Plex for Chromecast with Google TV constantly buffering with Direct Play

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Server Version#:

1.22.3.4392

Player Version#:

8.17.1.25326

Chromecast TV Version:

Kernel 4.9.180

Hey guys

I really need help with this because I’m really struggling to use Plex right now.

Some background: I sold my old Samsung TV and bought a new one with Tizen 5.5. As you may know, Tizen 5.5 doesn’t support Direct play with DTS and subtitles (as it doesn’t support DTS and DASH protocol), so I was forced to purchase a new device.

Looking throughout forums the Chromecast with Google TV was the best option price wise, as users reported it could handle 40 Mbps 4K streams with Direct Play with no issues at all, so I bought one.

So I installed Plex and this is what happened:

  • All videos which direct play and are above lets say 10 Mbps, start buffering after around 1 minute of playback. Buffering is constant and really makes it impossible to watch anything.

  • But when I test the same video in my Samsung TV it works just fine (if its EAC3 or AC3). It doesn’t buffer. I must say my TV is connected via ethernet, the chromecast via Wifi 5Ghz.

  • Wifi performance you would say? From the Chromecast rock solid 120 mbps in speedtests and iperf3 is showing 400 Mbps to any device inside the same network. Plus I can playback 4K 50 Mbps bluray rips from my laptop and they work perfect via Wifi.

  • Server performance? Downloading the file from Plex, 11 megabytes per second, rock solid performance.

  • Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube 4k, Disney+ all those apps work like a charm. No stuttering no buffering.

So I guess there is an issue with Plex app and how it buffers with direct play. If I use transcoding it works fine, no buffering at all!. But obviously I don’t want to transcode.
I don’t understand why there is no option to select the buffering cache in the Plex app for Google TV, or force it to buffer ahead. But really it’s very annoying what is happening.

Any guesses

Thanks.

2

Can’t believe I’m the only one whos having this issue.

3

I’m having the same issue with my Chromecast with Google TV v8.21.1.27073.

  • The stream buffers for a few seconds out of every few minutes of streaming
  • Only happens when direct playing high bitrate 4K HEVC content (60-90 Mbps)
  • I haven’t had issues with high bitrate content on my setup before. I’ve been able to stream 120Mbps movies with no issues

Ironically I have no issue streaming the same exact high bitrate movies to my Android Plex client on my Pixel 3.

I don’t believe this is a network issue. Like I mentioned, I’ve streamed higher bitrate content before. My server is connected over Ethernet and my Chromecast client although on wifi, is getting 200-300Mbs down.

For example, when direct playing a movie that averages 67.6Mbps on my Chromecast, after output of my server is 50-60Mbps and it buffers constantly. When doing the same movie on direct play to my Pixel 3, the server outputs 80-90Mbps and the stream plays smoothly and flawlessly.

4

I seem to be having the same issue with directplay. Playing 1080p content h264/eac3. If I switch to transcoding, everything is smooth, despite the transcoded stream being a higher bitrate (or so says Plex - 10mbps transcoded vs 6mbps directplay). When transcoding, it shows the video as h264-h264 and audio eac3-aac. All this leads me to believe either directplay or eac3 are the issue, but the symptoms are exactly as you describe.

5

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