Slightly choppy playback

I’ve just unwrapped a new nvidia shield and got setup with Plex Media Server.

I am noticing choppy playback on almost all of my videos, its very subtle… its like a single frame freezes for a split second every couple of seconds.
I can play the same file using Kodi on the same device (connected using the same mounted location) and the file will play smooth as butter.

Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

Details:
Plex Server 1.8.1
Nvidia Shield
Media fetched from Local NAS device
Both Nvidia and NAS connected via Gigabit ethernet connection.

as far as i know its been an on going issue the work around is to use the plex plugin on kodi for now and its a faster interface than the plex app.

@nicksphone0161 said:
as far as i know its been an on going issue the work around is to use the plex plugin on kodi for now and its a faster interface than the plex app.

Do you know how long this issue has been ongoing for? Can you point me towards a ticket related to this so I can keep tabs on it? Thanks

I think it first came up on this thread https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/165581/plex-on-nvidia-shield-android-tv/p1
they also talk about it here https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/864339/shield-tv/plex-playback-is-stuttering/1/

I too have just unwrapped a brand new Shield Pro (after giving up with my Sony Bravia ‘smart’ android TV plex app’s appalling stutter problems) and experienced the exact same problem of micro stuttering with the Shield.

However, after much fiddling with settings I found that turning on the following setting in the plex client app on the Shield it is vastly improved.

Settings -> Advanced -> Refresh rate switching -> On (Off by default)

Others suggested using plex add on for Kodi instead but I was still getting micro stutters using this method too (albeit not as bad).

So far the micro stuttering has stopped but I’ll keep you posted as I’ve literally changed it 30 mins ago.

@h1ddendanger
I’ve been using a shield for more than a year now. When I got it, there was no stutter at all. I think It was on firmware 3.3.

But few months later, nvidia released firmware 5.0 and this micro stutter/frame skip started. There is a big thread (26 pages) on the nvidia forum about this here:
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/990328/shield-tv/netflix-random-frame-skips-2015-after-5-0-2-2017-with-5-1-/1/

Since then, nvidia release 2 firmwares and did not fix this yet. This stutter appends in netflix, play movie, Kodi, plex, etc. It took me a while to find a work around for this issue. But I’ve been enjoying my shield without stutter for a while now. This stutter is caused by more than 1 cause.

The first cause seems to be deep inside android framework. There is a little app called TVHZ that can be downloaded from Google Play store. This app seems set some flags into android framework and it helps a lot. Basically, after boot, just start this app, toggle to 24hz option, then toggle back to the default option. After that, you are done with it. Don’t close it, just let it in the background.

The second source is disscussed a lot in the nvidia shield forum. My understanding is that the power management rules are too agressive and the CPU goes to slow in idle mode causing stutters during playback. On the nvidia forum, there is a user that created a little app call cpuloop. This app adds a small load on the cpu during playback, keeping the CPU active. This app can be downloaded directly from nvidia forum, the most recent version is 1.2 :
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/990328/shield-tv/netflix-random-frame-skips-2015-after-5-0-2-2017-with-5-1-/24/

This app is a little more difficult to install. Need to be downloaded to the Shield, Unknown source must be allowed and some settings must be done in the accessibility menu. Plex, play movie and netflix are already managed by the app. For Kodi, it must be added to the cpuloop config file.

Since I run those 2 apps on the Shield, I don’t have any stutters/frame skip anymore.

I hope this will help you.

@rouq

Awesome, thanks for the detailed information, much appreciated.

Are you using your shield as the server or just the client?

My setup is that my main PC is the server and I’m just using the Shield as the client attached to the TV for playback.

Anyway, if I continue to get stutter I will try the advice you detailed above.

@h1ddendanger

My Shield is my main plex server and also a client.

After reading some of the very lengthy post on the geforce Forum I can see this issue is quite widespread and is driving some folk nuts (including me !). The Mrs. hadn’t noticed the stutter until I pointed it out - it’s driving her nuts too now !

I guess the more people who report it ‘officially’ to Plex/Nvidia as a bug the better. Is there a recommended effective way to do this, that’s likely to come to the developers attention rather than just get lost in the ether?

@h1ddendanger

In the about menu in Shield, there is a option to send feedback. This is the best way, I think to send this to nvidia attention.

thanks, I’ll knock something together later to annoy them…

It’s your streaming player display setting, and/or you Monitor/TV/Display setting - not your Plex setup.

On my Roku Ultra, I changed the display type to 4k@60hz or 4k@60hz HDR or whatever. Basically, 1080p will play all of these smoothly. 4k@30hz probably too.

End of the day - you’re looking at the wrong variable (I was too). In my case, it was my streaming player display type setting, and I’m guessing it is the same for you.

There are only a few places that can cause this issue, and the Plex server is rarely it. It will usually be the streaming player, or the monitor/TV. (Think of most TV’s these days as monitors - as the resolutions and refresh rates are insane).