Some mkv's play fine, some wont in Samsung plex client

Plex Players Smart TVs
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1

Server Version#: 1.21.1.3830
Player Version#: 5.6.1

Hi,

I installed my plex server on a QNAP NAS (TS-451). Some of my mkv’s play just fine on my Samsung TV. With other mkv’s I see the client is buffering for maybe 1 minute and then this message is displayed: Playback Error - An unexpected playback problem occured.

When I compare a video that is playing ok with a video that wont, I see that they use the same container (mkv), the same resolution (1920x1080), the same video codec (H264 - MPEG 4 AVC (part 10) (avc1)) and the same audio codec (A/52 B Audio (aka E-AC3) ( eac3)).

This information I get from VLC. The only difference is that for the files that are playing fine, there is some extra stream information (English translation added):
Kleurprimairen: ITU-R BT.709 (Color primaries)
Kleuroverdracht-functie: ITU-R BT.709 (Color transfer function)
Kleurruimte: ITU-R BT.709 bereik (Color space function)

When I use plex (web) on my notebook (W10), all files play fine. When I try to cast to my TV, the same error shows up.

Is there somthing that I can change in my settings te prevent this?

2

I searched a little further and in the codec information in plex, I see that the file that wont play, is using level 5.0 of the H264 codec.:

Codec H264
Bitrate 5810 kbps
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Location left
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Coded Height 1088
Coded Width 1920
Frame Rate 23.976 fps
Height 1080
Niveau 5.0
Profiel high
Ref Frames 8
Scan Type progressive
Width 1920
Display Title 1080p (H.264)
Extended Display Title 1080p (H.264)

The files that plays fine is using level 4.0:

Codec H264
Bitrate 5693 kbps
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Location left
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Coded Height 1088
Coded Width 1920
Color Primaries bt709
Color Range tv
Color Space bt709
Color Trc bt709
Frame Rate 23.976 fps
Height 1080
Niveau 4.0
Profiel high
Ref Frames 4
Scan Type progressive
Width 1920
Display Title 1080p (H.264)
Extended Display Title 1080p (H.264)
3

Level 5 is not supported by your Sammy, so transcoding needs to take place, and fails.
So either optimize your media, or replace with compatible

4

High@4.0 or 4.1 is all you need for 1920x1080 at 30fps or less (1080p Blu-ray discs are High@4.1).

Also, cut the reference frames to 4. That’s the max for 1920x1080 video at Level 4/4.1.

Handbrake is a popular, free tool for encoding videos. Available for Linux/Mac/PC.

2 Likes
5

Thanks, great answers, Had the same issue.
I am using GoPro 8 and sometimes the output is level 5.0 and sometimes 4.1.

Any ideas?

6

Not a user, but according to the online manual, nothing that can be set on the GoPro

So Handbreak is the way to go

1 Like
7

Thank you for the info about handbrake. I installed a docker on my NAS and I’m encoding some video’s as we speak. It takes almost a day for one episode, but I’m patient :-).

8

If your TV does not support higher level than 4.1 - you can use this app for change level without encoding the video and lost the quality - this process take a few seconds for every video file.

I used it in the past when I owned very old TV and this was the easiet way how to play video.

9

You can overwrite the Level in a file to a lower Level if -

  1. The video wasn’t really a higher Level at all, and somebody just saved it with a higher Level (to be cool, because bigger numbers are better, right?)
  2. The player can actually handle a higher Level, but was artificially limited or only tested up to a certain Level
  3. The video is somewhere between Levels, and the player can actually handle something between the Levels (very common!), and you want to risk it

I bet that depends on the recording settings used, including 1080p vs. 4K & 30fps vs. 60fps vs. RED BULL FPS. Knowing GoPro I bet it’s accurate.

10

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