@Tion1 asked me to come to this thread because as far as I can tell I am not experiencing this issue with my setup (latest beta firmware, jbl 9.1.2 soundbar, Hisense tv). Are their test files to test with?
Any chance this could be an issue with HDCP 2.2 and the cables being used not supporting it or vice versa?
Also started seeing this on my Shield (2017) on pretty much all videos. Always running the latest beta, but can’t recall if it started with a particular release. Same videos play fine on Fire Stick, which is also Android, so go figure.
I don’t believe that the root cause is related to other devices or to cables. Everything was working flawlessly until the 8…18 version of the AppleTV app was released. I noticed that 8.30 was released a couple weeks ago. I upgraded to the new version and the stuttering issue still persists. It was very noticeable on the following file:
File Name: Fargo.S05E10.1080p.HEVC.x265-MeGusta[EZTVx.to].mkv
That is just one example. It is occurring on every movie or tv show in my entire Plex library. As I previously mentioned, I do not experience any issue with Infuse. Every video I throw at it plays flawlessly. This is clearly an issue with the Plex Apple TV App.
Just putting my hat in here as well, issue still prevalent, especially on hdr10 files
That is exactly my case. Infuse ZERO problems, PLEX all problems.
I believe, at least my case, this is due to 5:5 pull down not working correctly with the Plex video player.
Modern TVs refresh at 120hz. The Apple TV defaults to 60p. When you play 24p content, you need the Apple TV set to Match Frame Rate, or you need to ensure your TV can properly pull the 24p signal out of the 60p signal it receives from the Apple TV. If this fails, you get judder/stutter every few seconds.
Like everyone else here, this issue does not exist within Infuse. It’s only with the video player built into the Plex app.
I’ve tested this on my LG C2, and my Samsung QN95B. On the LG C2, there are two settings that deal with this 5:5 pull down. Real Cinema, and TruMotion. Real Cinema tells the TV to look for a 24p stream in a 120hz signal, and since 120/24 divides evenly, this results in smooth video playback with the proper 5:5 pull down. TruMotion, if enabled, supersedes Real Cinema, and adds extra motion smoothing that you can configure.
On Samsung TVs, there is no setting like Real Cinema that can be found on LGs. Instead, that feature is enabled by default without a setting. Samsung TVs will always look for that 24p stream in a 60p signal.
Now… if you enable Match Frame Rate on your Apple TV Settings, it will fix the stutter/judder in Plex. But in doing so, in my setups, it at adds an extra ~120ms in audio delays that needs to be corrected via my receiver. You also get the 2-3 second black window that appears every time a 24p video starts (when it switches from 60p to 24p, and eventually back again). It’s annoying.
To get around this, I’ve moved on to Infuse for now. I can leave Match Frame Rate disabled on my Apple TV, and my TV is playing back my 24p content with proper 5:5 pull down. I get smooth video, and I don’t have annoying 2-3 second black windows every time 24p content starts/stops (unless it’s HDR content, because I do have Match Content enabled on our Apple TVs). On top of that, my audio is in sync.
My current theory is that the video player Plex is using doesn’t allow my TVs, LG and Samsung, to see that there’s a 24p video stream inside the 60p signal. So instead of playing with proper 5:5 pull down, it’s instead doing 3:2 pull down.
My best guess is that most people that say this isn’t something they see either:
I’ve definitely always got my Apple TV on match framerate. Everything looks garbage in Infuse too if you turn that off. But I have the Plex stutter since 8.18.
Is your TV a 60hz TV in this case @Howchie?
On my 3 TVs, all 120hz, Infuse is beautiful with Match Frame Rate disabled on the Apple TV. My Samsung’s handle it with no setting changes needed, and on my LG I prefer it with TruMotion enabled on the Real Cinema setting.
But it also sounds like you have the Plex stutter even with Match Frame Rate enabled? Is that true for others here as well?
My TV is 120hz capable but I believe it’s 60hz standard. If I leave the Apple TV on 60hz every 24hz file is judder as expected on both players. On match framerate only plex has the stutter but it’s a different kind of stutter. My understanding is that everyone is using match framerate, I think anyone sensitive to this kind of issue would be using it otherwise they’d always have stuttering.
I have a Samsung QN85B and a Denon AV Receiver. I have enabled Match Frame Fate on the Apple TV and I’m still getting the stuttering issue and auto sync issue. The Infuse App and the Plex App both have an audio offset setting so I’m able to use that to correct the audio sync issue. However I still get the stuttering issue on the Plex app. This is clearly an issue with the app.
Forgot to add - with match frame rate turned on, my Samsung TV is correctly switching to 24 fps and back to 60 fps depending on the content. This is verified when selecting Info on the TV while playing the video. Unfortunately this doesn’t work with YouTube TV. Not to get off topic but YouTube TV plays everything in 60 fps.
I was wondering if there are any common setups that might be contributing to this issue. Here is my setup:
The Apple TV is connected to the Denon AVR and the Denon AVR is connected to the Samsung via eARC. Can everyone share their setups?
Mine is:
AppleTV is connected directly to the TV
Thanks for sharing. I have a few additional questions:
Just an FYI that Infuse just released an update to their app which now includes Direct Mode for Plex which now replicates the UI from Plex. With this update Infuse is now a much better option since it plays my videos with no stuttering at all and the UI is much improved. I’m going to just continue to use Infuse as my primary player for Plex content until Plex gets it’s act together and fixes their Apple TV app.
Yes, the latest Infuse release is much quicker now with a Plex share integration with the new Direct Mode, particularly in terms of dealing with large Plex share libraries. Importantly, for those who have previously set-up a Plex share in Infuse, you will need to edit your Plex share in each Infuse app instance to toggle off “Library Mode” under the Advanced menu under your Plex share (otherwise, you won’t get the new Direct Mode benefit). Very noticeable improvement in speed and no problems playing any file type I’ve thrown at it, but the Infuse UI is still significantly inferior to that of Plex’s native apps. I use the Infuse app with my Plex share with my 2022 AppleTV 4K (due to the stuttering and problems covered in this thread), but use the native Plex app for all other devices.
Yep and also Infuse have plans for a UI refresh by the middle of this year, so that’s probably gonna be before anything meaningful changes in the Plex app.
I agree that even with Direct Mode, Plex is still a better UI and I also use Plex on all other devices. For example, in the Plex app when browsing through the movies library there is a alphabetical order down the right margin that you can use to quickly navigate to a specific spot in the list. You can go directly to ‘S’ for example if you are looking for a Star Wars movie.
That being said, the stuttering issue is still very prevalent. I’ve tried everything from Apple TV Video/Audio settings to Plex App settings to encoding my own videos and nothing works. The only thing I haven’t tried is bypassing the Denon receiver and going directly from the Apple TV to the Samsung TV. However this isn’t feasible for me because the TV is mounted and there is only one HDMI in the wall going from the Receiver to the TV. Also, it sound like there are many users with the Apple TV directly connected to the TV and are still experiencing the stuttering issue. I just wish that Plex would address this issue. Until then I’m fine with Infuse.
Also, the original creator of this thread indicated that he used TestFlight to downgrade back to version 8.17 and that resolved the issue. Has anyone else tried this and if so could you provide instructions on how to do that? I’m not familiar with TestFlight.
