Plex on Roku HDR, DV, and Dolby Atmos

General Discussions
1

Hello community,

Is there any support information that can be given as to what is supported at this time the Plex on Roku app?

Dolby Vision? HDR 10? Dolby Atmos?

It’s not entirely clear and there are several posts already posted that has zero definition as to what is supported.

I have tried playing a MKV with Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos and I’m getting a transcode for Dolby Digital Plus. I have a TCL R635 and Vizio Elevate. I have Disney+ and Atmos and Dolby Vision works perfect. So my television can handle it. What am I missing?

If the community can clarify what each client is capable of doing that would be great.

2

Good Evening

I own 2 Roku Premiere’s and I can confirm the only audio it supports is Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS and DTS 96/24. Basically all of the lossy sound formats.

The Roku forum’s are full of disgruntled people that are hoping it will soon support Atmos but nothing is forthcoming. I am waiting for Roku to allow pasthrough (like the fire stick does) of Dolby Atmos to upgrade my system to Atmos.

I do believe the new 4K fire sticks support Atmos passthrough but not DTS though. I would upgrade to the fire stick but with no DTS support is a no no for me.

Hope this helps.

CCF

1 Like
3

Thank you for your clear response.

Yes, hopefully support for Atmos will be available soon. HDR is supported to some capacity.

Plex on Android TV apparently supports Atmos and Dolby Vision but it too is experiencing problems.

I appreciate the response. I figured as much that it was not supported but it is so weird how Plex makes clients to support different codecs and features. Roku is widely available and used the most.

4

You’re welcome.

It is nothing to do with Plex I’m afraid. The issue is with Roku themselves unfortunately. If the Roku doesn’t support what Plex is streaming to it then Plex will transcode or convert it to a format that the Roku is able to play.

Rgds

CCF

5

keep in mind;

  • there are 2 kinds of atmos, lossless/HD TRUEHD, and EAC3/DOLBY DIGITAL+
    streaming providers use dolby digital+atmos, this is the kind that works on smart tvs.
    truehd+atmos, comes from 4k/blurays and does not direct play or pass through any known smart tvs

  • there are several different profiles (or flavors) of dolby vision, not all devices/tvs are compatible with all the different profiles.

see also @ Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you for a ton more 4k info and discussion

1 Like
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TCL TV’s such as the R635 support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos so that the fact that it’s Roku themselves doesn’t hold up entirely. Perhaps because Roku does not have support on all of their products they haven’t made it available yet.

7

I ripped my BluRay that has Dolby Atmos from MakeMKV and got Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos.
When I play it on Plex on Roku, I get EAC3 transcode, but the HDR is Direct Stream. Is this right?

Here’s a screenshot:
Screenshot_2020-11-19 Plex

Thank you to anyone who can provide feedback.

8

correct.

the only mainstream device that can play/pass through truehd+atmos is nvidia shield.

9

That looks correct. The video is being copied (direct stream). Roku does not support True HD Atmos, so the audio is being converted to a compatible format. note: roku mentions it supports Atmos, and by that they mean DD+ Atmos.

10

Thank you for the clarification.

I’m not sure about your claim of Roku not supporting Atmos. I get Atmos from Netflix and Disney+. Do you mean that it doesn’t support Atmos in the same way the Nvidia Shield 2019 does? I do not believe the Nvidia Shield 2017 supports it because the device does not support it.

My apologies, I’m trying to understand the Dolby Atmos and the several types it comes in.

11
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So if someone got the new Chromecast with Google TV, installed the Plex app, the same Atmos found on Blu-rays would be delivered through these devices the Nvidia Shield 2019 and Chromecast? The new Chromecast supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

13

no.

the new chromecast with google does not support truehd.

it will only do streaming atmos (dolby digital+atmos).

please read the 4k faq linked above, it answers all your questions and more.

14

Thank you.

The NVIDIA Shield you are referring to is the most recently release of the hardware 2019 or the 2017 model?

Your post on this taught me so much about this technology. Thank you.

15

The Shield Pro from 2019 is the latest and greatest. Avoid the “tube” model, as it still has issues with high-bitrate files (i.e. those from UHD Blurays).

The 2017 model is missing the Dolby Vision support and it doesn’t have the AI upscaler (I very much recommend this upscaler if you have files with smaller resolution as your screen.)

1 Like
16

Thank you @OttoKerner.

Does the Plex app for Android support Dolby Vision through MKV or is this still in beta working on the NVIDIA SHIELD Pro?

17

Hello again.

If I have a blu ray that has Dolby True HD I always rip it to HEVC/H265 and the sound with DD+ at 1536kbps using Handbrake. It sounds very good in my opinion (I believe streaming services use 640kbps). I have played the blu ray with TrueHD and also the DD+ alternately and the difference is only slight although at the moment I only have a 5.1 sub/sat system. I can’t vouch for the Atmos part though.

As far as I’m aware there are no free programs to convert DTSHD-MA to DD+ DTS equivalent although if i am wrong please let me know.

Rgds

CCF

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