Replaced HTPC with Shield for 4K / HDR - it doesn't work!

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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I have bought an Nvidia Shield TV - the tube version, both plex server and plex player apps are all auto updating, so they are on the latest version. Everything is hardwired (ethernet). The server runs on a separate Windows 8.1 machine.

I have tested with a number of different files, they are all mkv containers with 4K / HDR10 video and Dolby Atmos audio.

Using the Plex app on the shield - sometimes playback doesn’t begin and the Shield jumps out of Plex and back to the main menu. Sometimes, the file begins to playback, then stutters and freezes to the point where it stops responding to remote commands. I have to power cycle the Shield to get back to the main menus.

Using the Plex app in Kodi - This is more stable, the file does playback but there is some stutter and audio dropouts.

Using Kodi via UPNP - This seems to work fine. But, not a very pretty user experience.

Please help!

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I also have the Shield tube. The official Plex apps/plugins aren’t optimized enough to playback 4k video on the tube without issues. I use Kodi with PKC (PlexKodiConnect) to play my 4k videos and the Plex app to play everything else.

This setup works for me, but if it doesn’t for you, you might want to return the Shield tube and get the Pro. Users have reported that 4k playback through Plex on the Pro is much better.

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Thanks, that is disappointing to hear. I thought the Nvidia Shield was Plex’s recommended device. I wish I had known that the Pro TV would have been better, I thought that was only required for gamers. We have had the tube 6 weeks now, so too late to return. Only just getting round to watching some 4K / HDR films.

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4K playback in the Plex app on the Shield is flaky. Kodi with PlexKodiConnect is a great option, keeps your Plex library synced with play progress, etc.

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Thanks. Good news is that Amazon have accepted a late exchange for the tube version to the Shield Pro, so will that solve the issue?

I did look into Plex Kodi Connect, but it seems a lot of faff, and I think doesn’t support collections?

I assume that using Kodi to browse and play from the Plex UPNP server will achieve the same thing?

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If you have created collections in Plex, you can see them in Kodi through PlexKodiConnect.

I don’t have a Shield Pro so won’t be able to advise whether that will help the Plex 4K playback.

You could point Kodi straight to the shares holding your media files, and browse/view the library through Kodi, but you will then lose syncing playback progress, etc.

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Help! The Shield Pro has arrived, and I have been setting it up this evening. The Plex app is transcoding (or attempting to transcode) the 4K / HDR video to non HDR and the HD audio to PCM 5.1. My server isn’t powerful enough for that, so I get a long yellow spinning circle for the majority of the time.

Playing the same file back in Kodi via UPNP - I get 4K / HDR video and atmos audio.

Edit: also have Plex for Kodi working properly, direct play of 4k/HDR with Atmos audio, but the native Plex app will not work, treble checked all the settings and uninstalled reinstalled, no go.

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Check both Shield and Plex client settings. I’ve a 2015 Pro. Yours will be similar Mine doesn’t support Dolby Vision or the AI upscaling, so adjust accordingly when checking/changing things…

My setup: Shield (2015) Pro <–HDMI–>Denon 4300<–HDMI–>LG B7 OLED

Make sure you have the latest updates from Nvidia:
Settings -> Device Preferences -> About -> System Upgrade

Make sure you have the current Plex Client. Use the Google Play Store -> My Apps to check for updates.

Check the Shield video settings

Settings -> Display & Sound -> Resolution
Mine is set to 4K 59.940Hz (default), HDR10 Ready.

Settings -> Display & Sound -> Advanced Display Settings
Match Color Space is enabled.

Check Shield Audio Settings
Settings -> Display & Sound -> Advanced Sound Settings
Set to Auto. I’ve experimented with enabling/disabling various codecs. It always forces Plex to transcode the audio, even for those which are enabled. Just leave it at Auto.

