Streaming from Shield as Plex Server to Another Room - 4K/Atmos

General Discussions
1

I have a Shield running Plex Server with a variety of 4K Films (and some 1080P) with Dolby Atmos/TrueHD/DTS audio. These all play fine on my AV system downstairs, but if I try to play these films via my Xbox One S in another room, they spend their entire time ‘buffering’ - from what I understand transcoding is taking place, resulting in the playback delay.

So, what I would like to understand, is if I buy another Shield and use it as a Plex Client in my second room, will this remove the need to transcode as the hardware is the same in both locations?

Sorry if this is a silly newbie question - I did try a search but couldn’t find a specific answer to my question.

Thanks,
Russ

2

this might help @ Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you - aka the rules of 4k - a FAQ

but to answer your question, the xbox has problems with the HD audio.

if you choose a different audio stream (5.1 or stereo) and make sure subtitles are disabled, then (I believe) the xbox should play fine.

as far as another shield client, if you do not have an AV system in the other room, the same applies as above.

to play 4k/hdr without transcoding, you need HD audio support (compatible av receiver), or you need to use non hd audio (5.1 or stereo).

3

Thanks for your reply - deeply appreciated and indeed thanks for the link.

So if I get an Atmos soundbar (or at least one that can handle HD Audio - DTHD/DTS HD) I presume it would be ‘like for like’ from a Plex perspective? I can grab one of last years LG Atmos Soundbars for not much money.

4

well. maybe.

if you can plug the shield into the hd soundbar, then sound bar into tv, I would expect it to work. shield > soundbar > tv

otherwise if you go shield > tv > soundbar, then you will still be limited to non-hd audio, since neither optical or hdmi-arc support hd audio.

it is the same problem that many smart tv apps have, no hd audio support with optical/arc.

5

Indeed - I believe the new eARC standard passes HD Audio, but my TV doesn’t have that anyway.

It feels like it may make more sense to create a 1080 Stereo version instead too, and maintain that library for upstairs. It would have been nice to pick up an unfinished film in another room, or remotely, but it’s going to need a silly beefy server/PC to achieve this, via transcoding.

Thanks for clarifying anyway, really appreciate your time.

6

yes, but you need both earc tv, and receiver (and hdmi cables that also earc compatible).

what I do, and recommend, is keep your 4k content in a separate library from non-4k content.

you may/will want to keep a separate non-hd copy of your movie, so you can support remote/non-4k devices without having to transcode.

you can keep everything in the same library (4k+1080) and plex is supposed to pick the right file for the device, but that still isn’t perfect and you can’t stop someone remotely choosing 4k ‘because they want better quality’.

7

Slightly off topic, but would an Intel NUC be okay as a Plex Server for 1080/Stereo files to feed the 2nd room? (i5 4250/16GB RAM/SSD)

8

I would think that more than plenty for direct playing.

with a new enough NUC (7000 series intel cpu, 600 series igpu) you use hardware transcoding (requires plex pass) and not really have to worry about transcoding.

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