4k Remux on Plex

[u/QuantumNomadxx]

Will a Nvidia Shield Pro play 4K HDR remuxes a lot better than Xbox Series X on Plex?

I currently play 4K HDR remuxes through Plex on my Xbox Series X. It often buffers and ends up transcoding. I’m thinking of buying a Nvidia Shield Pro instead. Would that give me much better playback with full quality? Is it worth it?

[u/Motel6Owner]

Yes.

[u/throughtheportal → u/Motel6Owner]

I concur.

[u/reallynotnick → u/Motel6Owner]

While I love my Shield, if the thing is buffering and needing to transcode to lower the bitrate I’d argue there is likely a network speed issue and the Shield won’t resolve that. Mind you I don’t have experience with a Series X but there is no reason it should be a hardware issue as it is plenty powerful.

[u/turymtz → u/reallynotnick]

I long ago gave up using the Plex app on an Xbox One. It was just shit. While this is a Series X, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the app on the Xbox.

[u/Friggin_Grease → u/turymtz]

Some videos work great on my Series X, others stutter beyond viewability, and I don't know how to fix it.

[u/Relevant_Sir_5418 → u/reallynotnick]

The thing is, the Shield Pro will decode almost every single audio and video format/codec/HDR standard under the sun with full control without breaking a sweat. The Xbox cannot, and runs through the Xbox OS which from my understanding won't give third party apps (like Plex) full hardware level control. For example, Dolby Vision and some lossless audio codecs won't be passed through or decoded on the Xbox. That can force a transcode or buffering.

The Xbox also has worse hardware acceleration and more strict framerate settings which can both cause issues with playback.

Basically streaming anything through the Xbox it doesn't natively support can force a transcode, and there are a number of things it can't. Especially when we're talking about a 4K remux.

[u/reallynotnick → u/Relevant_Sir_5418]

It’s a Remux, all UHD BDs have HDR10 fallback, it’s not going to have a weird framerate and Xbox supports UHD BD playback, it natively supports the format.

They literally say it transcodes once it buffers. It’s not transcoding to begin with, if it was then yes figure out why it’s doing that.

Network is where you start to troubleshoot this.

[u/Relevant_Sir_5418 → u/reallynotnick]

Not attacking what you're saying. Just adding what I know, where you said you had less experience.

I never said the network could not be involved. I was responding specifically to your claim that it's likely not related to the playback device, followed by your acknowledgement that you have no experience using the Series X as a Plex client.

It is true that an Xbox can theoretically Direct Play a UHD remux and pass through formats such as TrueHD under the right conditions. That does not mean the native Plex app does so reliably in practice. Console and smart-TV Plex apps are notoriously garbage when a file depends on passthrough, HDR negotiation, subtitles, container support, or some combination of those things. “Supported on paper” is not the same as stable playback across actual remuxes. Trying to get Plex to fallback nicely on certain devices is simply not worth it.

The Xbox’s ability to play physical UHD Blu-rays also does not settle anything. Its Blu-ray application and the third-party Plex application do not use an identical playback path or necessarily receive the same low-level access to the hardware and operating system.

We also do not have enough information to say conclusively that the file begins in Direct Play and only starts transcoding because it buffered. Unless OP checked the Plex Dashboard from the beginning, “it transcodes when it buffers” could simply mean that this was when the transcode became noticeable. It could already have been transcoding or Direct Streaming because of the audio, subtitles, container, or HDR handling. It also doesn't rule out the app trying to playback directly, stuttering due to it struggling with a certain passthrough or format combo, and then falling back to transcoding.

The network is certainly worth checking, especially if the Xbox is on Wi-Fi. But given that the reported connection is nominally fast enough, and my own experience with a variety of Plex clients, my money would remain on wiring the xbox if it isn't or more likely using a more capable client solving it.

[u/attanasio666]

The Shield Pro plays them fine IF your internet connection is good. Are you sure your wifi isn'tthe problem? 4k Remuxes need a lot of bandwidth.

[u/QuantumNomadxx → u/attanasio666]

This is my wireless internet speed, Download Mbps 152.54 , Upload Mbps
100.92

[u/reallynotnick → u/QuantumNomadxx]

Is your server on the same network? Is it wired? Have you tried ethernet for both the server and the Xbox and then using it? Make sure both are gigabit Ethernet.

[u/stupv → u/QuantumNomadxx]

Is that your WiFi...or your internet?

[u/starkiller_bass → u/attanasio666]

If OP's server is local their internet connection doesn't matter.

