Server Version#: 1.21.1.3830
Player Version#: Plex for Android 8.11.0.22186
I have a Sony Bravia 4K Android TV. This TV is compatible with Dolby Digital passthrough but not True HD or any form of DTS.
When playing H265 content that has Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, the server direct plays both the video and audio, everything is perfect.
When playing H265 content that has True HD or DTS audio, the server transcodes the video to 4K h264 and direct plays the audio which becomes silence.
So, we have a TV that is perfectly capable of direct playing H265 (HEVC) video and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. You would assume that Plex would simply transcode the DTS or TrueHD audio into Dolby Digital 5.1 and continue to direct play the video, but instead it transcodes the video which would play just fine, and direct plays the audio which does not work. It’s doing the opposite of what is required.
When casting to the TV using the built in Chromecast, it will not direct play the video ever, it will direct play 5.1 audio and transcode TrueHD or DTS.
When playing content using the Plex app inside of the Kodi app on Android, the video always direct plays but the audio is stereo if it’s True HD or DTS, it plays fine if it’s Dolby Digital 5.1. This is due to how Kodi handles the audio, it takes the stream it can’t passthrough and sends it out as stereo PCM. Because Kodi accepts whatever is thrown at it, the Plex Server assumes it can take the audio and then does not transcode the video, hence why it’s always direct play for inside Kodi’s Plex App.
Obviously something is wrong here, the Plex server needs to transcode the audio and direct stream the video. Is Plex unable to do that with H265 content?
I tried using a Roku Premier to get around this issue and whilst it did work, I had audio dropout issues with the Roku which looks like a common problem so I’ve had to return it. The only other way I see of getting around this is buying a nVidia Shield. But honestly, considering my TV supports H265 direct play and it’s just the audio that’s the issue, I don’t see why Plex can’t just transcode the audio…
Note that I am using a movie that has separate TrueHD, DTS-MA and DD5.1 audio streams, so the video stream is always identical and I simply changed the audio stream and watched the reaction of the server.
Please help 
