So I have been using Plex for a few months and have ironed out most kinks, but the one thing i cannot seem to fix are the DLNA capabilities.
My 2017 Samsung Q6FAM TV has no issues playing large 4k files over DLNA using windows media sharing, but on Plex’s DLNA server, larger files are shown as 0 bytes in size and throw an error when I try to play them. I have updated to the latest versions, toggled DLNA on and off but I cannot seem to find a way to make it work.
Does anybody have some insight on why this is happening and what I can do to fix it? Any help is greatly appreciated.
There are a couple of things to check when it comes to playing 4K videos. You need to check your settings/quality. It needs to be set to Maximum. It defaults to 2Mbps, 720. This is supposed to be for the web client, but it affects DLNA as well for some strange reason. You will need to check this every time Plex is started as the setting will not stay at Maximum. The next setting you need to check is under DLNA, called DLNA client preferences. Your DLNA client is described there, whether by name or IP address. You need to include the following options: DirectPlay=true,DirectStream=true,LocalResolution=4096x2160,RemoteResolution=4096x2160,OnlineResolution=4096x2160,LocalVideoQuality=99
Some true 4K videos may have higher resolution numbers, you can enter those here instead. If your custom DLNA profile has any video limitations included. make sure they are set the same as well. Note that Plex will modify the DLNA client preferences on its own, especially in some of the more recent versions. This appears to happen less in the Version 1.15.6.1079 (latest non Plex Pass version as of todays date). Some earlier version change this information as soon as you navigate to another screen, so you will need to check it often. The Plex DLNA server seems to be unaware of 4K resolutions, as does the Web Client. You can see this if you navigate to Videos using your TVs DLNA client. Under Videos, you will see the bottom (last) selection labeled preferences. If you click on that you will see all the options from the Plex DLNA client preferences and what they are currently set to. Local Resolution will show [ ] if it set to anything higher than 1080p, and no option to choose anything higher than 1080p. You can also check the DLNA server log as it will show an error for video limitation such as video.width limitation applies: 3840 > 1920. Do not worry if you have videos larger than UHD 3840x2160 as most UHD TVs appear to downscale properly to 3840x2160. Just make sure your DLNA client preferences and custom profile have been set to the largest video width and height required by video you wish to direct play.
