Question 4K HDR files on Shield via Plex + Wired Network buffering/stopping :( a little help.

Tomnook80

Established Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Messages
841
Reaction score
90
Points
223
Age
45
Hi all,

I have recently upgraded to an LG CX 4K set. I’ve been using my 2019 Shield TV Pro with an older 1080p set and all was working fine with Plex, which is how I stream my content.

If I try to stream 4K HDR remux files on Plex with large bitrates I get pauses and occasional crashes. As above I am running a Shield Pro 2019 as the Plex client and my powerful PC as the Plex server. The PC chews through the 4K files without issue and the Shield is powerful enough and supports damn near every format. Just to be clear everything I have is hard wired CAT6 ethernet. I have no wireless networks operating. I even bought a Plex pass to check transcoding was disabled and still get the issues.

I’m tearing my hair out as other people seem to have got this working, wondering if anyone can help?

Many thanks
 
Thought I found a solution but I hadn't. Everything is wired using a gigabit ehternet an I'm still getting a message randomly 'your connection to the server is not fast enough'. I'm really unsure where to go from here.
 
Last edited:
If anyone could offer any ideas that would be great as it makes no sense why this would be happening
 
I'm running from a synology DS918+ via two switches ( link 8 ports I think ) ( so a couple of jumps over cat 5 ) and into a Shield Pro with 4k with no problems. This then goes into my denon then onto my 75" TV.

If I ran all the same but into my LG OLED ( great pic but low processor ) it WOULD stutter.

I'm guessing your source isn't upto feeding at the correct rate or some upsampling is attempting to be achieved on the client PC. The sheild should be able to eat these high data feeds.
 
So I can happily run 80mb bit rates from my DS 918+

Many years ago I used to do PC's and Servers. I've since moved to Mac's and network drives. The Synology Boxes have not failed me once in 10years. The only reason I've upgraded to get better 4k through put. Throw drives in and forget about them for a few years. All my downloads are done of the NAS's so I don't need my mac on in the back ground.

You've got enough through out on your Cat6. Even when I'm throwing lots of data around Cat5 serves me well enough.
 
I'm running from a synology DS918+ via two switches ( link 8 ports I think ) ( so a couple of jumps over cat 5 ) and into a Shield Pro with 4k with no problems. This then goes into my denon then onto my 75" TV.

If I ran all the same but into my LG OLED ( great pic but low processor ) it WOULD stutter.

I'm guessing your source isn't upto feeding at the correct rate or some upsampling is attempting to be achieved on the client PC. The sheild should be able to eat these high data feeds.

Thanks guys. I'm assuming my Server PC would be powerful enough though. Its not that recent but has an overclocked in 2600k running at 4.5ghz, 32gb of RAM and a 1060 6gb? I then use the Shield TV 2019 Pro as a client connected to my LG CX.

Just to clarify I have PC as Plex or Emby server (as I tried both to see if there was any difference, there wasn't) feeding my Emby or Plex client on Shield TV 2019 Pro which connects into my LG CX. Everything is wired. My CX is simply used as a display while the Shield and server PC do the heavy lifting. I dont get why the issues occur. The other minor issue I have is if I stream a 4K remux with Dolby Atmos the Atmos logo appears as it should at the start it will then randomly appear at points through the film. I've changed various over and the issue persists.

Is the 918+ the way to go? I'd read transcoding with 4K sources are inconsistent. Obviously I'd want to avoid transcoding as much as possible but it's a consideration. Thanks again
 
Your PC should be enough to handle plex with 4k hevc files. TBH if you are not transcoding then any PC or NAS built in the last 10 years can handle it, the only concern is network performance along with disk read and writes.

Assuming everything is gigabit including any router/switches and all hardwired then you should be fine. Have you have checked both the shield and PC are actually linking at gigabit in the network Settings for each?

I have another way though that you can try as you have the pro and not the tube.Basically you are moving the plex server from your PC to the shield, setup your media folders on the PC as an SMB share. Then, on the nvidia shield, mount the SMB share at system level. Enable the shield Plex server function and set up as you would if the server was still on the PC. This way all the overhead is on the shield and the PC is only used for serving the files.

It is probably easier to just use Kodi and point but I am guessing you specifically want to use plex due to its DV support.
 
