Hi
Just installed Plex on my LG 4k TV
All my 4k content is getting transcoded to h.264
This is a 4K tv, What’s up with that???
The first question is what format is your actual 4K content in?
According to the FAQ the following is supported HEVC:
Container: MP4
Resolution: 3840x2160 or smaller
Video Encoding: HEVC (H.265)
Video Frame Rate: 30fps
Video Bit Depth: 8
Without that your server logs should tell you exactly what is causing the video transcode to occur with the lines that start with MDE that will appear right before the transcoder begins running.
This support article explains how to find your logs.
The FAQ does mention this as well:
Does Plex support 4K?
When possible. We currently support 4K on the TiVo Roamio & Bolt (Series 6) devices, supported 2016 Tizen-based Samsung models, as well as VIZIO televisions.
So depending on when that section was last updated it may also be possible that 4K support has not migrated to the LG devices yet.
Thanks
Based on what I see here, your last statement is probably the case.
Too bad. I still need to use the Roku 4 on that TV for 4K
Bummer.
Just wonder why Plex did not support h.265 on a 4k TV. Seems crazy a little,
My 4K media is
mp4
3840x2160
h.265
AC3
BTW
It definitely is the Plex App on the LG as I can connect a USB HDD to the TV and it WILL Play h.265 just fine natively.
Just use the xplay app… Its amazing how a third party app can direct play all of my x265 content with ease, but the plex app can’t… The limiting factor is not your tv, it is the plex app… @jjrjr1 Check out xplay… It was def worth the purchase for me
Tech Specs to movie I direct played: Deadpool .mkv
Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main 10@L6.1@Main
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 1h 48mn
Bit rate : 60.0 Mbps
Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.302
Stream size : 45.3 GiB (97%)
Writing library : x265 1.9+3-63308f7658c3:[Windows][GCC 5.2.0][64 bit] 10bit
Encoding settings : wpp / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / max-tu-size=32 / tu-intra-depth=1 / tu-inter-depth=1 / me=1 / subme=2 / merange=57 / no-rect / no-amp / max-merge=2 / temporal-mvp / no-early-skip / rdpenalty=0 / no-tskip / no-tskip-fast / strong-intra-smoothing / no-lossless / no-cu-lossless / no-constrained-intra / no-fast-intra / open-gop / no-temporal-layers / interlace=0 / keyint=240 / min-keyint=24 / scenecut=40 / rc-lookahead=20 / lookahead-slices=8 / bframes=4 / bframe-bias=0 / b-adapt=2 / ref=3 / limit-refs=3 / no-limit-modes / weightp / no-weightb / aq-mode=1 / qg-size=32 / aq-strength=1.00 / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rd=3 / psy-rd=2.00 / rdoq-level=0 / psy-rdoq=0.00 / signhide / deblock / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / b-pyramid / cutree / no-intra-refresh / rc=abr / bitrate=61000 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 48mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Frame rate : 31.250 fps (1536 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -5ms
Stream size : 495 MiB (1%)
Title : Stereo
Default : Yes
Forced : No
LOL
Better Idea
PLEX FIX IT!!!
Thanks You!!
@jjrjr1 said:
LOL
Better Idea
PLEX FIX IT!!!
Thanks You!!
Plex doesn’t control the native decoders and needs to work within the limits of the WebOS framework and decoders they are given access to. In addition, the video you posted specifically goes against what is listed as direct playable for HEVC.
Bit depth : 10 bits
Container: MP4
Resolution: 3840x2160 or smaller
Video Encoding: HEVC (H.265)
Video Frame Rate: 30fps
Video Bit Depth: 8
All my 4K media Direct plays to Roku and Sony TV in the format I specified (And was recommended by Plex Developers as well)
mp4
h265
ac3
My LG tv can play that natively with a connected hard drive… Sooo the codecs are there
The LG Plex App is just not built properly for a 4K tv.
It probably was never tested or re-coded to support 4K is the REAL answer…
LOL
@jjrjr1 said:
All my 4K media Direct plays to Roku and Sony TV in the format I specified (And was recommended by Plex Developers as well)
Unfortunately, you would need to check your server logs when trying to play from this app. You are specifically trying to play a format that is stated as unsupported unless your device is listed as having additional codec support (And that is what the bit depth is an additional codec option). So while your container and codec’s are correct your encoding options are not for the playback in the app.
OK so the fact that the media plays directly connected to the device makes no difference???
(That sort of tells me that the TV has the proper codecs to render my 4K media just the Plex Client cannot)
And I am not encoding 10 bit.
You confused my post with the guy who posted the entire alphabet soup of encoding parameters
@jjrjr1 said:
OK so the fact that the media plays directly connected to the device makes no difference???
(That sort of tells me that the TV has the proper codecs to render my 4K media just the Plex Client cannot)
Codecs themselves are not the end all. There different settings that encoders use that not all codec decoders support, there are other settings on the client that can cause a transcoder (is subtitles/audio types/direct play settings).