Check Plex Client Settings

Video Quality
  Adjust Automatically = Off
  Home Streaming = Maximum
  Remote Streaming =-Maximum
Video
  Burn subtitles = Automatic
Advanced
  Passthrough = HDMI
  Refresh Rate Switching = On
  Resolution Switching = On.
1 Like
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Hi - Thanks for the support!

I have an Arcam AVR550 AVR and a Samsung Q90R TV.

My settings were similar to yours apart from the global audio and video settings in the Shield.

I have had my TV calibrated and have a calibration file to playback that shows whether everything is displaying correctly. The only way it plays back correctly on the Shield is if I have dynamic range set to full, which I can only do if I have the video output set to RGB 8-bit Rec.709. Everything else displays white as grey.

I have match color space enabled.

I tried your video setting and this does fix the video side of things in the plex app - 4K / HDR plays back properly without transcoding. But whites are grey in non HDR content.

With my setting, whites are white, and Plex for Kodi can playback 4K / HDR correctly. Interestingly, this setting didn’t cause any issues on the Shield tube version. Except I got some stuttering on the Shield tube version.

I cannot get the plex app to passthrough HD audio, it is transcoding it to PCM. I have the audio output set to HDMI. This works for Kodi, if I change it to Auto, it breaks bitstreaming in Kodi. Neither Auto nor HDMI work for bitstreaming in Plex.

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Suggestion: Divide and conquer. Separate the video and audio troubleshooting.

Audio

The AVR550 manual makes no mention of HDMI-eARC capability, only HDMI-ARC. The manual I found online for the Q90R only said “some models may support eARC.”

Assuming I’m reading the manuals correctly, then for lossless audio - dts-HD MA, dts:X, TrueHD, TrueHD + Atmos - the Shield must be connected to the AVR550, not to the TV. HDMI-ARC does not have the bandwidth to carry those audio formats.

Connect the Shield to a HDMI input on the AVR550. Play a standard Blu-ray rip, 1080p, no HDR, subtitles off, with TrueHD or dts-HD MA audio. That should direct play, both video and audio (you might even try Dolby Digital 5.1 or dts 5.1 just to make sure they work OK as well).

On my 2015 Shield Pro, the choices in the Plex app for audio passthrough are HDMI, Optical, and Disabled. The only one that supports lossless audio passthrough is HDMI. Disabled forces everything to PCM. It sounds like an Auto setting is also available in the 2019 version.

The Auto setting I referenced is a Shield, not Plex setting. The default is Auto, but it never hurts to double check.

Once you get the audio working, you can start on the video side of things.

Video:

Unfortunately, I don’t think I can be of much help, as I’ve a different TV, and the 2019 Shield has several options, such as AI upscaling, that my 2015 model does not.

You might try connecting the Shield directly to the TV and playing a HDR video with a Dolby Digital audio stream (which direct plays on a Samsung). Once you get that working to your satisfaction, then move the Shield back to the AVR, play the same video, and see what happens.

FWIW, my LG had some “deep color” and similar settings that were off by default. I had to dig through the menus to find them to get HDR playback working correctly. The settings were per-HDMI input, not global, so I had to make sure I changed things on the HDMI interface connected to my Denon receiver.

I also disabled all the “motion control” and other TV settings that results in the “soap opera effect.” With that enabled, the picture, no matter the source, looked like the south end of a north bound mule (IMHO anyway).

I scanned the Q90R online manual, but it was pretty thin on specific settings, so I don’t know if any of this applies to your setup.

Good luck with the troubleshooting.

1 Like
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Thanks everyone for your time and effort in trying to help me out!

I have tried numerous things, and have got somewhere, it still seems a bit flaky, but at least it is starting to work how it should!

There were two things that seemed to bring about the desired effect.

  1. I changed the settings in the Shield - advanced audio settings - select format - from manual, where I had ticked all of the codecs that my AVR supportes for bitstreaming, to auto.

  2. I moved the Shield closer to my AVR, and used a shorter premium certified cable (rather than a longer premium certified cable).

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Yes, it was 3 metres. Swapped it for a 1 metre monoprice one.

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