Your PC should be enough to handle plex with 4k hevc files. TBH if you are not transcoding then any PC or NAS built in the last 10 years can handle it, the only concern is network performance along with disk read and writes.

Assuming everything is gigabit including any router/switches and all hardwired then you should be fine. Have you have checked both the shield and PC are actually linking at gigabit in the network Settings for each?

I have another way though that you can try as you have the pro and not the tube.Basically you are moving the plex server from your PC to the shield, setup your media folders on the PC as an SMB share. Then, on the nvidia shield, mount the SMB share at system level. Enable the shield Plex server function and set up as you would if the server was still on the PC. This way all the overhead is on the shield and the PC is only used for serving the files.

It is probably easier to just use Kodi and point but I am guessing you specifically want to use plex due to its DV support.

Hi thanks for the response! I believe I have checked the PC and Shield are linking into the gigabit network, but am happy to take advice on the best way to double check as could be the case I havent done it properly for some reasons. If you can suggest how to would be grateful.

I'm happy to use Kodi but found it didn't seem to find my PC with Plex. I set uo an Emby server and it was able to find that. Didn't seem to support Dolby Atmos sound though, but I assume that's an issue with Kodi as well? I could live without DV as long as it works without a hitch otherwise!

Sorry to sound stupid how would I set up the SMB share at system level?

Would another potential, but different set up be having the Shield as the server, as you mention above and run the files locally from an attached HDD as I have some large ones I can make free? I did notice USB HDD performance when playing UHF remixes in Kodi off a local HDD attached to the Shield resulted in a slightly jerky image as opposed to streaming from PC. This was also odd as I assumed usb 3.0 would be able to handle the 4K files?
 
What roputer are you using and what is the actual route from the PC to the player? I have had problems before when the router from my NAS to the player had the router directly in the link. Once I introduced a switch in place of the direct connection to the router everythign worked again. Since then I have avoided using the network ports on my router wherever possible and have never had an issue since. Just a thought.
 
Try Kodi and playing the files natively, if they play fine then the issue is Plex.
 
What roputer are you using and what is the actual route from the PC to the player? I have had problems before when the router from my NAS to the player had the router directly in the link. Once I introduced a switch in place of the direct connection to the router everythign worked again. Since then I have avoided using the network ports on my router wherever possible and have never had an issue since. Just a thought.

Hey mate
I'm using a Fritzbox 7530. I've networked my house with CAT6 under the floorboards when I was renovating last year so the route goes:
Fritzbox router to ethernet port in wall in dining room.
Shield into ethernet port in wall in living room.
PC as server in office into ethernet port in wall.
So technically everything is connected directly to the router via the ports in the wall. I have got a couple of switches which I havent needed to use but can do to try.
 
Sounds like you have a patch panel somewhere, my old router was Nas to Router to switch to player. It was the router that I needed to change for a switch. From what you have said I dont think the streaming goes through your routers network ports.
 
Try Kodi and playing the files natively, if they play fine then the issue is Plex.

I get the same issue with Emby so doesn't look like Plex is the problem. I get some odd pauses directly playing with Kodi and the files on a hard disk attached to the shield via USB, as I mention above.
 
Sounds like you have a patch panel somewhere, my old router was Nas to Router to switch to player. It was the router that I needed to change for a switch. From what you have said I dont think the streaming goes through your routers network ports.

Thanks mate. It may be because it's late and I'm misreading your post, but what are you suggesting I change in my setup to try? I did run my PC directly to the router with a long cat5 cable earlier, same issue.
 
Thanks mate. It may be because it's late and I'm misreading your post, but what are you suggesting I change in my setup to try? I did run my PC directly to the router with a long cat5 cable earlier, same issue.

I wouldn't fixate too much about the cabling/network infrastructure; these issues are rarely due to a networking problem if you are not using things like powerline, and Wi-Fi. Gigabit ethernet, if your infrastructure is gigabit all the way from source to sink, is more than fast enough for media streaming - depending on the bit rate of the streams it can handle multiple streams concurrently. For low bit rate sources, eg DVD rips, gigabit ethernet can handle dozens.

