New version 6.4.2.1697 for fire stick gen 1 causes video micro stuttering?

Plex Players Streaming Devices
,
141

I’m using the latest app from the amazon app store (6.14) on Amazon Fire TV Gen 2 4K, OS 5.2.4.1 (no root).

Test video files:
File1 - 3800kbps mkv file with h264 level 3.1 , ac3 audio, 23.976fps
File2 - 10000kbps mkv file with h264 level 4.1 , dts audio, 23.976fps

Audio plays fine with our without passtrough.

Video is stuttering in 2 ways:
On File1: stuttering every 5-10 seconds but in a slow motion way
On File2: every 10 seconds the message that the bandwidth is low. The slow motion effect is present like in the first file.

Dowgraded to version 6.4.1 (sideloaded apk), everything works fine.

142

@aegrimisu said:
I’m using the latest app from the amazon app store (6.14) on Amazon Fire TV Gen 2 4K, OS 5.2.4.1 (no root).

Just to be absolutely sure: by “from the amazon app store” you mean you let Amazon install it, and you didn’t sideload the APK linked in the new release posts?

Test video files:
File1 - 3800kbps mkv file with h264 level 3.1 , ac3 audio, 23.976fps
File2 - 10000kbps mkv file with h264 level 4.1 , dts audio, 23.976fps

Audio plays fine with our without passtrough.

Video is stuttering in 2 ways:
On File1: stuttering every 5-10 seconds but in a slow motion way

This is the symptom described by others on the older “new UI” builds. It’s very weird that you’re getting it on the newer builds, because this resolved for me on a gen 1 Fire TV Stick a while back.

On File2: every 10 seconds the message that the bandwidth is low. The slow motion effect is present like in the first file.

As I understand it, Fire OS devices don’t handle H.264 levels above 4.0 very well; this one should be put through transcoding by the maximum level setting default of 4.0 in the Plex app’s settings.

Dowgraded to version 6.4.1 (sideloaded apk), everything works fine.

143

@duhorg said:

@aegrimisu said:
I’m using the latest app from the amazon app store (6.14) on Amazon Fire TV Gen 2 4K, OS 5.2.4.1 (no root).

Just to be absolutely sure: by “from the amazon app store” you mean you let Amazon install it, and you didn’t sideload the APK linked in the new release posts?

Test video files:
File1 - 3800kbps mkv file with h264 level 3.1 , ac3 audio, 23.976fps
File2 - 10000kbps mkv file with h264 level 4.1 , dts audio, 23.976fps

Audio plays fine with our without passtrough.

Video is stuttering in 2 ways:
On File1: stuttering every 5-10 seconds but in a slow motion way

This is the symptom described by others on the older “new UI” builds. It’s very weird that you’re getting it on the newer builds, because this resolved for me on a gen 1 Fire TV Stick a while back.

On File2: every 10 seconds the message that the bandwidth is low. The slow motion effect is present like in the first file.

As I understand it, Fire OS devices don’t handle H.264 levels above 4.0 very well; this one should be put through transcoding by the maximum level setting default of 4.0 in the Plex app’s settings.

Dowgraded to version 6.4.1 (sideloaded apk), everything works fine.

Hi duhorg,

Yes i have installed the latest version from the amazon appstore and not sideloaded it (did it afterwards but saw no difference).

Figured out the slow motion issue, it was related to the refresh rate, if I set to match the refresh rate of the movie the TV is setting itself to 24hz when the movie starts and every x seconds ther’s a slow motion issue, i think the tv is out of sync with the app, still I can’t understand.

Level 4.1 (even 5.1, testet it with a video that i have) works just great, gen2 4k amazon fire tv has the most powerful hardware, the latest one has some improvements on the h265 codec. To confirm I’ll activate the monitor and check the cpu utilizations while playing videos.

Another thing that I have realised is that for the same bitrate (while transcoding) the chormecast has higher quality than the amazon fire tv, I think there are some limitation put in the encoding profiles.

144

forgot to mention that only transcoding has issues, direct playing level 4.1 content is working just great, 16mbps, but 8mbps transcoding has issues.

145

@aegrimisu said:
I’m using the latest app from the amazon app store (6.14) on Amazon Fire TV Gen 2 4K, OS 5.2.4.1 (no root).

