Video shot in portrait mode being stretched horizontally by Plex on Shield, but not by other players

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Server Version#: 4.97.3
Player Version#: 9.13.1.37459
I use my Windows 10 desktop as my server, streaming to 2 TVs (one using Shield Pro and one using Roku), my android phone, and my desktop. Cell phone videos recorded in portrait mode play normally on my desktop, phone, and Roku. But when using the Shield player, they’re stretched horizontally to fill the screen.

To verify its the player, and not the Shield device itself, I cast the video from my phone to Shield and it played correctly. The same video, played through the Plex app on Shield, is stretched.

Note that I’m not using the Shield as the server. I’ve seen old threads that mentioned this as an issue, but it doesn’t apply. This appears to be a bug in the Plex Player being used on Shield devices.

The Shield model is a P2897, running software version 9.1.1(33.2.0.157).

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  1. Start playing the video on the Shield.
  2. While it’s playing, (or pause it, if it’s short), press ‘down’ on the remote.
  3. Navigate to the action menu on the menu bar (3 vertical dots) and activate it.
  4. On the menu that appears, go to ‘Playback Settings.’
  5. The bottom item on this menu is ‘Display mode.’ Explore the options on this setting to see what works for you.

Once set, this choice will persist for all other videos until you change it again.

3

Good idea, but changing options just gave different versions of the same horizontally-stretched image. My display was set to letterbox, but the other choices were ‘original’ (displayed a smaller version of the movie, but stretched to the same aspect ratio), ‘stretch’ (definitely not helpful), and ‘zoom’ (which did just that, but also at the same aspect).

4

In the Android app settings there is a setting in the Video section called “Play smaller videos at…” I don’t know what the rest of that line says, but does that setting off/on have any effect?

There are also some settings in the advanced section you could toggle just to check.

  • Passthrough
  • Refresh Rate Switching
  • Resolution Switching
5

Refresh rate switching and resolution switching are both off, but I’ve tried every combination of setting those 2 on/off and it doesn’t change the result. Passthrough is set to HDMI (but isn’t that just an audio setting?). I don’t see anything in the options about “Play smaller videos…” But I have tried playing it at both Original Quality, and at different lower quality conversions (no change).

6

I appreciate the two ideas on fixing this, but given that neither worked, has anyone with a Shield attempted to duplicate it so I know whether this is specific to my configuration, or a bug?

If its a bug, does reporting it here get to Plex, or is there another method for reporting a bug in one of their players? I’ve seen a page for bugs on the server (here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201643703-reporting-issues-with-plex-media-server/) but nothing equivalent for players.

7

I have the same issue. After some searching on the web, it looks like the issue has existed for several years. I wouldn’t hold my breathe on this being fixed any time soon.

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