Plex for PS3 - low bitrate/transcode - 2015

[bstofko4]

Hello all,

 

First I want to say that I really tried hard to fix this on my own but I can't find a definitive solution, if there is one, for this. I will try and make this short.

 

I recently just purchased PLEX Pass and installed the app on my PS3. I have been using PMS for awhile and I am currently using PMS 0.9.11.7. The closest I found related to my issue was a post from 2012 but I could not find a solution in there. Here is the issue:

 

I have tested various media files but most of my movies are .mp4 extension with:

Video Codec: H.264 - MPEG-4 AVC

Audio Codec: MPEG AAC Audio (mp4a)

 

When I stream movie and go to the settings option during the movie, it will cap at about 1-2 Mbps showing that as 'best'. This results in artifacts and other noticeable visual elements in the film. I tested the same movie using the PS3 Media Server application and the video streams at a MUCH better quality and is stable around 7-10 Mbps. I love PLEX and do not want to use anything else. 

 

Other information:

-My internet is 30 Mbps/5 Mbps

-Both applications have been tested wireless for the same file so I know it, in all probability, is not the connection.

-Plex on the PS3 is set to the highest, 20 Mbps

-Plex server is set to Transcoding: Automatic. I have tried 'Prefer higher quality encoding' and 'Make my CPU hurt options' but to the same result.

 

So I thought to come here before I go deeper into config files and other DLNA/Transcode stuff. Please help as this is the last thing I need fixed to have my server set up the way I want it for the household.

 

Thanks ahead,

Bob

[deactivated]

Hi bstofko4. Let's try to get this sorted.

Okay, your video and audio files are the correct formats for best playback on the PS3. Will you please post the media information for one of these files that plays so poorly? The bullets at the tale of this post are relevant in your case as well: https://forums.plex.tv/topic/142670-buffering-got-you-down-read-here/

Let's get you setup!

[bstofko4]

First, thank you very much for taking the time to help me with this. Okay here is what I have so far. Here is the movie I was working with, going back and forth through different media servers and observing the differences, but first I will answer the questions:

1. Yes, these are being tested on a closed, home network.

2. Not testing remotely.

3. Audio Stream Data per VLC:

Type: Audio

Codec: MPEG AAC Audio (mp4a)

Language: English

Channels: Stereo

Sample rate: 48000 Hz

3. The lower, 'locked' bitrate occurs with all media

4. Yes, the problem is with all videos MP4/M4V. This is my whole library.

XML:<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="4" librarySectionTitle="Movies 2" librarySectionUUID="e67e624a-4e05-4d56-826e-1a0209130d47" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1420967926">

<Video ratingKey="6601" key="/library/metadata/6601" guid="com.plexapp.agents.imdb://tt2397535?lang=en" studio="Screen Australia" type="movie" title="Predestination" contentRating="R" summary="Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent (Ethan Hawke) sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost." rating="7.2" viewCount="2" lastViewedAt="1421835538" year="2015" tagline="To save the future he must reshape the past." thumb="/library/metadata/6601/thumb/1422128483" art="/library/metadata/6601/art/1422128483" duration="5868927"originallyAvailableAt="2015-01-09" addedAt="1422128417" updatedAt="1422128483" chapterSource="">

<Media videoResolution="1080" id="6010" duration="5868927" bitrate="2113" width="1920" height="800" aspectRatio="2.35" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="h264" container="mp4" videoFrameRate="24p" optimizedForStreaming="1" has64bitOffsets="0">

<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="6062" key="/library/parts/6062/file.mp4" duration="5868927" file="C:\Users\Bob\Downloads\Predestination (2014) [1080p]\Predestination.2014.1080p.BluRay.x264.YIFY.mp4" size="1550025095" container="mp4" has64bitOffsets="0"optimizedForStreaming="1">

<Stream id="12453" key="/library/streams/12453" streamType="3" selected="1" codec="srt" format="srt"/>

<Stream id="12471" streamType="1" codec="h264" index="0" bitrate="2018" bitDepth="8" cabac="1" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codecID="avc1" colorSpace="yuv" duration="5868903" frameRate="23.976" frameRateMode="cfr" hasScalingMatrix="0" height="800" level="41"profile="high" refFrames="4" scanType="progressive" streamIdentifier="1" title="" width="1920"/>

<Stream id="12472" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="aac" index="1" channels="2" bitrate="94" language="English" languageCode="eng" bitrateMode="vbr" codecID="40" duration="5868927" profile="lc" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="2" title=""/>

<Genre id="30" tag="Science Fiction" count="12"/>

<Genre id="25" tag="Thriller" count="10"/>

<Writer id="22247" tag="Michael Spierig"/>

<Writer id="22248" tag="Peter Spierig"/>

<Director id="22245" tag="Michael Spierig"/>

<Director id="22246" tag="Peter Spierig"/>

<Producer id="22256" tag="Paddy McDonald"/>

<Producer id="22257" tag="Tim McGahan"/>

<Producer id="22258" tag="Michael Spierig"/>

<Country id="32" tag="Australia" count="3"/>

<Role id="1694" tag="Ethan Hawke" role="The Bartender" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/kcby6VYk6Gb0036nUyh8chY5ZAJ.jpg"/>

