Plex on PS4 and PS3 starting to get the better of me !

Plex Players Gaming Consoles
1

Hi all,

 

I have been using Plex for a while now and even became a PlexPass lifetime member as it seems to be the most positive and accessible piece of software available across all types of devices etc.

 

My setup is as follows:

Server : RN104 NAS Server running Plex Server (Up to Date) 1x4TB HDD 91% full

All movies are MP4, TV Shows are MP4, Music varies between mp3, Flac, but changing all to mp3

 

Device 1 : ATV (3rd Gen) - Plex Connect (Up to Date)

Device 2 : Sony Smart TV - Plex App (recently available)

Device 3 : Roku Stick - Plex App (Up to Date)

Device 4 : PS3 - Plex App (Up to date)

Device 5 : PS4 - Plex App (Up to Date)

Device 6 : Minix Andriod Box - Plex App (Up to Date)

Device 7 : iOS Plex - up to date

 

Of late it just seems that things are coming apart for me.

 

For example,

 

Device 1

My ATV worked fine but lately not getting the data - especially the music and premium music - just getting unable to connect while the Movies and TV Shows are fine from time to time.

 

Device 2

Plex eventually became available for my Smart TV (Sony) and while it opens up etc its very very slow in connecting to my RN104 NAS where all my Movies, Music, TV Shows are. Not pursuing as too long for the movies etc to load.

 

Device 3

The Roku seems to work fine - any problems would be network related but there are times when I get error in attempting to play a movie.

 

Devices 4 & 5

Plex loads fine - having problems connecting to server - when it does connect and attempt to plat a movie the majority of the error is "Transcoding not powerful enough" or sometimes "Took too long to start playing the file" or sometimes I get the "Retry, Home, Sign Out" options.

 

Device 6

Unable to connect to Server or Cannot Play file

 

Device 7

Not using as given up on trying to play music on it - just not working - might come back to that another time.

 

Now I know you see a lot of network related things but I can handle that - My issue is with devices 4 & 5 - which is why I am here. I have read loads and loads of comments on the forum related to buffering or issues like I have stated above.  I just need and answer to resolve the issues I am experiencing above and I will be happy again. Do I need to change some settings on the PS or the Server settings ??

 

Please - comeback to me with something and not say "They are working on it!" We are all always working on something - but lets finish something first before bringing out new options or extras.

 

Regards

NJP

2

Hi NJP,

You can get help on Devices 4 & 5 in this forum.

From the application side there's nothing we can do to change the "Transcoding not powerful enough". Although I can help you avoid the problem. The PS3 and PS4 will direct play videos with MP4 containers, H.264 video stream of level 4.0 or lower and <= 8Mbps, AAC (or AC3 with Setting checked) audio stream.

I also help on Device 2. These Sony devices are not fast machines. We haven't gone through and made the tough performance cuts necessary to be fast on them. With a capable server they can play relatively well.

3

Hi NJP,

You can get help on Devices 4 & 5 in this forum.

From the application side there's nothing we can do to change the "Transcoding not powerful enough". Although I can help you avoid the problem. The PS3 and PS4 will direct play videos with MP4 containers, H.264 video stream of level 4.0 or lower and <= 8Mbps, AAC (or AC3 with Setting checked) audio stream.

I also help on Device 2. These Sony devices are not fast machines. We haven't gone through and made the tough performance cuts necessary to be fast on them. With a capable server they can play relatively well.

Hi mseeley,

Many thanks for the reply and appreciate the help. Please explain to me in simple terms what changes I need to make so that my videos will play on the ps3 and ps4 - my videos are in mp4 format not sure if h.264 and the rest

Thanks

4

Hi mseeley,

Just an update with regards to where I am on my issues.

Device 1 - All working except the Premium Music Channel. Beginning to wonder why not have an option for Plex Pass subscribers to turn off Music or Premium Music rather than having both - surely it would reduce pressure of some sort on servers etc as you always see both listed there in the menu system.

Device 2 - Plex has now been resolved on the TV - Running smoothly without issues.

Device 3 - Seems to be working fine.

Device 4 & 5 - Still ongoing - waiting on reply from last post.

Device 6 - Currently working on this. No progress made to date

Device 7 - Plex Connect still not working great for Music and Premium Music - again would prefer an option to turn off one or the other - surely not really needing both on one device !!

Looking forward to your reply.

Cheers for everything so far.

5

Hi njpryan, please see this link to find information about your media: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats. Specifically:

  • under the “Media” section on the left you’ll see a “Bitrate” field. The value here needs to be <= 8000 kbps.
  • under the “Video” section on the right you’ll see a “Level” field. The value here needs to be <= 4.
  • also under the “Video” section you’ll see a “Codec” field. This value needs to be “H264”.
  • under the “Audio” section on the right (under Video) you’ll see a “Codec” field. The value can be AAC. Or, it can also be AC3 if you’ve enabled “Dolby Digital (AC3)” in the settings menu under your avatar.

Hope this helps!

6

Hi Mat,

Check these settings as suggested and this is what I have.

Media - Bitrate = <8000 kbps
Video - Level = 4.1
Video - Codec = H264
Audio - Codec = AAC

As you can see the Video - Level is 4.1 so this needs to be changed to 4 or less. How do I do this ?
If this is a big thing then I am in a spot of bother because all the movies on the NAS seem to be saying 4.1
The Media Bitrate varies per movie but all under 8000kbps

Looking forward to your response as always

7

Hi mattseeley,

Please let me know how I can change the Video > Level from >4 to <=4.0

Urgently looking forward to your reply

NJP

8

Apologies for the delay; you’ve probably already learned you’ll need to re-encode your videos using a software like Handbrake.