Test video files:
File1 - 3800kbps mkv file with h264 level 3.1 , ac3 audio, 23.976fps
File2 - 10000kbps mkv file with h264 level 4.1 , dts audio, 23.976fps

Audio plays fine with our without passtrough.

Video is stuttering in 2 ways:
On File1: stuttering every 5-10 seconds but in a slow motion way
On File2: every 10 seconds the message that the bandwidth is low. The slow motion effect is present like in the first file.

Dowgraded to version 6.4.1 (sideloaded apk), everything works fine.

Could you share a sample that replicates the issue on 6.14 as well as some logs? The issues described in this thread should of been fixed with our new player which launched in 6.13.

@aegrimisu said:
Yes i have installed the latest version from the amazon appstore and not sideloaded it (did it afterwards but saw no difference).

Figured out the slow motion issue, it was related to the refresh rate, if I set to match the refresh rate of the movie the TV is setting itself to 24hz when the movie starts and every x seconds ther’s a slow motion issue, i think the tv is out of sync with the app, still I can’t understand.

Level 4.1 (even 5.1, testet it with a video that i have) works just great, gen2 4k amazon fire tv has the most powerful hardware, the latest one has some improvements on the h265 codec. To confirm I’ll activate the monitor and check the cpu utilizations while playing videos.

Another thing that I have realised is that for the same bitrate (while transcoding) the chormecast has higher quality than the amazon fire tv, I think there are some limitation put in the encoding profiles.

Interesting, with refresh rate switching turned off are you having no issues? If you could create a 24Hz sample that would be great and I will see if i replicate with refresh rate switching enabled.

146

@sixones said:

Could you share a sample that replicates the issue on 6.14 as well as some logs? The issues described in this thread should of been fixed with our new player which launched in 6.13.

I can share some logs just tell me how can I get them from a non-rooted firetv.

I was telling that I have 2 problems:

  1. Stuttering while in DirectPlay and frame rate set to 24p on TV set by Llex app to match the frame rate of the file. I’ll make a video and post it hopefully later today. Movie bandwidth 10mbps and the app is downloading from my server with 14-15, on the seek bar i can see that at least 1 minute is in the buffer. The same issue is present while using the plex addon in Kodi. HDCP 1.0 is used. Could this be related to a sync problem between the tv and the fire tv?
  2. Stuttering while transcoding. Test file was an 8mbps file h264 level 4.1 .Forced in DirectPlay plays fine, firetv bandwidth is constant around 14-15 (I have an ADSL connection and my server is located in another country). When forcing to transcode (8mbps) the bandwidth is between 5-7 and never going over that. I’m using the x-ray tool to get the bandwidths.The Plex server is powerful enough to push 5 simultaneous transcode so that’s out of the question and it is throttling the conversion so it’s not a server problem, but you should know these better than me. From my point of view, but I migt be completelly wrong the plex clinet on the firetv has like a bandwidth limitation when set to receive transcoded content and I say that because after testing the file in transcode mode i retested it again and forced the transcoding to 4mbps, and guess what, the plex app was still downloading with the same 5-7 mbps from the server, isn’t this odd?

I’ve tested quite a few versions of the client and if I remember well i have tested the 6.42 version which had stuttering in directplay as well not just in transcoding mode, so maybe the problem was partially fixed starting with version 6.14

Tell me what logs do you need, how to get them from the client since from the server i know how to provide them and what tests would you want me to do.

Meanwhile i’ll send the videos if my son doesn’t decide to watch something on this cool piece of app you guys developped :slight_smile: AND THANKS FOR THAT!

147

regarding the memory on the plex client there is no memory leak on the app, 500mb free and plex uses between 110-130MB

148

Instructions on getting logs. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201573117-Android-and-GoogleTV-Logs

149

Ok, got the logs, please note that the Server logs are GMT +2 and the cliet logs are GMT +1.
Please note that I was forced to retry a couple of times either because the plex clinet simply does not handle well seeking either because i ran out of space on both of my phones. Use the video file names as a guide, phone time is like the clinet GMT +1.

The fireTV is connected via cable.

