In general is it just best to set the h.264 level for 4.0?
I been using MakeMKV to rip my blu -rays and then Handbrake to convert to .mkv, but had it set to 4.1 for h.264 level. The Roku does great, but started noticing Plex on Fire TV Stick was not.
So was going to redo all the blu-rays again in 4.0. That should make both the Fire TV Stick and Roku boxes not have to transcode right? Roku on Plex app shows 4.1 by default.
You might wanna take a look at this: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1335697/#Comment_1335697
Just open up the settings in the Plex app on Fire and change the max 264 setting to 4.1. That little bump in the ‘supported level’ will not likely cause any issues and your Fire device will be in line with most of the media on Earth.
You can also enable the ‘Information Overlay’ on your Fire Device so if anything weird pops up you’ll know more about it:
Play an item (any), hit OK, arrow right to the ‘Gear’, arrow down and enable ‘Information Overlay’.
Now when you hit OK while playing an item some onscreen info will be displayed like; Direct Play or Transcoding and if so the reason for the Transcode. This will let you know what’s going on and offer hints as to what, if anything, you can do about it.
BTW MakeMKV (as the name would suggest) is already making MKVs… you must be knocking the bit rates down a bit with Handbrake or altering them for Direct Play - that’s what I do and here’s my bulletproof guide:
https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1335697/#Comment_1335697
I did bump Fire TV Stick to 4.1 and it does say Transcoding. I just didn’t want to get any other issues since I read on here Fire TV only supports up to 4.0.
I had a lot of issues with the Fire TV Stick and Plex. My older Roku’s do a better job that it. But I think I finally narrowed it down to a bad Fire TV Stick with a bad wifi antenna. A replacement sent seems to be doing better.
By The way I was using http://www.rokoding.com/index.html website as a guide for knocking down the bit rates down with Handbrake.
Rokoding is a great place to start. That’s where I started. Then went here:
Then in a few years found my own way catering for all the devices in my Plexiverse (in my sig) and developed my own plan of attack explained in painful detail in the guide above (and in my sig).
Why is the file transcoding? I have heard if you drag out that little extension cable that came with it and use that it helps get the thing away from being buried in the noise 1/2" away from the back of your TV Set.
I have also heard the Fire Stick makes a great cat toy. Perhaps you got one from the PetSmart wing at Amazon.
@JuiceWSA said:
Rokoding is a great place to start. That’s where I started. Then went here:
A “best settings” guide for Handbrake 0.9.9 and 0.10 | mattgadient.com
The best H.264 / x264 settings for Handbrake | mattgadient.comThen in a few years found my own way catering for all the devices in my Plexiverse (in my sig) and developed my own plan of attack explained in painful detail in the guide above (and in my sig).
Why is the file transcoding? I have heard if you drag out that little extension cable that came with it and use that it helps get the thing away from being buried in the noise 1/2" away from the back of your TV Set.
I have also heard the Fire Stick makes a great cat toy. Perhaps you got one from the PetSmart wing at Amazon.
Sorry I wrote that wrong before. It was not transcoding it said direct play when I switch it to 4.1. I think I need to play with it more.
I have a Roku XD (2011) and Roku 2 (2015). Both work very well over wifi with Plex system. One on one corner of house on main floor and other 2nd floor. AC router in basement.
FireTV stick in main floor in living room is right above AC router in basement. With Plex for the last year since I got the stick I always gave up on it. Would constantly get “Your connection to the server is not fast enough to stream this video. Check your Network.”
My Fire TV stick was not buried behind TV it’s just laying flat on TV stand connected with HDMI cable to mounted TV above. (my FireTV Stick actually came with a HDMI female/female adapter).
Anyways recently I started checking the WiFi speed on the router traffic anylyzer while Fire TV stick streaming. I don’t have those numbers in front of me but the replacement first stick double those numbers. I try to test out a movie with that has overall rate of 12.5 mb/s. It seems to be working ok.
More testing needed with AFTV.
My mom has a first and second Gen neither would work behind the TV with or without dongle extender I just upgraded the router haven’t tried since.
I have the fireTV box it’s much better performance.
@Hurlamania said:
My mom has a first and second Gen neither would work behind the TV with or without dongle extender I just upgraded the router haven’t tried since.I have the fireTV box it’s much better performance.
AFTV stick just makes me angry. I thought I was making progress with the replacement. Started getting some “slow network speed” again.
For now I swapped it for my Roku 2 (2015) model and Plex works great on that.
