I suffer from this issue too, but don’t post about it because I don’t use the trailers feature. I wonder how many others also have stuttering trailers but don’t post.
I think some of those posting in this thread have lost track of the fact that when you try to view a trailer the streaming as such is not handled by any Plex server or any Plex software. They just supply a URL for each trailer stream, which your Plex client then uses to request that trailer stream from one of various servers on the Internet, not in any way related to Plex Inc. And those servers may have lots of issues with cross-network transfer protocols, codec choices, and regional blocking, which problems are completely beyond the control of Plex Inc.
So trailers and other online ‘Extras’ for movies are just bonus features beyond the ‘real’ Plex features.
And when streaming of non-Plex features fails there’s absolutely nothing that Plex Inc can do about it.
All they can do is to vary how the client requests the stream, and how it handles stream reception, but everything related to the sending of such streams is in the hands of other companies.
Btw: These issues are quite similar in nature to the issues with some of the Plex ‘Channels’, which are also dependent on online sites of other companies, with their streaming beyond control of Plex Inc.
Best regards: dlanor
I> @dlanor said:
I think some of those posting in this thread have lost track of the fact that when you try to view a trailer the streaming as such is not handled by any Plex server or any Plex software. They just supply a URL for each trailer stream, which your Plex client then uses to request that trailer stream from one of various servers on the Internet, not in any way related to Plex Inc.
Certainly haven’t lost track of that… in fact, it’s this very fact which makes it necessary for discussion, as it makes no sense. When I can stream trailers from YouTube, iMDB, and everywhere else I’ve ever tried without hiccup on my 50Mbit/s DSL link, but whatever Plex is deferring to can’t keep up, then something does need to be addressed on Plex’s end… even if it’s simply choosing a better streaming source.
Our trailers/extras content provider is being contacted to see if anything can be done. and to see if that is cause
I thought this was happening mostly to folks overseas but since @ilikemyrealname is just in NJ it can’t be just latency.
@diendanyoi54 said:
@BigWheel I believe that you know more about this than me. Just looking for a solution but the majority of your posts have not been very productive. Your last post in particular was difficult to read because of the typo but it described what you thought was wrong and did not provide a detailed solution. Can you provide a legitimate solution? If not at this time, can you inform us and possibly get the developers to fix this in the next update while keeping us in the loop along the way? If it helps, I live in Toledo, OH, USA. Typically no trouble with internet connections.
I did not provide a solution because a solution does not yet exist. As I am trying to confirm the root of the issue.
@moooof yes I did see your post and seems to confirm issue with content provider. I’m assuming if you used youtube inside of Plex ( rather than youtubes own app/site ) the issue does not happen
@diendanyoi54 If you change the quality of the stream the server is what changes it via transcoding
@BigWheel whatever got you back to work on this issue doesn’t matter, just good to have you back. after 3 weeks and you respond within an hour or two after the FB post is quite the coincidence though.
so back to updating what I’m seeing on my end…I had a stretch of about 2-3 days of trailers working flawlessly. then I had a night of back to back stutters. mostly just at the beginning and about half those times when it did stutter at the start it would throw the audio off for the remainder. then last night it seemed fine again. this is all while set to “Original”. as you stated, any transcoding in real time will only worsen the issue if the original server isn’t keeping up. Prior to this stretch I would say most, if not all days since we last spoke about 50% or so of the trailers would have stuttering issues. best at this point for me to call it intermittent, annoyingly intermittent, but just the same. still would be great to have it in the top 90% working.
yes @dlanor I don’t think anyone would disagree here with you that it’s the “outsourced” servers Plex is using that can’t keep up and is the issue. Plex, as BigWheel is doing now, can do things like contact them to see if they can offer a solution, or confirm if there simply isn’t one in the end. I disagree that trailers is an added bonus as it’s part of their main feature set. I’m assuming it is only called “Extras” because in Movie and Television, that is what you call things like trailers, interviews and behind the scenes. they are not “Extras” in the sense that they are a bonus to our premium service, they are in part what we are paying for.
Hi All-
I am a developer at Plex and I am going to be working with you to try and get to the root of this problem.
