Plex doesn’t play dts or ac3?

[eitayo]

Hello
I need help
I have a 65” inch Oled Sony tv (Android tv)
I have an IMac and Plex between them (updated versions)
I also have a receiver of pioneer model vx921
When I watch a movie/tv show through Netflix
The tv and the receiver plays it with Ac3 / Dts but when I try to
Stream a movie through Plex from my iMac , the receiver doesn’t play it with Ac3 / Dts
I couldn’t find a way to make it work properly
When I change the audio settings on Plex player (tv) to Optical and then mark (optical encoding) Ac3 / Dts the Plex doesn’t play the movie and gives an error that the sound Stopped because the connection to the server has been lost

[nibbles]

You have a beautiful TV and equipment. While it’s reasonable to hope the TV has good software and the memory/cpu to support that, it’s much more in line with your level of quality to put an AppleTV 4K in there before the TV and Receiver.

The ATV4K is outstanding, and will play anything your throw at it, passing through whatever you want to your AV Receiver including HDR. The cost is reasonable compared to your time and the grey hair you’re getting from this.

Sorry I can’t help you fix the exact problem you’re having, though.

[eitayo]

Many thx
I thought to add The new Apple TV
But I already have between the tv and the iMac two stream machine
Question
If I add Apple TV the steaming will be by air (WiFi)
How good it will be ? Will it play ac3 / Dts ?
My internet appears is Dl 500m Up 10m

The first is a popcorn A210 (I have it for almost 9 years) and the second is H96 pro which support 4K ( though at this moment I do not download 4K movies
Update regarding my problem

1. I was able to turn on the ac3 and Dts for some movies the other movies stayed the same with the same error that it has been disconnected from the server though it’s not
2. When I enter Plex server through popcorn A210 directly (Plex player app is not installed) it works almost excellent what is missing is the subtitle

[nibbles]

The ATV uses either wired or wireless. I would use wired.
It’s an excellent player. It handles all modern codecs.

When it comes to TV streaming and subtitles, another user made a good post.
While it’s about TrueHD, he explained the logic well.

TrueHD on LG Oled buffering

The TV does not support TrueHD audio, so Plex Media Server must transcode it to a supported format. This happens with any movie with TrueHD audio, not just 4K (some 1080p movies also have TrueHD audio). The best solution is to avoid TrueHD audio. As @mervincm mentions, Blu-ray movies with TrueHD audio also have the same soundtrack in AC3 (Dolby Digital 5.1). You should choose that audio track if possible. Regarding TrueHD audio… It does not require many CPU cycles to transcode audio. Howe…

[FordGuy61]

Before you purchase additional equipment, let’s try to figure out why your current gear will not work.

Please supply some additional information:

• What version of Plex Media Server are you running? Plex Web -> Authorized Devices -> Server
• What version of the Plex app is installed on your TV? Plex Web -> Authorized Devices -> Android.
• What is the model number of your Sony TV?
• How is your TV attached to the network, wired or wireless?
• How is your iMac attached to the network, wired (hopefully) or wireless?
• Your receiver is a Panasonic VSX-921, correct?
• How do you have the TV connected to the receiver? Optical audio?

In the Plex app on the Sony TV, check your settings. They should be:

Video Quality
  Adjust Automatically = Off
  Home Streaming = Maximum
  Play Smaller Videos = On
Video
  Burn Subtitles = Automatic
  Audio Boost = None
  Display Information = On
Advanced
  Passthrough = Optical

Play a movie using the Plex app on the Sony TV. Use a movie with AC3 audio. Make sure subtitles are NOT displayed.

During playback, what is shown in the Plex Dashboard? Plex Web -> Activity -> Dashboard

During playback, pause the video. What is shown in the upper left corner of the screen? It should show if video and audio are direct playing, direct streaming, or transcoding. If the latter, should provide a reason.

Please also pull the Plex XML for the movie you played and include it with your reply. Save the information as a .txt file. The forum will not let you attach a .xml file.

