Plex Xbox One/Smart TV

roccles · 31 Jul 2019 at 23:10

I am currently in the process of setting up Plex, I have setup a server and that is working great.

Now when it came to installing a client I thought my Xbox One would be the best choice as I assumed its the most powerful machine under my TV, so I install it and it works but only just I get buffering every few seconds and I would class it as unusable. So I thought I would install the app on my Android TV not expecting much, but it is speedy, media loads fast and no buffering.

Anybody any ideas on why this might be? As I would like the option to use the Xbox as well.

Tee Hee Johnson · 31 Jul 2019 at 23:14

Hows the xbox's internet connection?

roccles · 31 Jul 2019 at 23:22

Tee Hee Johnson said:
Hows the xbox's internet connection?

They are both connected to the same WiFi network and the same distance from router (Xbox is under the TV) and I assumed it would connect directly rather than over the internet but I maybe wrong.

Puzzled · 2 Aug 2019 at 16:44

Its more down to codec compatibility rather than just processing power as most of the work will be done by the server if needed. Play the video on the xbox one again but this time have a look at the plex dashboard on the server and see if its transcoding. Android TV will usually direct play most things which is always the aim as you don't want the server converting for no reason.

There is a display setting on all plex apps to see more info as well so you can see if the file is direct playing or being converted. Also look at the refresh rate switching and audio passthrough settings if your device support it.

Refresh rate switching means the tv will play at the correct refresh rate (24fps for films) so you don't get that juddering effect.

Audio passthrough means your tv (or soundbar / amp) will decode the audio itself if supported (Dolby Digital / DTS etc) but this one can cause issues depending on the device.

Steviepunk · 2 Aug 2019 at 17:09

I've been using the xbox one Plex app for a long time (and before that I used the Xbox 360 version) and I've never had an issue with it, has worked pretty flawlessly - and I'm pretty sure it natively supports x265/HEVC and MKV files, so in most cases transcoding should not be required (unless there is audio output compatibility as MonkeyMan points out).
That said, if you TV works well, then I'd suggest using that anyway even if the Xbox was working correctly for you, no point in having such a high power consumption device playing your media if the TV can do it on it's own anyway.