Hi, I’m trying to get this working but I think my lack of knowledge of the system is leading me off track.
First though, I think a premise is in order.
I own an LG TV (55UN73006), where I can install Plex, but I can’t make a stream from the home nas to the TV without the stream not being transcoded.
I come from a normal TV to which was connected a mibox 4s and it seems strange that the TV can not play the same stream as before without transcoding, I’m not sure but I think the TV is much more powerful than the good old player with Kodi installed.
The nas is a qnap with an atom processor and debian installed, the flex server runs on a docker. The whole thing is behind a dual nat but I hope that’s not the problem.
What kind of logs or information can I provide to try to figure out where, if any, the problem is?
Do you have subtitles enabled? If so, try playing media with them disabled.
What audio type are you playing? If possible, use Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus. Avoid TrueHD and dts formats, as they will transcode.
You can monitor playback using Plex Dashboard → Now Playing.
TV manufacturers generally use processors, etc with limited performance. This constrains the capabilities of Plex’s SmartTV apps compared to the Plex apps for Android TV / Apple TV / Roku devices.
With webOS TVs, the two basic rules are:
No image based subtitles (PGS/VOBSUB)
If the audio is transcoding, no text (SRT/ASS) based subtitles.
When using the Plex app on your TV, TrueHD and dts audio formats will transcode, so avoid those formats when using text subtitles.
This is how the Plex LG app handles subtitles:
Enabling image based subtitles, PGS or VOBSUB, results in a video transcode.
If the audio is transcoding, enabling any type of subtitle results in a video transcode.
If the audio is direct playing, SRT & VTT subtitles direct play.
With SSA/ASS subtitles:
If Burn Subtitles = Auto, enabling SSA/ASS subtitles results in a video transcode.
If Burn Subtitles = Image Only, SSA/ASS subtitles direct play, but position, color, etc information may be ignored.
Like I said I’m new on Plex world so, maybe I ask stupid questions, there’s so many settings, server side and client side.
Anyway, this’s one sample file:
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 1.80 GiB
Duration : 1 h 58 min
Overall bit rate : 2 184 kb/s
Writing application : Lavf54.63.104
Writing library : Lavf54.63.104
FileExtension_Invalid : mkv mk3d mka mks
Video
ID : 1
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L1
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/ASP
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Simple Profile
Bit rate : 1 500 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 304 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 24.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.286
Stream size : 1.24 GiB (69%)
Writing library : Lavc54.92.100
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 541 MiB (29%)
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Forced : No
And is transmitted with transcoding.
The file have sub hard-coded, but I don’t think can be an issue.
After, I tried with this
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4
File size : 2.97 GiB
Duration : 1 h 24 min
Overall bit rate : 5 052 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2021-03-22 23:05:20
Writing application : mkvmerge v53.0.0 ('Fool's Gold') 64-bit
Writing library : libebml v1.4.1 + libmatroska v1.6.2
Attachments : ODSPLANET.jpg / ODSPLANET.bmp
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 5 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 24 min
Bit rate : 4 656 kb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 818 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.124
Stream size : 2.73 GiB (92%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 24 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 231 MiB (8%)
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Text #1
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration : 1 h 17 min
Bit rate : 46 b/s
Count of elements : 1012
Stream size : 26.4 KiB (0%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Text #2
ID : 4
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration : 1 h 19 min
Bit rate : 54 b/s
Count of elements : 1328
Stream size : 31.4 KiB (0%)
Title : SUB ITA
Language : Italian
Default : Yes
Forced : Yes
But the result is the same
Maybe is a wrong configuration on tv?
What kind of test or log I can provide to try to understand what happen?
The problem is the TV has an indirect connection to your server. This means it is using Plex Relay. The media is routed through a Plex host and is limited to 1 Mbps.
Is the TV local or remote to the Plex Server?
If remote, then remote access is not working correctly. Dual NAT will be a problem and must be resolved before remote access will work correctly.
If local, then there is a problem in the local network.
Try the following, whether TV is local or remote:
Disable IPv6 on the TV
Set the TV to use a public DNS server, such as Google (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare (1.1.1.1).
Turn off the TV and disconnect it from AC power (pull the plug).
If the Plex Server is local, shut it down as well.
Reboot/Power Cycle the Internet modem/router.
Once the router is online, power on the Plex Server and the TV.
Ok, yes is double nat, because my nas, with plex server, is under vpn, so I’ve to double split the tunnel or I can simply “tell” to tv that the server is under 10.0.0.150? Is always the same lan.
Sorry I didn’t mention it, didn’t think it was important since they are always under the same lan
Also because when i tried plex on the mibox 4s, it didn’t go into transcoding so i didn’t think it was a problem
What do you think is best?
Is there an option to force the connection to a local address or do I have to split? In case I have to split, is only port 32400 sufficient to be redirected?
I do not use Plex with a VPN, so I will be of very little help going forward. Getting Plex to work over a VPN can be a large PITA from the threads I’ve seen on the topic. You might search the forum and see if you can find anything applicable.
What is the make/model of your NAS? Someone with specific knowledge about running VPNs on that equipment may be able to help.
Local Plex clients use TCP/32400 to communicate to the server. SSDP and some UDP ports are used for discovery purposes. Remote Plex clients also use TCP/32400 to communicate to the server, unless the port is remapped for remote access.
If the TV is local to the server, but on a different subnet, add the TV’s subnet to LAN Networks in Settings → Network. ex: 10.0.1.0/24,10.0.2.0/255.255.255.0. Adjust accordingly for your network topology. Note that if you list more than one subnet there is no space after the comma.
Make sure routing is setup correctly between the local subnets. You do not want packets from a local Plex client going out over the Internet when they’re destined for a local Plex server.
If the traffic must hairpin through the Internet access router (the client will appear as “remote” with your public IP address), check the box for Treat WAN IP As LAN Bandwidth in Settings → Network.
If the TV is local to the server, try adding the server manually to the Plex app (in Settings on the Plex LG app).
Yes, my purpose is to use Plex only on local lan, not over VPN.
I’ll try first to assign server ip to LG app, then if not work I’ll try to make a split over 32400 port.
My nas is one old Qnap TS-269L, but I changed the system, so I don’t use Qnap software but Debian, much more usable.
Btw I think you centered the problem, I’ll try to correct the nat, and I’ll update this post
Ok @FordGuy61, you were right.
I searched a bit, OpenWrt and Plex are not very friendly, but following the last tips of this post OpenWrt Forum Archive I managed to solve, now the server can establish a secure connection with the client and everything works.
