nvidia shield 4k remux mkv quality and playback woes

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Hi,

Nvidia set up as the client, PC running Windows 10 with gigabit switch between running plex server. I decided to uninstall updates on Plex and it is a bit more stable but I can get unstable playback with it, I only use remux 4k mkv’s as my system can play 1080p ok and I prefer my PC set up but it is unable to play 4k, reason for my use of nvidia shield so the PC is nothing more than a NAS in effect.

Also, some quality problems are coming through, banding of colour, especially notable within blue planet II, the original UHD disc plays it well, as does the tv when running a remux MKV on a USB. It even runs extremely well on MX player, so it can’t be the file nor nvidia shield, but how it is played? I’ve forced it to run on maximum quality with direct play on.

Any suggestions for both problems would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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What version Plex client on Shield TV? Update to current, 6.16.0, if you haven’t already.

What version PMS?

TV make & model?

Is Shield connected to TV or to receiver? If latter, make & model.

Include Plex XML for one of the problematic videos with your reply.

In Shield Plex client, Settings -> Video, set Display Information = On. While playing problematic video, pull up on-screen controls (pause, etc). What is displayed in upper left corner - Direct Play / Direct Stream / Transcode? If one of latter two, what reason(s)?

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I have issues playing any 4K Remux / or Handbrake transcodes. Its not buffering, it just looks like it has issues decoding the video (See attached) I have tried lots of 4K content and its almost happens with every single file.

I have tried resetting the Nvidia Shield to factory settings and updating Plex etc does not make any difference. What does work though is installing Kodi and the Plex addon for it and using that. I think its just the official android Plex App is bad.


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Bit pissed off hearing all these good things about the Nvidia Shield TV and it cant handle 4K HDR remuxes which my ■■■■■■ smart tv app can.

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Shield TV works great for me w/ 4K HDR10 material. It does not support HLG or Dolby Vision, which is a Shield, not Plex, limitation.

Look at the media. Get it to stop transcoding / remuxing.

In Plex client settings on Shield, set Display Information = On. When playing video, pull up on-screen controls (pause, etc), and look in upper left corner of screen. It will show Direct Play / Direct Stream / Transcode and give a reason if one of the latter two.

Select something besides TrueHD audio. Whatever the Shield is attached to apparently doesn’t support TrueHD, so it is forcing a transcode. A Shield TV happily bitstreams TrueHD, but only if supported by the attached TV/receiver/etc.

Make sure you strictly obey Plex naming conventions.

Try a MP4 container to stop the video remuxing. See Supported Media Formats. MKV usually works fine for me, but mp4 is compatible w/ more devices.

Eliminate bad metadata in the movie file. Some movies have bad metadata for the embedded audio/video/etc tracks. For example, “Thor.Ragnarok.2017.TrueHD…” or jpg/png/etc images embedded as attachments. This can cause problems for PMS resulting in transcoded video/audio. Delete the “junk” metadata then Plex Dance the movie to clear up things.

The above applies whether you’re using a Shield TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Smart TV app, or any other Plex client.

If my media is prepared according to Plex conventions and falls within the limitations of my Plex client (audio/video formats), TV, & audio systems, it direct plays. If I push things too far, things start to transcode.

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@FordGuy61 said:
What version Plex client on Shield TV? Update to current, 6.16.0, if you haven’t already.

What version PMS?

TV make & model?

Is Shield connected to TV or to receiver? If latter, make & model.

Include Plex XML for one of the problematic videos with your reply.

In Shield Plex client, Settings → Video, set Display Information = On. While playing problematic video, pull up on-screen controls (pause, etc). What is displayed in upper left corner - Direct Play / Direct Stream / Transcode? If one of latter two, what reason(s)?

Hi,

Maybe the network has stabilised or the very latest has sorted out the buffering.

However, the clarify of the video is still pants. I would like to know whether anyone else is seeing this issue? Seems to mainly affect scenes with bright blue (such as the sky). Quite clearly as seen from the picture, it is very poor and works fine when attached to the TV itself but then I lack HD audio.

My TV is an LG OLED 55" B7 attached to a Denon 2400H. If you have Blue planet II, could you please let me know if you have similar issues with banding? The blur of the image text was due to the overlay just about to fade out.

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The user and all related content has been deleted.

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@CutScene I’m not sure what you mean, are you saying I should be encoding this myself? Currently using a remux so whatever the original 4k blu-ray is, this should be and like I said, works fine when I connect via USB to the tv directly.

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The user and all related content has been deleted.

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@Cutscene It says its direct playing

I have found another thread who say the exact same thing except in my case, even using kodi and SPMC cause the same issue, the only one that doesn’t is MX player

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That’s my thread! I still get colour banding with 4K remuxs @24fps using the shield 2015 in Plex, have you tried refresh setting off in Plex so it’s playing at 60fps? you might then have judder unfortunately, this might solve the banding problem.

here’s a link with some other people with similar problems and explanations why it’s happening.

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/895245/shield-tv/picture-quality-and-color-space-evaluation/

For some reason some people have it and others don’t I have no idea why, but It seems to be a shield colour space issue when switching between SDR and HDR.