SMB (also called CIFS) is a way to test accessing you media across a network without using Plex. SMB is one of the most ancient network file sharing mechanisms and has been around for decades. On your NAS there will be a mechanism to create "Shares" - to designate a folder to made accessible from the network and give it a name (the "Share name") to be advertised onto the network. Check out the user guide, how to do so will be described therein. Thence drop copy of the "bandit" file into said shared folder if it's not already there. Then go to your media player and tell it to access (might be described as "mounting") the published Share, navigate to the content therein and play it. Again, it will described in the relevant used guides.

If it "works" using SMB, then you can infer Plex was culpable (ie, the source can serve the file fast enough, network can transport it fast enough, and players can render it successfully.) If it does not, then you know to look elsewhere.

If your TV and/or shield has the ability to play media from something directly connected, such as a USB stick, you could try copying the bandit title onto one and see how it works. Again, this is about determining culpability: If it works off USB, then is there some problem with the source (NAS) and/or accessing across a network, if not then it's more likely there's and issue with the media file and/or player's ability to render it.

Some IT problems are a bit of an elimination game.
 
Well, this week I should have the use of a DS 920+, which I'm hoping will eliminate all my issues! I've been after a good NAS for ages as I want to keep my PC for work ideally. I've never had a NAS before but fingers crossed this beast should be good to go!
 
I too sometimes (Very Rarely) get your network is not fast enough and it happens at weird times and only on plex.
I have played 80gb 4K files and did not have a issue, but then played a 2gb 720p file, a TV show and it came up with my network is not fast enough.
How can it be ok on a high bit rate 4k file, but then stutter on 720p and both are the same file format.

Even though plex is great, I think there is a lot of weird issues hence why I wont pay for a plex pass as it seems the money is not going back into major improvements like this.

I am wired with only a 30mb/35mb non fibre internet connection, its not that fast
Shield and QNAP TS-251D

This only has happened once or twice in a month so I am not too worried, its just a pain when it happens
 
Beware that just because a file has the same extention (eg mp4, mkv, H264, etc.) or the same aspect size or aspect ratio etc, etc, does not necessarily mean they are "the same format." With many of the more modern formats, there's a lot of variation possible within the CODEC and or course MKV can wrap itself around almost anything.

To really know whether any two files are "the same format" you really need to drill into the details with something like MediaInfo, Even then, the authoring can make a difference - for example some files might have glitches in them.

A lot of software will chuck out some generic default error message, so sometimes they are pretty meaningless. Sorry, it's just life that programmers tend to spend more time writing the software to do what it's meant to rather than coding in an expert system that can analyse every possible outcome and create a useful error message. There's a long standing joke in the IT business that for all the use they are, most error messages might as well say "something wonderful has happened."

It is because Plex often "interferes" with the data in flight (for example remuxing and/or transcoding it in real time) that it's been suggested to test using SMB, thereby removing Plex from the pathway. Thusly, that give some indication if Plex culpable or not.
 
I did notice USB HDD performance when playing UHF remixes in Kodi off a local HDD attached to the Shield resulted in a slightly jerky image as opposed to streaming from PC. This was also odd as I assumed usb 3.0 would be able to handle the 4K files?
I get some odd pauses directly playing with Kodi and the files on a hard disk attached to the shield via USB, as I mention above.


If you're having problems playing the files directly attached via USB that would suggest the problem is with your files not your network.
 
The files don't exhibit the same behaviour via USB. There are minor pauses from USB, indicating a potential disk issue? These don't happen when the files eventually do run correctly via the network. I have a 920+ arriving tomorrow so hopefully should be in a position to test that.
 
The files don't exhibit the same behaviour via USB. There are minor pauses from USB, indicating a potential disk issue? These don't happen when the files eventually do run correctly via the network. I have a 920+ arriving tomorrow so hopefully should be in a position to test that.

It would be ideal to at least start with a constant that you know works correctly.

USB 3 is plenty fast enough for full bitrate UHD files so long as the Flash drive or hard drive is fast enough - I can't imagine any hard drive that connects via USB 3 wouldnt

Until you have the files working correctly via a direct connection its difficult to rule out your file being the problem - then you can work through the other parts of your network and player process.
 
The files don't exhibit the same behaviour via USB. There are minor pauses from USB, indicating a potential disk issue? These don't happen when the files eventually do run correctly via the network. I have a 920+ arriving tomorrow so hopefully should be in a position to test that.
any update on this ?
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom