Plex @lemmy.ml InformalTrifle @lemmy.world 1y ago

Pixelation on chromecast with google tv 4K

I recent got a new chromecast 4K. I’ve installed the plex app and tried playing a movie I have that is 1080p, 12.2Mbs, and it is was horribly pixelated, like it was too low bitrate. It was set to direct play.

I tried the same movie on my Sony android tv and it was crystal clear.

It’s not buffering at all and is direct playing, so it’s not a bandwidth issue. Any idea what the issue could be or how I can debug this?

The movie was sin city and has a lot of black and white so the pixelation is very noticeable

6 comments

I ran into this on my Roku TV (TCL) and optimizing it in Plex worked wonders. It's kind of a pain because it's an extra step and clutters your server drive a bit, but it solved the problem. Interestingly enough, I've had absolutely no problem with Plex on my Shields app, and haven't bothered to optimize anything.

So that's my advice. If you play with the settings you can even pick what type of device you're optimizing it for. Try a few and see if any of them do the job
- "optimizing" something in Plex will always transcode the file into a new version. So I wouldn't really consider that as a solution because you would potentially transcode and compress a file or, even worse, compress a file from, for example, H.265 into H.265 so a more efficient compression to less efficient compression.
  
  But since it works with a transcode I am wondering if there isn't some issue with the container. I have seen a few instances in which just a remuxing of the file without doing anything to the video and audio tracks solved an issue. Maybe the version was poorly muxed.
  
  So you could try using MKVToolnix to try that out.
  
  I’ll try remuxing. But it’s currently direct playing (not even direct streaming) so it can clearly handle the container. Maybe it’s processor just struggles with this bitrate, but it’s supposed to be the 4K version
My Brother who has a Chromecast, the normal 1080P module or older not sure explained he had a similar issue and it was down to buffering on wifi we believe because after he moved his wifi to only 5Ghz it became better.
- Mine is on 5Ghz, close to a unifi AP, same place as the TV, and doesn’t buffer at all and is direct playing, so I don’t see how it can be bandwidth/WiFi related

6 comments