Any who are willing to work with me please PM me the answers to the following questions, so I can get started trying to pinpoint this problem:
- Where is your PMS server physically located (city, state, country, etc)?
- Where are the clients that are having stuttering problems physically located (city, state, country, etc)?
- What devices have you tried to watch trailers on where they had problems with stuttering and how were those devices connected to the internet (wifi or hardwired)?
- What kind of internet connection do you have where your PMS server is located?
- What kind of internet connection do you have where the clients with stuttering problems are located?
- Does the problem happen both when trailers are being 'Direct Play’ed and during transcoding or one or the other?
Once I have this information from any willing participants I will try to work with a few of you to do things like get logs, directly play trailers, etc.
As @BigWheel said, no one internally has really been able to replicate this issue so I’m gonna need your help to fix this. Also, please understand that a problem like this will likely take some time to resolve as we will be coordinating with our trailer provider and our internal development schedule.
@maxflix thank you for your response. I have PM’d you with the info you have asked for as well as my latest update which I think you’ll find interesting.
lets be fair about this, @BigWheel never said “internally”. by you adding that, you have changed scope, this is called “moving the goal post”. his claim was “anybody he asked” which I back up my assertion that there are plenty on this post that would would answer the opposite. now YOU state ‘internally’…I can’t prove to you that your team doesn’t have this issue…nor would there be a purpose to do so. I hope Plex can keep their focus on the real issue as these type responses offer your customers no additional support.
with all that said I am glad to see this issue is getting escalated to higher tiers of support. thank you @maxflix for looking into this.
I am from Germany and have the same issues.
Hi @maxflix
- Where is your PMS server physically located (city, state, country, etc)?
Germany in a data center
-Where are the clients that are having stuttering problems physically located (city, state, country, etc)?
Greece
What devices have you tried to watch trailers on where they had problems with stuttering and how were those devices connected to the internet (wifi or hardwired)?
Android general
Web
Wifi and hardwired
apple tv 4
ps4
- What kind of internet connection do you have where your PMS server is located?
1Gb/s
-What kind of internet connection do you have where the clients with stuttering problems are located?
1.Usually my friends have DSL they have at least 10-15mb/s using android and web. Different providers almost all have stutter problem in trailers. At start every 3 sec stutter then pause for 15-20sec and then the trailer is playing fine.
2. At my father’s home that has vdsl 50mb/s the trailer were working ok (tested with apple tv 4 and ps4)
3. At my house with vdsl 30mb/s the trailer are stuttering (ps4)
-Does the problem happen both when trailers are being 'Direct Play’ed and during transcoding or one or the other?
Almost all have direct play.
But in some situations that they transcode they have the same problem with the trailers.
Server has 128GB RAM with i7 12 cores
I just tested playing trailers accessing my plexserver at home via web from the office and trailers + extras play without stuttering or endless buffering.
Trailers and Extras have been playing fine on my mobile devices (Android Tablet, iPhone), Sony TV, Apple TV, and Web client. At home I have a 20 mbps connection through Comcast and at work I have 500 mbps connection through Verizon. I am in NJ and not seeing any issues. Hope that helps.
Hi all -
We have been in contact with our trailer provider and they have made some changes on their end. It appears they have been able to improve things for US users. If you are in the US and still having issues, please let me know.
For those of you outside the US the work is ongoing. Please be patient and if you have anything novel to report, please post here or feel free to DM me.
I just wanted to say thank you - trailers now work in Germany, too (at least most of the time)
I still see this buffering problem on Apple TV and I am in the US. Anyone still seeing this problem?
Hi at @maxflix I am in the US and seeing this problem. I sent you a DM to see if you could help me get this fixed once and for all. Thanks in advance.
Hey @almontef - I didn’t get a DM from you. I haven’t seen any other widespread reports of trailer trouble, so it would be good to get your logs when you have a chance!
@maxflix is this considered resolved?
I’m having a lot of problems with trailers. My Shield TV can play Youtube just fine with no issues at all. Local videos are perfect. But I can’t make it through a single Trailer without it freezing and stuttering the whole way through.
Could it be a server issue? Is my Ubuntu Plex server transcoding them?