[ofrieitay_gmail_com]

hi,
following ti your question here are my answers at the same order
plex server ver 1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161
plex app ver 7.22.1.12828
tv model sony AF8 BRAVIA 4K
tv connection wired
iMac connection wired
my receiver is pioneer
tv connected to the receiver 1 channel with HDMI ,1 channel through optical

regarding your settings instructions the only thing that was different and has been change is Display Information = On

on dashboard you can see what is playing at the moment
after pausing the video it shown direct play

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

[ofrieitay_gmail_com]

XML.txt (4.7 KB)

[ofrieitay_gmail_com]

here is another file which cannot been played

ALADIN.txt (4.7 KB)

[FordGuy61]

Thanks for the info.

When you played Dumbo what is not working?

Plex is direct playing the file. That usually means things are working correctly.

What does the on-screen display show when you play Aladdin? direct play / direct stream / transcode?

[eitayo]

when I play dumbo everything works properly ( I want to thank you for making the subtitle works)
When I play Aladdin actually the movie doesn’t play
I’m getting an error
the sound Stopped because the connection to the server has been lost (Though it’s not )

[FordGuy61]

Other than the audio being dts (Aladdin) instead of AC3 (Dumbo), the movies look similar.

It is not clear why Aladdin will not play. Your TV and receiver both support dts. dts audio should pass to your receiver via the optical audio just like the AC3 audio did with Dumbo.

Check TV Settings
What are the options / settings for Digital Audio Out on the TV? The online manual for your TV is not clear. It mentions PCM and implies there are other choices, but does not list them.

Ideally, there is a setting that passes both AC3 and dts automatically.

Try different Plex Client
Edit: This is to check if the movie file is OK or somehow corrupted. /Edit.
Can you play Aladdin with other Plex clients? Maybe Plex Media Player or Plex for Windows or Mac?

If so, what does the Plex dashboard show? Click on the gold rectangle with bars underneath (off to the right). This should expand the display to show if either the audio or video is transcoding.

Edit:
Try another video with dts audio
This site has many demo files, including with dts audio:https://thedigitaltheater.com/dts-trailers/
Try playing Animated Logo or maybe Orchestra Long. They’re short demos from dts and should easily direct play on your TV.
/Edit

FYI, we didn’t make any changes that would affect subtitles. Setting Display Information = On enables the on-screen display in Android TV - the information in the upper left corner when you pull up on-screen controls or pause the video.

[ofrieitay_gmail_com]

good morning (on my side)
Aladdin is not the only movie which doesn’t works ,
Dark.Phoenix.2019.720p.BluRay.DTS
The.Miracle.Season.2018.1080p.BluRay.DTS

tv settings
when i turn on the receiver the out automatically changed to OPTICAL 1 dolby digital (an option of dolby digital plus is also exist but it is not mark)
there is an option of optical 2 and PCM - i tried all options and error stayed the same
another plex client
iMac plays the file with no problem
my popcorn A210 also played the file when i’m using NFS SERVER (though the movie stuck while it runs) and when i enter through the popcorn to plex media server i can not add any subtitle

here is the exact error i’m getting
“hearing was stopped since the connection to the media plex server is lost , make sure the server is available and try again”

maybe it all about settings in the plex server web

[nibbles]

If you want to keep debugging this, it’s time to get some log files.
Use a demo FordGuy61 suggested, because we can test it too.

This is the idea:

• Use the web app and got into Settings - General (lower one)
• Enable debug logging and save
  
  
• Reboot the PMS hardware.
• Get PMS up and running and give it 6min to initialize.
• Start playing the DTS demo (or Aladdin) on your TV until it errors.
• Wait 30sec.
• Back in the web app go into Settings - Troubleshooting - Download Logs
• Zip up what it gives you and attach it with your next reply.

Here’s extra information:

Posting Log Files

In an effort to help troubleshoot an issue you post about, you may be asked to post your log files. While posting your logs in the forum is optional, some issues cannot be investigated without logs to review. It may be difficult or impossible for the community to help you without your logs. We respect your privacy and want to ensure you are fully aware of what kind of personally identifiable information may be contained in your log files, so you can make an informed decision that best suits your…

[eitayo]

Hi, sorry for the late response
I downloaded and played both files you mention
I tried to play them through Plex app but I got the same error
Though I played them with archos video player app through Plex server it worked

[eitayo]

Hello all
Today I purchased Apple TV 4K, I installed Plex and try my test
All movies works perfectly including DtTS and AC3 5,1
Many thx