Below I have uploaded the 3 files:

  1. Directplay in 60p mode. As mentioned in my previous post the movie has around 10mbps and my bandwidth is around 15mbps, check the download rate in the upper leve. No stuttering , smooth playback. This video was shot at 30fps with my phone.

https://own.em-tech.tk/index.php/s/kR9LlcVizDPR9P7

  1. Directplay in 24p mode. No stuttering only the slowmotion or not sync playback, i don’t know how to call it. The video is in slow motion from 0:00-0:07 and from 0:40-0:48. The video was shot at 60fps with my phone to be sure you notice the parts that are playign smooth and the parts that are not.

https://own.em-tech.tk/index.php/s/JpOhGy8bMrayAd6

  1. Transcode 8mpbs in 24p mode. Just ignore the slow motion it this video and focus on the stuttering part. The playback is stuttering because the download rate does not exceed 6mbps and of course the encode is ar 8mbps. The cache fils up but sooner or later gets consumed and playback needs to stop to refill.

https://own.em-tech.tk/index.php/s/jHIHGclvARAonUe

The 3 video files are stored on one of my servers, they will expire in a few days so please make sure you donnload them.

I really hope you’ll fix the transcode issue that’s something we are all affected apparently.
Just let me know if you need more.

150

There are at least a dozen threads on this topic. For many people, downgrading to an old version of plex player (6.4.1) worked for them. That solution, however, did not work for me.

Another suggested solution was to change the wifi band from 5ghz to 2.4ghz. I did this (switched my wifi network to point to a know 2.4ghz ssid) and it seems my issues have gone away.

I am reluctant to post this because people have come back later saying their issues reappear after a “fix”, but it has been playing smoothly via direct stream over wifi the past few hours without issue. I am hoping the success continues, and that other people also find success in this solution.

151

@jhelmer25 said:
There are at least a dozen threads on this topic. For many people, downgrading to an old version of plex player (6.4.1) worked for them. That solution, however, did not work for me.

Another suggested solution was to change the wifi band from 5ghz to 2.4ghz. I did this (switched my wifi network to point to a know 2.4ghz ssid) and it seems my issues have gone away.

I am reluctant to post this because people have come back later saying their issues reappear after a “fix”, but it has been playing smoothly via direct stream over wifi the past few hours without issue. I am hoping the success continues, and that other people also find success in this solution.

Hi jhelmer25,

Thanks for the info but i’m talking about another type of issue. I’m on wired connection not wifi to start with.
First problem is that 24p mode on TV generated stuttering like an out of sync issue on directplay and transcoding play modes , for the first one the box has at leat 30 seconds allready buffered so it is not a bandwidth issue but an sync issue between the tv and the fire tv or just the tv has issues, that’s what I and other having the same issues would like to find out.
The second problem as I stated is related to transcoding. Directplay plays fine and buffers as expected at full bandwidth speed but transcoding is not. From what I read around this is by desing (not to buffer) but anyway something seems to be broken as the player is downloading the stream from the server at a lower bitrate that the encoding was set to.

Playing the old version 6.4.1 or plex via kodi works just great for directplay and transcode. That’s what I would like the plex guys to acchieve bu sending them logs and whatever they like.

152

@sixones said:

Could you share a sample that replicates the issue on 6.14 as well as some logs? The issues described in this thread should of been fixed with our new player which launched in 6.13.

Hi sixonas, not sure if you saw but I have uploaded the logs and video aswell some fndings in order to help you guys solve this issue.

153

Deleted my post… wrong info.

154

Is there any update on this? I’m still getting this problem with v6.15.2.4143 on FireTV 4k (non stick). It’s existed ever since full directplay started working properly (including 5.1 passthrough). I think that was the same time as the UI change, but it’s been a long time so I can’t be 100% certain. Before that 5.1 audio got transcoded in the server and I didn’t get any stuttering. The stuttering is sort of a slow motion effect.

Not certain it’s a 24fps issue, but I do know that most of my content is 24fps, and when I play a video, the TV resyncs (can’t tell the fps, but the resolution doesn’t change (1080p->1080p) so I’m guessing it’s framerate that’s changing. Reading through this thread I’ll try recoding for 30fps and see if things change.

