Server Version#: 1.19.4.2902-69560ce1e
Player Version#: 7.1.1 (15801)
I’m wondering if this is a limitation of the Synology or the AppleTV (not the 4K version).
I have some TV shows ripped to 1080p HEVC at a decent bitrate (8,000 kbps) which stutter for a few seconds when they start playing but generally then play OK after that, occasionally stuttering for a few seconds while playing. This is with the enhanced player on, if I disable it and go back to the old player, this problem goes away. I had the same a few days ago with a 1080p film, again HEVC with a bitrate of around 15,000 kbps. It was stuttering with the enhanced player but fine with the old player.
Today I tried to play a 4k film, again HEVC with a high bitrate of 40,000 kbps and it simply wouldn’t play for more than a few seconds without getting the message telling me the server wasn’t powerful enough to encode. I’ve tried all the options I can, new player, old player, enabling the ability to auto-adjust quality but nothing worked. I simply can’t watch this film.
The Synology DS1019+ claims to be able to transcode 2 x 4k streams simultaneously so I wonder whether the stuttering I’m getting here is due to the AppleTV not being powerful enough or whether the Synology can’t handle HEVC properly.
I have a 4k film with a bitrate of 27,000 kbps that’s H264 and that played perfectly with the enhanced player.
Should I look at replacing my HEVC content with H264 or is a more powerful AppleTV, ie the 4k version likely to perform better? I’m loathe to buy one of those right now with rumours of a new model some time this year.
Other than these high bitrate files, I’m loving the Synology/AppleTV combination.
Thanks for the quick reply - In the case of the log and the xml attached, there’s no transcoding taking place (and no subtitles were being shown). I started playing the episode and it stuttered during the intro for about a minute before it settled down.
The AppleTV is connected via ethernet. I assumed it was gigabit but I’ve just checked and the AppleTV4 is only 10/100. The rest of my network here is gigabit.
Hopefully the log will give an idea of what’s going on. I don’t know how far back it goes but I was trying to play the large 4k film I mentioned last night so there might be some reference to that in there as well…
If Jumbo packets are enabled, which is anything other than 1500, on a home LAN, performance will plummet like a rock unless EVERY device , including the AppleTV, is configured with the same value.
Jumbo packets are not to be used unless there is a very specific long-haul situation where per-packet latency is an issue. Jumbo packets allow more per packet at the cost of 1) increased complexity 2) increased packet retransmission time with the singular benefit of sending fewer ACK or NAK packets.
I’ve never enabled jumbo packets or set any MTU manually.
This is how the Synology is set now which is the default setting, I’ve only has this Synology for six weeks or so and have never even looked at this page of the control panel before.
The AppleTV is indeed making and accepting the DirectPlay stream.
I also see it selecting a subtitle (english) to send.
The AppleTV will need to use its internal processor to render the subtitles (VOBSUB) which is a forced ‘burn-in’ operation.
The metadata shows many other languages included. This is a lot of unused data to send. Might it be prudent to remove those languages (audio tracks and subtitle tracks) which aren’t needed?
@trumpy81
Thanks - I’ve just tried those, one at a time but neither made any difference.
@ChuckPa
I’ve just gone through a few steps. First I tried playing the same file with subtitles turned off, no difference. Then I put the file through mvktoolnix and removed all the languages except English and all the subtitles except for the forced subs (essential for the non-english parts).
I played it and there was no difference. I then played again with the subtitles turned off and it was exactly the same.
I’m not sure what else to try as it’s really frustrating. It’s also a pain that I can’t play the 4K film I mentioned in my original post, it’s just not possible at all.
Again, as per my original post, is the AppleTV 4K likely to do any better or is this a limitation of Plex on the Synology?
The difference between the AppleTV gen 4 and gen 5 is pretty profound.
In the AppleTV, the Plex app relies on the Apple video engine to do the actual rendering which is how they want it done.
In most things apple, and given they specifically have a ‘4K’ rated model, you might be seeing the limits of the device. Everything you’ve done points to that.
Just to bring some finality to this.
I bought a four month old second hand AppleTV 4K for a very good price and I no longer get the stuttering I described above.
