’s set to original quality but with direct play disabled in the app. Server is on local lan connected via gigabit Ethernet. Server only has remote quality set to 720p, otherwise set to original with no restrictions.
If I check in the Xbox one app when playing 1080p content it claims it is in 1080p, but it isn’t, it’s in 720p. It looks worse than the lg TV app and I’ve independently verified the stream as being 720p with plexply.
Just to provide an update I managed to resolve the resolution problem. I noticed that on my laptop on the local LAN Microsoft Edge was reporting the server as ‘remote’, and also therefore locked in at 720p quality as per the server limits I have set.
I suspected that perhaps the Xbox app was also seeing the server as remote so I rebooted the Plex server, now the Xbox app streams at 1080p and seems to be no longer getting stuck mid transcode (although perhaps some extended testing is required to ensure this is actually the case). As it’s currently working I’ll not bother with the logs for now and see how it goes.
Interestingly enough Egde still thinks the server is ‘remote’ yet Firefox on the same laptop sees the server as ‘nearby’, a bit strange!
@SirCozak said:
Interestingly enough Egde still thinks the server is ‘remote’ yet Firefox on the same laptop sees the server as ‘nearby’, a bit strange!
The fix should help if the app/server are not seeing each other and local and instead remote which is causing the separate set of bandwidth limitation to be applied when they shouldn’t. (Almost exactly what you reported here)