Btw have you tried pressing the focus button on and off on your LG remote, when playing a 4K remux @24fps?This actually got rid of colour banding for some of us with LG TVs, but you have to do it every time you start watching a 4K HDR movie/show.

I was thinking about buying another Shield but just bought an Apple TV 4K, and don’t have any colour banding at 4K hdr 24fps! but of course there’s no hd Audi passthrough just lossless PCM, which is good enough for my setup.

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Didn’t realise it was your thread, haha. Well I tried doing something for the hell of it, and to my suprise, it seems to be related to my Denon 2400H causing the issue, as soon as the nvidia shield is directly plugged to the tv, it is fine.

Now as to why my Denon is causing the issue, i’m not sure… As this is the video output when the nvidia shield is directly plugged to the tv

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@Omega_Prime

I don’t have Blue Planet II.

I have the same TV as you, LG OLED55B7, and a Denon 4300H.

What’s the HDMI Mode on your Shield TV?

Is Blue Planet II in HDR? If so, you’ll need one of the 10-bit / Rec 2020 settings on the Shield.

Also check the Picture settings on the LG.

Picture -> Picture Mode -> Expert Controls -> Color Gamut. You’ll need Wide or Auto for HDR video.

Have you tried the LG Plex app? Wondering how it looks compared to the Shield for Blue Planet II. I don’t use it too much since HDMI/ARC doesn’t support lossless audio. However, it does play HDR pretty well, including HLG & Dolby Vision, which are not supported on the Shield.

Not sure why the Denon would make a difference. I don’t remember any special settings on mine.

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found and solved the issue, I put the label as ‘PC’ which i think allows output of 4:4:4 which seemingly was enough to cause banding. Maybe the shield does not tell the tv what it colour space it using properly? Changing this one setting changed everything and now looks great.

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The user and all related content has been deleted.

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@Omega_Prime said:
found and solved the issue, I put the label as ‘PC’ which i think allows output of 4:4:4 which seemingly was enough to cause banding. Maybe the shield does not tell the tv what it colour space it using properly? Changing this one setting changed everything and now looks great.

I’ve been unable to replicate this on my SHIELD and LG TV, so it doesn’t seem to be a SHIELD / Plex issue. It’s odd that the video worked fine via other players (maybe the colorspace was changed), glad to here it’s fixed!

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Is there any solution for this issue? I am having color banding issues.

Plex player = Shield (version 8.0.0, Kernel-version 3.10.96, Shield Android TV SW Version 7.1.0) connected to Sony STR-DN1080 connected to LG C7V. Both connections with new HDMI cables.

PMS = QNAP (version 1.13.9.5456)

I pretty much tried everything. Both the Plex app and Kodi addon on the Nvidia Shield give this issue.

The movie is direct playing, HDR icon is activated at start and receiver monitor displays Dolby Atmos TrueHD playing.

The issue is not with the movie as it is the same problem with any 4K HDR movie and the image is perfect when playing them on the LG Plex app.

To me it looks like an issue with the Exoplayer

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I found out that it is the refresh rate which is to blame for this issue. My Shield is standard set on 60hz but when I put this on 24hz the color banding disappears.

However, this makes me wonder what the consequences are of lower refresh rate.

Is this something that will be noticeable in one way or another?
And also, why would I need to downscale the refresh rate when my tv can do 60hz and this is also marked as the ‘recommended’ option in the shield video settings?

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I can confirm lowering refresh rate to 24 works for me too on Sony x900f BUT the color is not as vibrant as it is on 60.

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OK fixed it on my Sony x900f by going into the tv’s external inputs - hdmi signal format - enhanced format (which allows 4:2:0 10bit, 4:4:4, etc.) color not as vibrant but probably what was mastered so not complaining I guess

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I am glad to have found your post. I am having the same issue. with the same movie.

I too heard good things about nVidia Shield, so I bought one just recently on Black Friday along with a new Samsung Q6F 4k TV. I am very disappointed to be having so many problems with playing 4k content on Shield.

I have read about the issues around 4k content and found no real solution. I’m not going to post specifics unless it becomes relevant. I’m not here to debug my specific case as it seems no different than so many others. I will say I use a good PC to run Plex server, which is kept current. I have a gigabit LAN, so I don’t believe I have any bandwidth issues. I have been running the same setup successfully with Roku 3 and HD content for quite a while. I have done the usual steps to avoiding transcoding. I have tried several movies/files without success. It looks to me like the problem is with decoding at the client.

I have only one network drop to my entertainment area, so I prioritized the Shield and gave it the wired connection assuming it would be the better player and therefore the better choice. Interestingly, my Q6F TV performs better over Wi-Fi than the Shield does with a wired connection.

While I still think the Shield is a good product, the Plex performance is a big letdown. Playing the same Ragnarok movie in 720p results in the Plex client resetting. The same file has played on a Roku 3 with no problems and works fine on the Samsung Q6F TV as well. This is not the only HD movie that works fine elsewhere, but causes problems on Shield.

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