Problem playing Blu Ray backups to Roku in original quality

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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First post here, hopefully it’s not long on extraneous detail and short on relevant detail… I’m really looking forward to getting Plex dialed in here. Someday I envision using the webhooks feature to tie into an automation system. But one step at a time.

I would like to use Plex for my Blu-ray backups. I’m basically a new user although I tried Plex about 7 years ago but opted instead to use my Oppo Blu Ray player to play the .mkv files over the network. Now I’m revisiting Plex and getting it all configured. I like it but I’m having trouble with playback on my Roku devices when I select “original” quality in the Roku Plex app. Is there some setting that I need to change in either the server or on the Roku to have “original” quality work reliably? I searched but didn’t see anyone with post a similar issue.

Since I’m setting everything up for the first time, I believe everything is on the latest version (see details at end of post). Everything is local.

Note that I have the Windows client working great and have it successfully passing dts audio to my receiver (yes, I read the article about audio passthrough and I do want the “pretty light” to turn on, at least for now to know that I’m really getting the original quality file that I would view on the Oppo). The problems I describe below are unique to the Roku and are not present on the PC client.

I am trying out a new Roku Premiere as I’m really just looking for something that can play my Blu-ray backups in the original quality and want an easier “couch” interface than the PC client.

I have the following problems when I select “original” for Roku settings video – local quality:
The strangest problem to me is when playing Finding Nemo or Finding Dory. The Roku loads the video, plays for a couple minutes, stops and then shows the video in the “recently played”. If I try to resume, Plex shows the “recently played” screen immediately. This is very reproducible. Perhaps not surprisingly, if I have local quality as “original” but direct play “disabled” it seems to play fine.

I can get Finding Nemo/Dory to play fine when the video setting is 20Mbps 4K and when direct play is set to “auto”. As I would expect, even if I have 20Mbps / 4K selected in the Roku Plex app, if I have direct play set to “force” I have the same problem. Note this problem also happens on “original” whether I have direct play set to force or Auto.

While trying to play “Ford vs. Ferrari” in original quality, after about 4 minutes I get – “Playback error - your connected to the server was not fast enough to stream this video. Check your network or try a lower quality”. It will show the % buffering circle sometimes and then give that message. I’ve tested a few others, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter and they have similar problems.

Oddly, I don’t get this network speed error on 20mbps 4K so I don’t think it’s really my WiFi speed. To me all signs are pointing to some problem with the “original” quality setting on the Roku.

I doubt my WiFi is the issue as it has close line of site to a wireless access point. Roku is getting 28Mbps from the internet but signal strength is very good and I suspect LAN speeds are higher but not sure how to test that directly with the Roku. I have very few devices on WiFi as I’ve hardwired 100% of everything that has an ethernet port. That said if given that this a 2.4ghz only device it may be forced into a lower speed if there are other legacy 2ghz devices connected to that AP. But again, since this doesn’t happen on 20Mbps 4K I don’t believe it’s really the WiFi speed.

Coincidentally I was having similar problems on an inexpensive HiSense TV with Roku built in. I read here that maybe that app isn’t fully supported so I figured I’d just find another client for it. But now I went back to try and I can get 20Mbps 4K to work fine here too.

I’ve enabled debugging logging. If logs are needed which ones should I post? I’m a bit concerned that there could be some private info in there somewhere…

Roku is updated as of this morning. Software 9.4.0 build 4200-91
Roku Plex version appears to be 6.7.9.6822-21
Server version 4.51.1 (or is it Version 1.21.3.4046)
Player version 1.28.0.1681-cc6e807c for Windows

Server –
HP Elite 8300
Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Intel Quad Core i7-3770s Processor 3.1 GHz, 8MB cache
8 GB DDR3 SODIMM
240 GB Solid State hard drive
Intel HD Graphics 2500
Integrated high definition audio

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You would have to look in the Plex server logs to see why it wants to transcode. Do you have subtitles, a lot of times that will trigger a transcoded video. I know a friend of mine had a lot of issues with his Roku and finally swapped it out to an Invidia Shield Pro. Most TV’s do not support most high bit rate movies or HD audio so that may be an issue for you too.

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@Alucard1
Thanks for your reply. I’m less concerned about the TV right now. I’m mostly trying to get the Roku Premiere to work. I’ve heard great things about the Nvidia Shield but wanted to see if I could get the Roku working. I don’t really need and would like to avoid another $150 box.

I made a new backup of Finding Nemo with no subtitles and I still had the same issue.
What should I be looking for in the logs? I’m not even seeing something like “serving Finding Nemo to Roku” or anything like that. Am I looking in the wrong place?

I could post the logs if it’s helpful, but I saw something here (Posting Log Files) that refers to Plex tokens but I didn’t see that setting anywhere.

Thanks

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Well, I’m sending the Roku Premiere back. I couldn’t get it to work reliably. On the simple little TV that thinks it’s smart, I’m able to get it working on the built-in Roku Plex in 20Mbps mode which will work fine for that TV (and a single simple remote has high WAF there). For now the primary TV will be using the Windows Plex Media Player.

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Just get a shield pro.
I used Roku for 8+ years and they’re great for standard definition and 2.1 stereo, but I just threw mine in a drawer and got a shield pro at best buy. $200 but it supports the latest video and audio codecs.

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Thanks. I may eventually get a shield pro. The Roku went back. For now I’m planning to use the same PC that hosts my Plex Server. It’s not the most convenient but easy enough to use a keyboard to start a movie. I don’t have to see or hear the PC as its tucked away with wiring through the walls.

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