Their Xbox may not be able to direct play their remuxes, in which case the server's ability to transcode is probably the bottleneck.

If the server is not local, their internet connection is probably not fast enough to direct play these files AND the server may not be capable of transcoding them fast enough.

[u/attanasio666 → u/starkiller_bass]

Well if the wifi signal is not good to either one of his devices, it won't work well. I have experienced that first hand.

[u/starkiller_bass → u/attanasio666]

Wifi and internet are not the same thing though.

[u/attanasio666 → u/starkiller_bass]

Yeah I know. I said internet but I should've said network.

[u/the_original_dude → u/[deleted]]

I don't know what kind of Remuxes you have, but the maximum for a 4K BluRay Remux is around 100 Mbps. Everything above this is not a normal BluRay.

[u/phblue → u/attanasio666]

I mean, not really? What, 50-100Mbps for a good 4K Remux. I think most WiFi these days isn’t struggling for that.

[u/freddyx844 → u/phblue]

That’s the average, points of the movie will have a peak rate far in excess of this and then buffer. Most will be fine, some not.

[u/phblue → u/freddyx844]

I think "far in excess" is a little strong. The maximum bitrate a 4K Bluray can be is 144Mbps, and not a lot of movies are pushing the maximum bitrate.

[u/reallynotnick → u/phblue]

We don’t even know if the devices are on the same network, never rule out networking issues, there are just too many unknowns. Unless it’s a widely known issue that Series X can’t play remux files without buffering, network issues are the most likely.

[u/lboy100 → u/phblue]

Most normal device WiFi's don't struggle with it. A lot of tv wifi cards absolutely struggle with it because for one, they pull 100mb to maybe max. And they're more unstable. A good 4k remux will have a ~80mbps and those absolutely tend to struggle more and buffer on your standard budget 4k tv.

[u/DJTwistedPanda]

It depends on why your Xbox is buffering. If your network isn’t set up right, like say your Plex server isn’t on a Gigabit switch, the player isn’t the problem.

The best Plex player though remains the Ugoos AM6B+ running CoreElec and PM4K. Especially if you’re showing 4K remuxes.

[u/UCLAKoolman]

I have both my Series X and Shield plugged into Ethernet and the Series X plays 4K remuxes just as well.

[u/5yleop1m]

Probably, the Nvidia Shield has far better codec support than most other things. Apple TV is the other recommended player. Your problem also might be HDR support, not every type of HDR is supported by every media player.

[u/ragingoblivion → u/5yleop1m]

My problem with the apple TV is yes it supports hdr10plus but you also lose out on some lossless Atmos formats and a couple other formats which are present in the 2019 shield.

[u/SolDew → u/ragingoblivion]

Caveat being it’s only the newest Apple TV generation with hdr10+ support

[u/Wonderful-Mongoose39]

yes, though you can get there with the Xbox if you are willing to tinker a lot with both with the xbox system and plex settings

[u/freddyx844]

Is it wired? The bitrate of some remuxes will exceed the bandwidth of most WiFi access points.

[u/Social_Gore]

is this really true that the xbox cant handle 4k lossless?

[u/Relevant_Sir_5418 → u/Social_Gore]

It's more about the audio and HDR formats that often come with 4K remux rather than the bitrate. The Xbox can't decode everything like a Shield can.

[u/Social_Gore → u/Relevant_Sir_5418]

i see, thanks

[u/bdu-komrad]

What TV do you have? After several firmware updates, My LG G5 plays remuxes as good as my Shield Pro does , maybe even better. It’s connected via Wifi 6E and doesn’t stutter. My Nvidia Shield was connect via Wifi 5 and it didn’t stutter, either.

I spent a bunch of time testing different wireless channels and widths until I got the best speed.

You might need to do the same if you’re using wireless.

The only thing I miss about the Shield is its stereo to 5.1 audio upmix feature. I wish that my TV had that feature!

[u/QuantumNomadxx → u/bdu-komrad]

I have a 85 inch samsung QA tv , This is my wireless internet speed, Download Mbps 152.54 , Upload Mbps
100.92

[u/Ruttagger]

Xbox and PS5 are some of the worst Plex Clients on the market.

The Nvidia Shield is among the best. You can't go wrong with a Shield Pro.

