Server Version: 1.43.1.10611
Player Version: Latest (downloaded April 20, 2026 from Play Store)
Shield Model: NVIDIA Shield TV Pro (P2897)
Shield OS: Android TV 9.1.1 (33.2.0.157)
TV: Samsung The Frame 43" (HDR10, no Dolby Vision)
The Plex Android TV app on NVIDIA Shield Pro automatically defaults to 1080p versions instead of 4K HDR10 when a non-Dolby Vision display is connected, even when 4K direct plays perfectly when manually selected.
Setup
- Multi-version movie library with Tier 1 (4K HDR10), Tier 2 (1080p), Tier 3 (720p) versions
- Shield connected to Samsung Frame TV (HDR10 capable, no Dolby Vision)
- Gigabit wired connection
- Plex server on Mac Mini
The Problem
When hitting Play on any movie with multiple versions, Plex automatically selects the 1080p version. Manually selecting the 4K version works perfectly — direct play, no transcoding, full HDR10.
Root Cause (Confirmed via Server Logs)
The Shield Plex app sends two limitations in its augmentation data with every playback request:
1. DOVIProfile limitation:
add-limitation(scope=videoCodec&scopeName=hevc&type=notMatch&name=video.DOVIProfile&value=5)
2. colorTrc limitation:
add-limitation(scope=videoTranscodeTarget&scopeName=hevc&...&name=video.colorTrc&list=bt709|bt470m|smpte240m|smpte170m|bt470bg|bt2020-10&isRequired=false)
The colorTrc limitation does not include smpte2084 — which is the PQ transfer curve used by HDR10. This causes the server to reject 4K HDR10 files as unsuitable and fall back to 1080p.
This was also reported in this thread with the exact same log line: Can't play 4K HDR on Nvidia Shield Pro
video.colorTrc limitation applies: smpte2084 != bt709|bt470m|smpte240m|smpte170m|bt470bg|bt2020-10
What I’ve Tried
- Custom server profile (Android-SHIELD Android TV.xml) adding smpte2084 to the colorTrc list — does not work because client augmentation data overrides server profile
- Stripping Dolby Vision layer from files using dovi_tool — does not fix it because the colorTrc limitation independently blocks HDR10
- All quality settings on Shield set to Maximum
- Fresh install of Plex app on Shield
- Shield OS updated to 9.2.4
- Full Plex server database reset and clean install
Key Evidence
- Samsung Frame TV Plex app auto-selects 4K correctly on same server/content — confirming it’s a Shield client-specific issue
- iPhone Plex app auto-selects 4K correctly
- Manually selecting 4K on Shield = perfect direct play every time
- The Shield hardware supports HDR10 — this is purely a Plex app bug
Requested Fix
Add smpte2084 (and ideally arib-std-b67 for HLG) to the colorTrc list sent in the Shield app’s augmentation data:
bt709|bt470m|smpte240m|smpte170m|bt470bg|bt2020-10|smpte2084|arib-std-b67
This is a one-line fix in the Shield app that would allow HDR10 content to be correctly auto-selected for direct play on non-Dolby Vision displays.
Happy to provide full server logs if helpful.