155

So to update my post above. I did some testing and found that the problem is not consistent. I have a short section at 23.976fps. When I see the problem, it only happens intermittently (a few seconds of the stutter, a few more of totally smooth video, etc). Even more interesting is that it’s not consistent EVEN ON THE SAME SECTION OF VIDEO). I can replay the exact same video and see the stutter at different parts from one play to another.

As a test I encoded some content the same as source (23.976fps) and in 29.97fps. The film frame rate exhibited the problem. The 29.97 content did not. However, I did notice that the 29.97 didn’t feel as smooth as the smooth sections of the 23.976. (likely due to the 3:2 conversion that handbrake performed when encoding)

I also tried different combinations of Encoder level 4.0, 4.1 and 5.1, but they didn’t seem to make any difference.

One other thing. My TV has a “Judder” setting (Vizio). I seem to notice that when set to “Off” the problem is really apparent, and when set to “High” the problem is less apparent. It may be just coincidence or placebo effect though. There’s also a “detect film” setting, but changing that from “Auto” to “Off” didn’t seem to have any effect.

Finally, I tried turning off the “Match Frame Rate” option in the player. That seemed to eliminate the stuttering, but introduced a new odd artifact where the video would just stop for a frame or two every couple seconds.

EDIT: So the same TV has a plex client built into it. It’s insanely old Plex for Vizio 3.13.13. However, it plays every single combination correctly without stutter. (it transcodes the audio to AAC from DTS, but the video is direct stream).

I don’t know if any of this is helping. I can send logs if someone wants them.

156

same here

the workaround for me is to use Kodi + Plex addon… works like charm

I will try to downgrade the app and see if it works

i’ts clearly the app because i can watch the videos w/o any issue through kodi+plex and through lan(wifi)

157

Hi All,

Resurrecting this thread!

I posted in this thread back in Dec 2017, when I first starting using Plex on the Firestick, and encountered the micro stuttering issue.

I downgraded to the Plex client 6.4.1.1644 which was mentioned in a number of threads, suggesting this was the last release that didnt introduce the stuttering problem.

For 2 years I’ve been running this version, until I got a HDHomeRun last month, and the LiveTV and DVR doesn’t appear to be supported on this version.

I updated to the Plex client to the latest version in the hope that 2 years was enough time for this issue to be fixed. Once I got the TV and DVR working in the latest client, all seemed good there. I even watched couple of TV shows with problem.

Today however… the micro stutter has returned on 2 of my Gen2 firesticks. I did some more research and tried a couple of suggestions, such as changing the H264 level, enabled convert automatically, even enabling and disabling passthrough, all to no avail.

I’m now stuck… To have the Live TV and DVR, I need a client older than the version 6.4.1.1644 that didnt have a stuttering issue, but suffer the issue, or run the old client and have no Live TV and DVR!

Is this seriously still an issue on the Amazon devices?! I’ve read its when Plex introduced the ExoPlayer V2, when it all went pear shaped!

Anyone with any suggestions? As either way I suffer something I don’t want !

Interesting it doesnt stutter on the live TV, just files on my QNAP NAS locally. I’ve also encountered the ‘sorry connection lost to the server’, which appears to also be a know issue more recently!

Thanks
Darren

Ps. I’ve timed the stuttering to about 8secs each time, and about 30secs between each time it does it.

PPS… @elan - As the CTO and Co-Founder of Plex, the stuttering issue of 2+ years and the long standing Server connection issues sits squarely with you to resolve! I along with thousands of other Plex users pay your company money every month… the least you can do is acknowledge these serious faults in the Android/FireOS client, and come up with a fix!! :rage:

PPPS. @BigWheel & @kinoCharlino - FYI. As admins you should also take a real interest in this topic. I can’t fault Plex for anything else, I really dont want to start considering the likes of Emby (many others have!)

1 Like
158

Zero response Plex?? Awesome customer experience @elan!

159

Micro stuttering was never resolved for me on two gen 2 fire TV sticks. I used the Plex client on my 4 year old rokus instead.
I recently upgraded my fire TV sticks to the 4k versions and the Plex stuttering issue does not occur.

160

Why should I go and spend money to fix an issue, that Plex have been aware of for the past 2 years??

Anyhow, I’ve seen plenty of posts where people have the 4K sticks and the issue is still there.

Sadly Plex are moving more towards paid streaming services, so they’re not focusing on the user experience.

1 Like