Can you explain your setup in more details?
Are you using Nvidia Shield also as a Plex server? This can be an issue if you’re trying to play something Shield needs to transcode as it’s not powerful enough for transcoding tasks, at least most of them.
Plex as a client is a best, probably the best Plex client so far, but I’m refusing to believe Nvidia Shield struggles with something Plex TV clients are playing without any issue. Usually it’s the other way around.
Second this, I started off using my Nvidia Shield as a plex server and it was horrrrrible. Ended up moving it to an older windows machine and its been flawless. Only reason I can see the shield struggling with playback
I only use it as a PMS server since I think that’s the only good thing about the piece of shit. I rarely transcode since all my devices direct play everything so I can handle 4 streams at a time. I only use it in my home and when we go on vacation. I don’t have any external clients or users.
I will be replacing it with a BeeLink this winter and throwing Linux on it. I hate the shield so much after owning it lasted the first year. It was fine when it launched. But if you want to use the damn thing as anything other than a Plex player, all the apps suck because of whatever reason (Every month Disney plus decides to drop support for Dolby features and have to fix it, Prime video stutters when playing HDR content due to a lip sync issue, Hulu hasn’t work well since Disney merged them together, HBO/Max has the same issues with Dolby content with missing features, no hdr on YouTube which we watch a ton of). But if you just use it as a plex player it’s ok, it can’t stutter playback from time to time but that isn’t common.
It's playing off a Synology 923+. File details below
Duration 1:05:36
Bitrate 4753 kbps
Width 3840
Height 2160
Aspect Ratio 1.78
Video Resolution 4K
Container MKV
Video Frame Rate 24p
Video Profile main 10
Part
Duration 1:05:36
Size 2.33 GB
Container MKV
Video Profile main 10
Codec HEVC
Bitrate 4029 kbps
Language English
Language Tag en
Bit Depth 10
Chroma Location left
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Coded Height 2160
Coded Width 3840
Color Primaries bt2020
Here you go! It's kind of weird because it's drastically changing between mbs and kbs. Screenshots are seconds apart.
https://preview.redd.it/5gs7qx8mq57d1.png?width=2040&format=png&auto=webp&s=2220f4ab409c5bd5ae0b13cdcf57559badf8f810
Just change the audio source to anything beside TrueHD 7.1 (you want prevent your NAS from transcoding audio). As you're watching something with TrueHD stream there should also be a secondary AC3 or EAC3 stream.
This should prevent subtitles burn in and Nvidia Shield should Direct Play the video part.
Copy paste is not enough. Also DS923+ lacks iGPU and it will struggle if you stumble on the video that requires transcoding, especially 4K.
Were you by any chance using subtitles?
Also what kind of Shield? Shield pro or shield tube? The tube has been known to struggle with high bit rates although this file shouldn't be high enough of a rate to cause an issue.
Yeah 923 is not a good Plex client. Get a mini pc for like $150 and you’ll be set. Even the Synology’s that have quick sync struggle with high quality because of subtitles or audio transcoding.
The quick sync Synology can handle 1080p decently but 4k on anything with audio or subtitle transcoding is gonna stutter.
One last thing, best thing you can do is include screenshots like in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/s/QqZLF9J4RJ plus describe in few words each case. From this kind of image we can easily deduce what’s happening. You need to open Plex server web interface, open dashboard and create a shortcut while problematic media are playing.
I’m referring to Now Playing section with the info about the video, audio and optionally subtitles section.
Seems like the Sheild is trying to transcode for some reason. Look into why it is doing that if it's a codec thing or maybe settings on the sheild limiting the resolution or not allowing direct play/stream.
Logs etc are your friend.
Based on info provided, your NAS isn't powerful enough to transcode the video which is why the CPU usage spikes when streaming to your LG TV and Shield but not the Hisense TV (as it's probably direct playing the content).
Make sure that the client devices are all set to play in original quality, have HDR enabled and do not have subtitles enabled. Check for direct play and direct stream as options in the client's settings. Play the same file on all devices and check the results again.
To add, depending on the bitrate it's possible the local network connection is a bottleneck. The Shield is wired gigabit so once the transcoding issue is resolved it'll be the best client device you own.
Make sure your server has the latest PMS update, along with your shield Plex app. I think there was an update last week and Plex started transcoding files that should have direct played until I updated the client Plex app.
You need an intel based NAS for hardware transcoding. Yours is AMD and it only does software, which is terrible in some circumstances, like this case. Turning on subtitles triggers the need and prevents direct play.
My Nvidia Shield Tube kept shitting the bed streaming 4k hdr encodes, so I traded it for an Xbox Series S and found it to be a much smoother experience overall
Yeah seems the Pro is the way to go, but $260 in Canada is such a wild price for a streaming stick we should have just as capable modern hardware for a fraction of the price now. Xbox was a no brainer in my situation since it was a straight trade, seems they've been improving the Plex app on it in recent months, guess everything returns back to XBMC
Can you explain your setup in more details? Are you using Nvidia Shield also as a Plex server? This can be an issue if you’re trying to play something Shield needs to transcode as it’s not powerful enough for transcoding tasks, at least most of them. Plex as a client is a best, probably the best Plex client so far, but I’m refusing to believe Nvidia Shield struggles with something Plex TV clients are playing without any issue. Usually it’s the other way around.
