Plex App on Hisense VIDAA – Can’t play local content

Plex Players
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m facing an issue with the Plex app on my Hisense TV (VIDAA OS) when trying to connect to my local Plex Media Server that runs in a Docker container on my home VM.

Setup:

  • Plex Media Server running via Docker on a home VM
  • Server properly claimed and visible in my Plex account
  • Accessible and working fine from:
    • Plex Web on other devices
    • Plex Web on the same Hisense TV (via browser)
  • Network: local only (no external access intended)
  • Relay disabled (main goal is LAN-only access)

My objective is to keep Plex fully within my home network (LAN), using the smart TV app, without using the Plex Relay service or exposing the server to the internet.

Attempts:

  1. With “Enable Relay” disabled

    The Plex app on VIDAA cannot connect to the server.
    It shows:

     [Service name] is currently unavailable. Please verify that the server is running and has a network connection… bla bla bla

  2. With “Enable Relay” enabled (Secure connections set to “Preferred” and GDM enabled)

    The TV connects to the server and loads the library.
    Playback never starts (only a spinning wheel).

  3. With “Enable Relay” enabled + force Custom server access URLs to the VM http://192.168.8.115:32400 (Secure connections set to “Preferred” and GDM enabled)

    Playback starts but stops after a few seconds and never resumes.

Observations:

On 2) and 3) the stream URI shows:

Location: LAN
URI: https://192-168-8-115-8bygj46jgyj4.....plex.direct:32400
So even though Plex reports “LAN”, it’s still going through a plex.direct HTTPS endpoint.

I have tried several combinations of settings, including uninstalling and reinstalling the Plex app on the TV, but the issue persists.

It seems the VIDAA Plex app does not support pure local (HTTP) playback and enforces HTTPS through plex.direct, which breaks local playback after a few seconds.

It is important to note that Plex works really well on the same TV in a web browser!

Questions

Is this a known limitation or bug with the VIDAA Plex app?

Is there any way to force true local connections (IP only, no plex.direct) when playing media from the Hisense TV?

Thanks in advance for any insight or workaround!

Server Version#: 1.42.2.10156
Client Version#: 5.93.2 (Plex for VIDAA)

2

Hi @markus101,

sorry for the direct tag — this thread has been open for some time without replies and the issue seems very specific to the VIDAA Plex client. There’s also this other thread that appears to describe a related problem.

In short: the VIDAA app seems to always enforce HTTPS via plex.direct, even for LAN playback, which causes local streams to fail or stop after a few seconds.

Plex Web on the same TV works perfectly over plain LAN HTTP, so this looks more like a client limitation or bug rather than a server/network issue.

Do you know if there’s any workaround or configuration that would allow reliable streaming over the local network only, without relying on plex.direct or Relay?

Thanks in advance, and sorry again for the tag.

3

Any update on this? I am also facing the exact same issue and only noticed it occuring recently. Thanks

4

Same here. Support would be great.

5

Yep same here, the app need an update

6

Any update on this being sorted out? Have only had the TV 6 weeks, and so frustrated that it works fine on my 3 year old Hisense and not on my brand new one. Constant Stutter and then Buffering wheel, then closes out.

7

Bumping this to prevent the post getting closed. @markus101 any update on this?

8

Hi I had the same issue but after a router change, and by accident I found out that with the dns configuration on the router it didn’t work it worked straight away when I changed the dns manually to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1

9

Hi everyone, @markus101

I want to provide a corrected and more complete update after extensive testing. My initial assumptions were not accurate.

Summary

The issue is not related to Docker, network configuration, relay, or 4K content specifically.

The problem appears to be general playback instability in the Plex app for VIDAA (Hisense TV).

What has been confirmed

  • Plex Media Server (Docker on local VM) is working correctly

  • Network is working correctly (LAN)

  • Server is reachable via local IP

  • Relay is not required

  • Playback works without issues on:

    • Plex Web (other devices)
    • Plex Web on the same Hisense TV (via browser)

  • The Plex app connects over LAN correctly:

    • Location: LAN
    • Uses plex.direct HTTPS endpoint
    • This is not the root cause

Actual issue

Playback in the Plex app on VIDAA is unstable across multiple scenarios.

Example 1 (4K content)

  • Video: HEVC Main 10 (4K)
  • Audio: AAC 5.1
  • Result: buffering

Example 2 (non-4K content)

  • Video: 1080p H.264
  • Audio: AC3 5.1
  • Subtitles: SRT
  • Result: buffering

So this is not limited to 4K or HEVC.

Playback modes tested

Direct Play (app)

  • Video: Direct Play
  • Audio: Direct Play
  • Result: buffering after a few seconds

Direct Stream (forced in app)

  • Result: playback error (fails to start)

Browser (same TV)

  • Video: Direct Stream
  • Audio: Transcode
  • Result: smooth playback

Key finding

The Plex app on VIDAA cannot reliably handle:

  • Direct Play (leads to buffering)
  • Direct Stream (fails with playback error)

At the same time, the browser on the same device plays the same content without issues.

What this is not

  • Not a server performance issue
  • Not a Docker issue
  • Not a network bandwidth issue
  • Not a relay or plex.direct issue

Conclusion

This appears to be a limitation or bug in the Plex app for VIDAA:

  • Direct Play is unstable (buffering)
  • Direct Stream is not functional (playback error)
  • The app cannot fall back to a stable playback mode

Questions

  • Is this a known issue with the VIDAA client?
  • Is there any way to force a more stable playback mode (e.g. controlled transcoding)?
  • Are there known limitations of the VIDAA player regarding buffering or stream handling?

Thanks.