<Role id="22249" tag="Sarah Snook" role="The Unmarried Mother" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/dvAVmiGlckhgqCfhAdTrcUudHOp.jpg"/>

<Role id="5765" tag="Noah Taylor" count="2" role="Mr. Robertson" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/dSlH0WA09dVqQhgB7LB5xn8WzD.jpg"/>

<Role id="4789" tag="Christopher Kirby" role="Agent Miles" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/so9OxqBJDfCUp84Ja4PEMnWECAP.jpg"/>

<Role id="22250" tag="Madeleine West" role="Mrs. Stapleton" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/u1VxEsvpoM24KKqGXPgL2E8h5XG.jpg"/>

<Role id="4795" tag="Jim Knobeloch" role="Dr. Belfort" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ndiYsn4J7bBk5gJ3aVKkF3RFLkh.jpg"/>

<Role id="22251" tag="Freya Stafford" role="Alice"/>

<Role id="22252" tag="Elise Jansen" role="Nurse"/>

<Role id="22253" tag="Tyler Coppin" role="Dr. Heinlein" thumb="http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/pBHo8xcl4kllgUZ3WyvDzxmTJGB.jpg"/>

<Role id="22254" tag="Christopher Stollery" role="The Interviewer"/>

<Role id="22255" tag="Christopher Sommers" role="Miller"/>

<Extras size="0">

[bstofko4]

Here is some more data analyzing the file with MediaInfo (I apologize for the formatting):

 

Format                                    : MPEG-4

Format profile                          : Base Media

Codec ID                                 : isom

File size                                   : 1.44 GiB

Duration                                  : 1h 37mn

Overall bit rate mode              : Variable

Overall bit rate                        : 2 113 Kbps

Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-11-25 20:53:54

Tagged date                              : UTC 2014-11-25 20:53:54

 

Video

ID                                       : 1

Format                                   : AVC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec

Format profile                           : High@L4.1

Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes

Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames

Codec ID                                 : avc1

Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding

Duration                                 : 1h 37mn

Bit rate                                 : 2 018 Kbps

Maximum bit rate                         : 12.6 Mbps

Width                                    : 1 920 pixels

Height                                   : 800 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1

Frame rate mode                          : Constant

Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.055

Stream size                              : 1.38 GiB (95%)

Writing library                          : x264 core 142 r2479 dd79a61

Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=48 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2018 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=31250 / vbv_bufsize=31250 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-11-25 20:53:54

Tagged date                              : UTC 2014-11-25 20:54:06

Color primaries                          : BT.709

Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Color range                              : Limited

 

Audio

ID                                       : 2

Format                                   : AAC

Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec

Format profile                           : LC

Codec ID                                 : 40

Duration                                 : 1h 37mn

Bit rate mode                            : Variable

Bit rate                                 : 93.7 Kbps

Maximum bit rate                         : 103 Kbps

Channel(s)                               : 2 channels

Channel positions                        : Front: L R

Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Stream size                              : 65.6 MiB (4%)

Language                                 : English

Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-11-25 20:54:05

Tagged date                              : UTC 2014-11-25 20:54:06

[Brad_S]

Hello bstofko4,

I too had to play with my settings.  In my case, the PS3 would buffer and die.  After playing around with file sizes and formats, I discovered that if the file was not web optimized (file info at the front of the file), it would only play at <= 3mbps over Gig network.  I did not test wireless.

I agree that some work needs to be completed to increase the mbps, but this is a good start!  I have not tried playing any mkv files.

-Brad

[Disgustipated]

Your original file is only 2.1 mbps. Plex should be direct streaming if you have set the main quality setting to 20 mbps. No idea how PS3MS is ending up at 7+ mbps, must be doing something weird during transcode I guess.

If you go to your Plex server's activity page during a session does it say that it is direct streaming or transcoding? If it's direct streaming, definitely nothing the Plex server is doing, and I assume the Plex app is just calling system level video playback calls, so it should look the same as any other DLNA server.

[bstofko4]

@BradS, thanks for the tip. Ya, I checked, it is definitely web optimized. @chris Ya, I saw the same thing and thought the same thing but couldn't believe it when I was using PS3MS. I tried it with Serviio, and believe it or not, it would range from 2 Mbps - 10Mbps and the quality was amazing. No artifacting/blurry/slow images. It really is weird. I ran the video and checked the activity and, sure enough, it was transcoding. I removed to .srt subtitle file from the directory, just to rule out, and it still was transcoding. I'm thinking it has to due to the container it is in and the PS3's compatibility. This really is a head scratcher. It is frustrating :(

[Verio]

I encountered a similar issue in my first testing of the PS3 app last night.

I had 2 test files:

- H264 .m4v file ripped/encoded with handbrake, size about 1.4GB

- raw mkv file ripped with MakeMKV, size about 5.1GB

If I play both side by side (on my PC with VLC) with the original source DVD, they look identical.

However, when playing them in the PS3 Plex App - 

The MKV file plays perfectly and lets me select quality settings all the way up to 20MB 

The M4v file stutters and pauses as if there isn't enough bandwidth for the transfer, and only allows me to set quality up to about 2MBps.

Server transcode setting is "Make my CPU hurt"

Any idea whats happening here? Is this a limitation of the PS3? My main concern is that I might need to leave everything as raw MKV if I intend to use the PS3 as a streaming device here.