And I am not encoding 10 bit.
You confused my post with the guy who posted the entire alphabet soup of encoding parameters
Sorry, you are correct I mixed up your statements with the user that supplied information to help determine what is going on with his playback.
Unfortunately, it seems like you don’t want my help in determining what is happening and I won’t forward on a request to just fix it without any information. Without logs or media information it’s just a guess at what you’re trying to play, how you’re trying to play it, and what is causing the behavior.
I do so much appreciate your help (And all the help from many brilliant folks here)
What I suspect is happening is the Plex client on the TV is reporting to the PMS that it supports 1080p not 4K (H265)
So the PMS transcodes…
If I knew the Plex Port for the LG tv Plex Logs… I could probably prove that is the case…
The PMS logs simply indicate that is it transcoding…
And Transcoding is almost always triggered by the Plex Client reported capability… No???
Sooo what is all this bit and byte codec talk…
Plex Clent reports as to TV capability, PMS decides to transcode or not…
Again the Media plays directly connected to the TV… Does that not indicate the TV IS capable of playing the media??
So… What is Plex doing???
Or an I terribly confused???
I had to get some more clarification about the UHD capability. The basic way it works is the app checks the screen dimensions and then if it detects a UHD display it will allow a screen resolution up to 4K, increase the level limit, and add capability of HEVC (It should actually add 10bit as well even though the FAQ does not list it)
Typically even with the device making those suggestions they should all be sent to the server in the logs shortly before the transcoder is called up. Normally it is seen as augments to a profile before the MDE (Media decision engine) kicks in to decide audio/subtitles and start transcoding. I did ask about pulling the logs from the device itself and was told that there isn’t an option for that but that there might be an option to log to server logs.
The 8-bit vs 10-bit encoding is a different encoding method that uses more bits. Typically 10-bit encoding can be used to either improve quality at the same bit rate or to lower bit rate at the same quality. The problem is that while all decoders will support the 8-bit not all will support 10-bit. But as time goes on more and more will have support for that as well. Of course there are other positives and negatives
Plex Clent reports as to TV capability, PMS decides to transcode or not…
Again the Media plays directly connected to the TV… Does that not indicate the TV IS capable of playing the media??So… What is Plex doing???
This is where looking at your Plex Media Server.log for the playback attempt will be the most helpful. The Plex app queries the device for capabilities, and then reports those capabilities to the server. These will at the very least be seen in commands sent to the server or at the most seen as separate log entries/additional commands to the transcoder. This is why the logs are important to see because HEVC can only be direct played by the clients. This normally has to do with clients using HLS to stream, and HLS does not support HEVC so even though the video could be completely compatible something else can still cause it to need to be transcoded. This can sometimes be caused if a codec isn’t enabled in the settings for, subtitles that need to burned in, bit rate limitations etc.
This sort of indicates to me that this is a known defect… NO?
That post was from over a year and a half ago there have been over 30 updates to the app since the time that post was made. The last post except for the one today was over a year ago.
Unfortunately, my LG TV’s are too old to run the new app so without your logs there isn’t much more to do for you except relay the information I received.
@jmckee
Thanks…
My LG TV Might be too old as well…
I will run a test and get some logs to you for you to look at. (Would version numbers help??)
Also, I might, with your insight, learn a little m9ore about plex and how it works.
Thanks again
John
Just wanted to add some details on how the Plex app works. This applies to all Plex apps, not just the Smart TVs. These devices run some sort of OS. The OS provides a built-in audio and video player. This player is typically very limited in codec support but is able to communicate with the device’s hardware to provide hardware decoding abilities. Plex uses this player so it’s codec support is tied to this player.
Device manufacturers often provide their own custom player instead if using the built-in one. They can also add additional codec support to this custom player if they want. This additional codec support does not extend back to the built-in player. It is possible that the codec is supported in the hardware and the custom player is performing hardware decoding, but unless that capability is exposed to the built-in player, Plex will not be able to utilize it, which is the case for many devices. The PlayStation is a good example of this. Their custom player has wide codec support, but most of it is not exposed to the built-in player which Plex uses.
The Plex app communicates with the player and asks what it supports. If the device says it supports the current file, it will direct play. If not, it will transcode based on the device profiles stored in PMS. Right now, the transcoder does not output 4k, so unless the device can direct play the file, you won’t get 4k.
The age of the device is not a determining factor but older devices probably run an older OS, which may have fewer codec support compared to newer models, even if they have the same hardware.
So comparing playback ability of a custom player to Plex will never yield actual data that can be used to improve Plex. If you can play a video using the built-in player that Plex won’t, then that would be something Plex can look into.
Hopefully this explains why you can’t get 4k to work in Plex.
Ah!!!
So even though the TV will play the 4K from a HDD over USB, you are saying the Plex App does not have access to those codecs??? (Because of the implementation of the TV’s OS/Player)
Correct. The built-in player and whatever codecs that player has is all Plex has access to.
