Nope, the 6.9 update doesn’t fix this.
so sad…
@sixones @StSimm1 Any ideas about this ongoing issue? Would be great to get some feedback .
Thanks
@sixones @“MovieFan.Plex” (and anyone else) … any news on when this is likely to be addressed?
It’s now been ALMOST ONE YEAR since I reported the problem.
ONE YEAR where Plex is happy to piss-off the most tech-savvy TV-watching country in the world (yes, that’s the UK, ahead of the US according to Ofcom in 2015).
Is that really a viable business strategy? Does your CEO know? Do your investors know? Would you like them to?
@sixones @StSimm1
I can confirm, I also have the exact same issues here in the UK with HD channels (maybe all channels, but I only tend to watch/record HD)
I paid for life long plexpass when liveTV/DVR was released and cut the cord, but unfortunately plex is still not a good replacement in the uk because of these issues reported a year ago.
I also have the same problem with recordings here in Switzerland. I’m usong Nvidia Shield. @sixones: Any news about this issue?
This is isn’t a Shield-only issue! I have exactly the same with my FireTVs. Starting or seeking an HD TV stream will present a frozen image (audio plays fine). After a minute or so, the audio catches up with the image and everything resumes as normal (until another seek is performed).
I thought it was due to the fact that my server was a virtualised instance of Windows Server and couldn’t use the GPU for transcoding. I actually stumbled upon this thread as I’ve been looking to get a Shield to run as a server as a replacement.
I guess I won’t be buying one tomorrow after all.
@WhimsySpoon said:
This is isn’t a Shield-only issue! I have exactly the same with my FireTVs. Starting or seeking an HD TV stream will present a frozen image (audio plays fine). After a minute or so, the audio catches up with the image and everything resumes as normal (until another seek is performed).I thought it was due to the fact that my server was a virtualised instance of Windows Server and couldn’t use the GPU for transcoding. I actually stumbled upon this thread as I’ve been looking to get a Shield to run as a server as a replacement.
I guess I won’t be buying one tomorrow after all.
Still buy the shield (make sure it is the pro version) it is still the best streamer out there. Plex are experimenting with a beta version of the player and hopefully have a solution soon. It is a shame we don’t know when.
Thanks for the response, Skutterbob.
It seems the Pro is out of stock in the UK (and has been for some time), and suggestions are that it will be until at least mid-Feb. The 16GB is readily available, and knowing of the issue with where Plex stores the DB, metadata etc, I’ve given some consideration to going down the route of rooting and forcing it to use adopted storage…
That being said (and not wishing to go too far off-topic), until they resolve the issue around the usability of TV in the UK, I don’t want to impose a brand new device on the girlfriend that will have the same issue, as it’s the image freezing that receives the most complaints.
@WhimsySpoon said:
Thanks for the response, Skutterbob.It seems the Pro is out of stock in the UK (and has been for some time), and suggestions are that it will be until at least mid-Feb. The 16GB is readily available, and knowing of the issue with where Plex stores the DB, metadata etc, I’ve given some consideration to going down the route of rooting and forcing it to use adopted storage…
That being said (and not wishing to go too far off-topic), until they resolve the issue around the usability of TV in the UK, I don’t want to impose a brand new device on the girlfriend that will have the same issue, as it’s the image freezing that receives the most complaints.
I too am disappointed and am really just using the shield for the Plex library and 4K Netflix. I have set it to record for testing and all seems fine for SD programs.
I am still using a Panasonic HDD recorder for main viewing as, like you, there is no way my wife will up with all the problems the Plex has at the moment.
Using Kodi (with the Plex Plugin) as a player on the Shield (using PMS on the Shield as a server) is a usable workaround.
Kodi doesn’t use Exoplayer (a partial cause of the Plex woes with UK HD) so doesn’t exhibit the same freezing problem or the skip/seek lockup problem.
That said, it is a PITA to setup with the Plex plugin.
It also doesn’t solve the fundamental problem that Plex can’t (at present) transcode streams that change format. If you ever need to transcode (for example to play remotely), the problem will reappear. Both Kodi and the planned Plex use of Exoplayer 2 only avoid the problem by avoiding transcoding.