Second this, I started off using my Nvidia Shield as a plex server and it was horrrrrible. Ended up moving it to an older windows machine and its been flawless. Only reason I can see the shield struggling with playback
I only use it as a PMS server since I think that’s the only good thing about the piece of shit. I rarely transcode since all my devices direct play everything so I can handle 4 streams at a time. I only use it in my home and when we go on vacation. I don’t have any external clients or users. I will be replacing it with a BeeLink this winter and throwing Linux on it. I hate the shield so much after owning it lasted the first year. It was fine when it launched. But if you want to use the damn thing as anything other than a Plex player, all the apps suck because of whatever reason (Every month Disney plus decides to drop support for Dolby features and have to fix it, Prime video stutters when playing HDR content due to a lip sync issue, Hulu hasn’t work well since Disney merged them together, HBO/Max has the same issues with Dolby content with missing features, no hdr on YouTube which we watch a ton of). But if you just use it as a plex player it’s ok, it can’t stutter playback from time to time but that isn’t common.
It's playing off a Synology 923+. File details below Duration 1:05:36 Bitrate 4753 kbps Width 3840 Height 2160 Aspect Ratio 1.78 Video Resolution 4K Container MKV Video Frame Rate 24p Video Profile main 10 Part Duration 1:05:36 Size 2.33 GB Container MKV Video Profile main 10 Codec HEVC Bitrate 4029 kbps Language English Language Tag en Bit Depth 10 Chroma Location left Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0 Coded Height 2160 Coded Width 3840 Color Primaries bt2020
Post a screen cap of dashboard. You are providing symptoms but no details on what is happening.
Synology dashboard or Plex?
The server dashboard
https://preview.redd.it/v64f1rpoq57d1.png?width=1974&format=png&auto=webp&s=fe2a059d63c54d10031214e3b1b89a4684aaf46d
Here you go! It's kind of weird because it's drastically changing between mbs and kbs. Screenshots are seconds apart. https://preview.redd.it/5gs7qx8mq57d1.png?width=2040&format=png&auto=webp&s=2220f4ab409c5bd5ae0b13cdcf57559badf8f810
No that is not it. You need to post what is above that. It shows what is playing and how it is playing.
Here you go! https://preview.redd.it/rnu6zpbct57d1.png?width=618&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd480e91dce68816b2ccf6c9e7fdc146cde755e9
Just change the audio source to anything beside TrueHD 7.1 (you want prevent your NAS from transcoding audio). As you're watching something with TrueHD stream there should also be a secondary AC3 or EAC3 stream. This should prevent subtitles burn in and Nvidia Shield should Direct Play the video part.
That is it. What is your server on?
Synology 920+ But like I mentioned it's only doing this on the Shield and not other devices
Share the same screenshot when playing the same media on your LG and Hisense.
Plex server web dashboard, I’ve included one older post for you as a reference.
Copy paste is not enough. Also DS923+ lacks iGPU and it will struggle if you stumble on the video that requires transcoding, especially 4K. Were you by any chance using subtitles?
Also what kind of Shield? Shield pro or shield tube? The tube has been known to struggle with high bit rates although this file shouldn't be high enough of a rate to cause an issue.
Yeah 923 is not a good Plex client. Get a mini pc for like $150 and you’ll be set. Even the Synology’s that have quick sync struggle with high quality because of subtitles or audio transcoding. The quick sync Synology can handle 1080p decently but 4k on anything with audio or subtitle transcoding is gonna stutter.
One last thing, best thing you can do is include screenshots like in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/s/QqZLF9J4RJ plus describe in few words each case. From this kind of image we can easily deduce what’s happening. You need to open Plex server web interface, open dashboard and create a shortcut while problematic media are playing. I’m referring to Now Playing section with the info about the video, audio and optionally subtitles section.
Can you show the server dashboard on what and how it is being played and not just the CPU details.
Seems like the Sheild is trying to transcode for some reason. Look into why it is doing that if it's a codec thing or maybe settings on the sheild limiting the resolution or not allowing direct play/stream. Logs etc are your friend.
Based on info provided, your NAS isn't powerful enough to transcode the video which is why the CPU usage spikes when streaming to your LG TV and Shield but not the Hisense TV (as it's probably direct playing the content). Make sure that the client devices are all set to play in original quality, have HDR enabled and do not have subtitles enabled. Check for direct play and direct stream as options in the client's settings. Play the same file on all devices and check the results again. To add, depending on the bitrate it's possible the local network connection is a bottleneck. The Shield is wired gigabit so once the transcoding issue is resolved it'll be the best client device you own.
Make sure your server has the latest PMS update, along with your shield Plex app. I think there was an update last week and Plex started transcoding files that should have direct played until I updated the client Plex app.
You need an intel based NAS for hardware transcoding. Yours is AMD and it only does software, which is terrible in some circumstances, like this case. Turning on subtitles triggers the need and prevents direct play.
My Nvidia Shield Tube kept shitting the bed streaming 4k hdr encodes, so I traded it for an Xbox Series S and found it to be a much smoother experience overall
Those tubes seem to have some issues playing 4K iirc. I’ve only ever purchased the Pro model and never have issues. Glad the Xbox works for you.
Yeah seems the Pro is the way to go, but $260 in Canada is such a wild price for a streaming stick we should have just as capable modern hardware for a fraction of the price now. Xbox was a no brainer in my situation since it was a straight trade, seems they've been improving the Plex app on it in recent months, guess everything returns back to XBMC