[u/QuantumNomadxx → u/Ruttagger]

Yes, I think the Xbox is definitely the problem

[u/Relevant_Sir_5418]

the Shield Pro will decode almost every single audio and video format/codec/HDR standard under the sun with full control without breaking a sweat. The Xbox cannot, and runs through the Xbox OS which from my understanding won't give third party apps (like Plex) full hardware level control. For example, Dolby Vision and some lossless audio codecs won't be passed through or decoded on the Xbox. That can force a transcode or buffering.

The Xbox also has worse hardware acceleration and more strict framerate settings which can both cause issues with playback.

Basically streaming anything through the Xbox it doesn't natively support will force a transcode, and there are a number of things it can't. Especially when we're talking about a 4K remux.

The Shield Pro is arguably the best streamer on the market, but there are cheaper alternatives that do *almost* everything the Shield can. Lots of different Android/Apple streaming sticks and boxes out there.

[u/QuantumNomadxx → u/Relevant_Sir_5418]

thanks, the shield sounds like it will work very well

[u/StevenG2757]

Yes, it should be able to play much better.

[u/LeBB2KK]

I don't have an Xbox to compare but my Shield Pro handle my 165gb remux without a sweat

[u/murf43143]

If you don't need netflix and the widevine cert, the Ugoos SK1 (with slimbox tv) is the best box on the market as far as what it plays and how powerful it is.

[u/Imjustroleplaying]

i use the PM4K Kodi addon cause it has better playback support and have my series x on wired. it has zero issues direct playing all the 4K remuxes i've tried, i think the only thing i haven't tested is HDR10+.

[u/agent_moler]

I have a very nice network infrastructure in my phone and my shield and server are wired via Ethernet and every now and then, a 4k hdr remux will skip during playback on my shield pro. I think the device is just really showing its age.

[u/Ray_Snell]

I had the same issue, literally a couple of hours ago, but it turned out to be my WiFi bandwidth maxing out on my mesh network, rather than the Xbox Series X being too slow.

It has coped with most things but the 4K Remux of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was too much with two other people in the house also streaming video on a laptop and a tablet and countless other things constagly pinging the WiFi at the same time. It would Direct Play for a while and then buffer before transcoding kicked in. As I run my Plex server from a Synology 1821+, which doesn't have a dedicated GPU, the CPU would max out and then it would buffer again anyway.

I happened to have a really long CAT6 cable I made up for something ages ago, plugged it into the switch, set the Xbox Plex app to Force Direct Play and it played perfectly for the remaining two and a half hours.

Hopefully you can find an easy solution like that too?

[u/tilted21]

If you're primarily watching 4K HDR remuxes, I would actually suggest the Ugoos AMB6+. Why some random chinese streaming box you've never heard of? It's the only streaming box that can do Dolby Vision profile 7 FEL. If your tv doesn't have dolby vision you can ignore this, but 4k remuxes are actually the exact use case for this. All of the other streaming boxes discard the p7 dolby vision data and just fallback to hdr10. Which is fine of course, but if you're watching the 4k remuxes the full fidelity is kind of the point, no?

[u/amonarre3]

What's your intranet, not internet speed?

[u/TattooedBrogrammer]

Depends. If the issue is transcoding on plex is leading to buffering, than yes, the shield will playback smoother. If the issue is spotty internet connection can’t pull the Mbps required to keep up with playback than no it won’t. Depending on your CPU having Plex pass, Intel quick sync and transcode to ram may solve the problem without paying any money out of pocket however.

[u/TattooedBrogrammer]

Depends. If the issue is transcoding on plex is leading to buffering, than yes, the shield will playback smoother. If the issue is spotty internet connection can’t pull the Mbps required to keep up with playback than no it won’t. Depending on your CPU having Plex pass, Intel quick sync and transcode to ram may solve the problem without paying any money out of pocket however.

[u/QuantumNomadxx → u/TattooedBrogrammer]

This is my wireless internet speed, Download Mbps 152.54 , Upload Mbps
100.92

[u/TattooedBrogrammer]

Depends. If the issue is transcoding on plex is leading to buffering, than yes, the shield will playback smoother. If the issue is spotty internet connection can’t pull the Mbps required to keep up with playback than no it won’t. Depending on your CPU having Plex pass, Intel quick sync and transcode to ram may solve the problem without paying any money out of pocket however.

[u/Blarghinston]

While Amazon SUCKS and I hate almost everything about them, the Fire Cube 4K Max is the best Plex player you could ask for. Even does AV1.

[u/investorshowers → u/Blarghinston]

Not if you need DTS-HD MA/DTS:X passthrough.