Trouble with streaming 4k content, should I not stream directly from server?

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Hi All,

I’m no audio guru by any stretch but decent enough to put together a setup that has worked great for me for years. Up until I got a fancy TV and started trying to play 4K content. Never have issues with 1080 content.

Currently have a NAS for my storage and a micro OptiPlex Dell running Win 10 as my server so it’s certainly no workhorse. Both connected via Ethernet. I’ve always ran PMP right from the server since I can get DTS, TrueHD, etc. depending on the rip. I am unable to get those audio tracks to play on my other players which are the built in app on my android TV or my non 4K fireTV.

So what I’m trying to accomplish is being able to use the best audio tracks possible with my 4K content. When doing so through PMP on the server, the CPU is at 100% and just can’t handle it. When playing through my android TV it transcodes it to Dolby Digital or Digital Plus and doesnt give me full surround sound.

What’s my best option here, Maybe the PC just can’t handle the 4K content or can it not handle being both the server and player simultaneously? It is playing Direct Play btw. Should I get a seperate device just to play my content? I’ve been seeing a lot of folks using the nvidia shield. Would that possibly solve my issues? Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks.

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PMP isn’t being supported anymore, have you tried the newer clients?

HTPC: Introducing Plex HTPC! or Plex for Windows from the download page.

Are you going from your Dell → HDMI → AVR → 4K tv.

There is a technical requirement that the PC’s HDMI out be at least 2.0b to handle the bandwidth required to send 4k video with Lossless audio which might require a newer video card.

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Most TV’s do not support True 7.1 HD audio and are also have under powered processors and may be why it is being transcoded. If you want True 7.1 HD audio or Atmos you will need the Nvidia Shield, it is the only device that supports Atmos that I am aware of.

I fought with my TV trying to get it to work correctly and never got it to work the way I wanted it so I ended up getting the Shield Pro and have no regrets. The shield will play anything I throw at it and the audio processer works great for up converting music to 5.1 audio.

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What is your audio setup? Do you have an AVR, soundbar, etc? If so, how is it connected to the TV.

What make/model of TV and of audio equipment?

Both will influence which Plex clients and which audio formats you can play.

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Ah I hadn’t noticed HTPC, I recall using maybe the old home theatre version quite some time ago. I’m gonna give that a shot. I have tried Plex for Windows but it was actually worse somehow.

Yes, you got my connections right in terms of PC to TV and I’m going to look into the HDMI specs on the PC. Thanks for mentioning.

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Note that neither Plex HTPC nor Plex for Windows output HDR video.

The video will be direct played by Plex Media Server. The applications then tonemap it to SDR video before sending it to the display.

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I have an older Pioneer Elite VSX-44 AVR with 5.1 surround via Definitive Technology pro cinema 600’s with a Hisense U8G TV.

PC connected to AVR via HDMI and same for TV, not using optical audio.

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Ah, that hurts a bit, thanks for the info.

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Thanks for the input. This is looking like the easiest method at the moment. I was just hoping to not add another device to the many I already have but if it solves my issue then I certainly won’t complain.

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Thanks for the information.

From a quick read of the AVR manual (PDF) it looks like the AVR supports TrueHD and dts-HD, but not Atmos.

It supports 4K video, but I did not see 4K HDR specifically mentioned.

Also, it supports HDMI-ARC, not HDMI-eARC.

If the AVR will passthrough 4K HDR video and you want TrueHD/dts-HD audio, then you’ve one clear option:

Nvidia Shield Pro ← HDMI → AVR ← HDMI-ARC → TV

HDMI-ARC cannot pass TrueHD or dts-HD audio due to bandwidth limitations.

Connecting the Shield directly to the AVR gets around the restrictions of HDMI-ARC.

If your AVR will not pass 4K HDR video (or you do not care about TrueHD/dts-HD audio), then use the Plex Android TV app on the TV.

TrueHD audio will be transcoded to another format. dts-HD audio might direct play, but pass only the lossy 5.1 core dts stream and discard the -HD part.

Other audio formats, AAC/AC3/EAC3/DTS/PCM, should direct play and be passed to the AVR, as HDMI-ARC supports those formats at 5.1 channels or fewer.

Note 1: The Plex Android TV app does not support direct playing of SSA/ASS subtitles. Enabling those results in a video transcode. PGS/VOBSUB/SRT subtitles will direct play, even if the video or audio is transcoding.

Note 2: TV manufacturers do not support passing TrueHD or dts-HD audio from TV based apps over HDMI-eARC. So, if you replace your receiver at some future time with one that supports HDMI-eARC, you will still need an Nvidia Shield, as the TV will not passthrough TrueHD/dts-HD from the Plex app on the TV.

This thread has additional information: [INFO] Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you - aka the rules of 4k

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this looks like a pre-HDR 4k receiver.

I have similar model from a different brand.

if true, it sucks, to get the best performance from the shield, you will want a new AVR with atmos and 4k/hdr (and likely you will want dolby vision support too).

new models should come with e-arc, but be vary wary and research carefully as some are not fully hdmi 2.1 compatible, they can slap hdmi 2.1 on them, but do not have to have full 2.1 functions.

you don’t necessarily need e-arc with a shield, but for future proofing you might as well demand it.

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Wow, thanks for all this info! Didn’t realize how informative the Plex community was. Much appreciated.

I think you gave me my clear cut answer and then some. I’m glad you touched upon the potential of me going with a receiver which supports eARC because I had been wondering if that would fix my issue as well.

Do you happen to know how much processing power it would take if I were to upgrade my server in the future to something that could handle playing 4k right from the server? Or do you think that’s really not worth it? The shield appears to be fairly affordable so I’ll be grabbing one regardless at this point. Thanks again for taking the time to look into that.

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Fair points and good to know. I’m in no rush to upgrade the AVR but eventually that time will come and I’ll do my due diligence before purchasing.

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if you are new to 4k, please read the long and thorough 4k faq thread.

everything you need to know about 4k and plex is there.

as far as server, if you are not direct playing 4k, then you are wasting your time, since regular 1080/720 content will be the same or better without the extra hassle of transcoding 4k.

4k is expensive on many different levels, the equipment is/can be expensive, its more difficult to rip, it uses a ton more storage space, and it takes more/newer server hardware if you have to transcode.

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You need minimal CPU if everything direct plays.

I stream 4K HDR media to my Shield Pro from a Synology DS918+ with a Celeron CPU and a Synology DS414 with a 32-bit ARM CPU.

Because I use the Shield everything direct plays.

Neither of my servers can transcode 4K HDR video, but that is OK, as I do not need to do so.

If you really want/need to transcode 4K HDR video then you’ll want an i5-8XXX or better, with Intel UHD 630 graphics or better. It should also be running Linux, not Windows.

From what I can tell, Plex HDR to SDR tonemapping seems fairly well baked on Linux systems. They seem to be still working out the kinks on Windows based systems, not yet able to fully utilize the onboard Intel graphics. See HDR to SDR Tonemapping.

That written, I don’t transcode 4K HDR video, so will gladly defer to others with more experience.

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As FordGuy61 already mentioned, if you use a shield your 4K HDR content should all direct stream. If you have non 4K TVs that can be an issue since the 4K will need to be transcode. I have both 4K and non 4K TVs as well as I use remote access. I have plenty of drive space so I create optimized versions of my 4K movies. This will allow Plex to use the optimized versions for my non 4K TVs and transcode the optimized version for remote access so that I the server is not bogged down with 4K transcoding although my server can transcode 4K without any issues.

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