It appears the transcoding issue is an issue with the Tegra chip. They
transcode fine if you disable hardware acceleration, but very slow so not
practical. I use PMS on my Synology to transcode these.
With the latest release in the Plex for Android beta, UK DVR recordings and other recordings should now be able to direct play on your device without transcoding.
See https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/220583/help-us-beta-test-the-android-tv-app#latest for information about signing up to the beta.
Sadly no use if I need a smaller video, to minimise mobile data usage for
instance
I just got a message from @sixones that a new beta release is available today for android TV. That may have some fixes for our issues, although can’t see anything that looks like a fix for it. Except the seeking, but I also have issues when first playing a TV show
Plex for Android 6.13.0.3294-beta
Available on Google Play
FIXES:
Live TV: improve seeking.
Camera Upload: switch in preference screen is disabled.
Some Xiaomi devices still crashing after stopping video play.
Video playback stops when using “Convert automatically” preference in video player.
[TV] Prevent issues when playing an item already being played in PiP.
[TV] App could crash when resuming library section screen.
[TV] Subscriptions couldn’t be toggled from news settings.
[TV] PMS configuration on SHIELD devices crashes if the process fails.
[TV] Prevent playback restarting for DTS-HD content on some setups.
[TV] Crash opening search activity if speech recogniser is not available in device.
[TV] App could crash accessing Settings screen.
[TV] The top line of news title could be cut off while fullscreen.
[TV] “Read more” would not fill the screen when expanded.
[TV] Show screen would incorrecly show “Seasons” title when “Hide for Single season” was enabled
Has anyone tried the beta yet?
so you need to sign up here to get beta: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.plexapp.android
This is from the beta forum (whihc I think you have to be a plex pass subscriber for:
You may of noticed over the past few months different parts of the application (like “Live TV” viewing and playing the videos stored on your local device) have used a brand new player based on ExoPlayer v2. It’s a more advanced and capable player, with broader playback capabilities, and as such, some of you have been desperate to get your hands on it. Well the wait is finally over with beta v6.13!
While we’ve locked ourselves in our testing basements (and closets, tool sheds, the borrowed garage of “weird coffee shop guy”, etc.) and have been furiously testing our new player with a variety of media, we still haven’t been able to cover every scenario. So, we need your help as beta testers to make it the best Android player for your content!
What’s changed?
Pretty much everything! The Plex player on TV and mobile is now capable of playing back a host of new containers such as AVI, MPEG, MPEGTS, and WMV. There is now support for software decoding of AAC LATM, AC3, MP1, MP2, FLAC, OPUS, WMA, MPEG, VC1, VP8/9, and WMV. It also brings a lot of performance improvements and fixes for existing setups and devices.
What’s really changed?
We now rely on the same media framework as we use in Plex Media Server for transcoding, so we can demux and decode a variety of a new formats. This required a lot of integration with ExoPlayer v2 on a native level with C++, but comes with some huge benefits (aside from the extra playback functionality). For instance, we can now demux much faster and reduce the battery usage during playback.
@WhimsySpoon said:
Has anyone tried the beta yet?
I have not yet had a chance to try it out.
The beta seems to direct play everything now, including UK DVR recordings (SD & HD) in TS containers without any transcoding.
Also AVI Xvids and MKVs with FLAC audio all play without transcoding. Only thing I found that still seems to need transcoding is ASS subs with embedded fonts.
@lukepilkington said:
@WhimsySpoon said:
Has anyone tried the beta yet?I have not yet had a chance to try it out.
Thanks for the confirmation and the details regarding the beta. I’ve since registered for the beta programme.
@yesternow said:
The beta seems to direct play everything now, including UK DVR recordings (SD & HD) in TS containers without any transcoding.Also AVI Xvids and MKVs with FLAC audio all play without transcoding. Only thing I found that still seems to need transcoding is ASS subs with embedded fonts.
This sounds positive. Hopefully the issue is now resolved.
