Revelation: 4K HDR playback on an LG 65C8

oHUTCHYo · 9 Apr 2020 at 11:16

This post is perhaps for my selfish benefit as a future point of reference but hopefully others find it on the forums and via Google.

So I've never had success in playing 4K HDR files on my LG 65C8 through the smart apps such as Plex, or the wildly better variant Xplay. They buffered from the get go. I put this down to the fact that the so called premium TV only had 100MB ethernet. I had previously read suggestions on trying 5ghz wireless instead, this was the same.

Cue me going down the rabbit hole and exploring Nvidia Shield, Vero 4K+ etc. However as I've got older I've grew weary of tweaking this, that and everything else. I therefore settled on being able to only play 1080p files via Xplay via 100MB ethernet via a Synology 218+.

After another recent attempt given current circumstances, I tried wireless again. Nope, didnt work. I then read people have had success in using a USB to gigabit adaptor, great for TVs which have USB3 but no, again LG decided to cheap out an installed USB2 on my model. Again, for the benefit of others this specific one is touted as the best by Cable Matters https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Matters-SuperSpeed-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B00BBD7NFU/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1TM31M4KZB8JL&dchild=1&keywords=usb+gigabit+ethernet+adapter&qid=1586427318&sprefix=usb+gig,aps,157&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWkdKUFRBM1AyN0dPJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTEzMDk2NFE5VFNMNElNSDQ0JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2MTE2MDUxSjFYOUxDTkpONjE0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I then started to question why, as in theory 5ghz should have enough bandwidth so is it a processor limitation on the TV. Various google pages across various forums, I stumble upon a year old Reddit post. https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED/comments/9tsank/lg_c8_55_slow_wifi/

And here is the golden nugget I stumbled upon on this glorious day.

For my B7 I had to change my 5Ghz UniFi WiFi from auto to a static channel between 36 and 48 (non DFS? Also remove 2.3Ghz as it would sometimes connect to that instead of 5Ghz) turn off quick start and then I was getting over 150Mbps. The Ethernet port is 100Mbps so it wasn’t good enough compared to WiFi to stream large files.

As of today, I've successfully streamed an 80,000KB bitrate movie in glorious 4K HDR. Turns out these LGs dont like certain wifi channels.

Not - a - single - blip.

Ayahuasca · 9 Apr 2020 at 11:49

It's great you've found a solution via Wi-Fi but if I recall correctly there are USB 2.0 Ethernet adaptors available that will provide around 240Mbps throughput, which would be sufficient for your 4K HDR content and more reliable than wireless.

oHUTCHYo · 9 Apr 2020 at 11:54

Ayahuasca said:
It's great you've found a solution via Wi-Fi but if I recall correctly there are USB 2.0 Ethernet adaptors available that will provide around 240Mbps throughput, which would be sufficient for your 4K HDR content and more reliable than wireless.

Thanks, yes not a fan of using wireless for these purposes. For the sake of £15 or less I may as well try a USB adaptor too. Do you think if I bought the USB3 it would be backwards compatible with my TV’s USB2 or should I go for the specific USB2 model?

Ayahuasca · 9 Apr 2020 at 11:55

oHUTCHYo said:
Thanks, yes not a fan of using wireless for these purposes. For the sake of £15 or less I may as well try a USB adaptor too. Do you think if I bought the USB3 it would be backwards compatible with my TV’s USB2 or should I go for the specific USB2 model?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plugable-E...003VSTDFG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I'd stick with one designed for USB 2.0, this one gets solid reviews with people reporting 240-300Mbps actual throughput.

oHUTCHYo · 9 Apr 2020 at 12:01

Ayahuasca said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plugable-E...003VSTDFG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I'd stick with one designed for USB 2.0, this one gets solid reviews with people reporting 240-300Mbps actual throughput.

superb, thank you

jpaul · 9 Apr 2020 at 12:18

Does the protocol permitted by the USB interface allow information to be received by a plex client, or you have to use xplay ?
ie is the functionality the same as you get via wireless network
.. my panasonic tv has a usb interface for an external drive, but I didn't think a gigabyte adapter would supply onboard apps on the tv.

Ayahuasca · 9 Apr 2020 at 12:21

^ That was something I was going to mention, certain apps will pick up on the connection via USB but others won't.

If you get it from Amazon I guess you can just return it if it doesn't work.

oHUTCHYo · 9 Apr 2020 at 12:38

Good point guys. There was a comment on this that the TV doesnt think its connected to a network yet all apps seemed to connect and function. Knowing my luck though...

mid_gen · 10 Apr 2020 at 17:00

This is something common to quite a lot of 5Ghz WiFi equipment, some phones can't handle channels outside that range too.

oHUTCHYo · 3 May 2020 at 12:39

Just for updating the thread for posterity, I can confirm Cable Matters USB to Ethernet Adapter (USB 3.0 to Ethernet) Supporting 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Network in Black works as intended. The TV does not show a network connection under network settings, but it is successfully connecting to Plex, all TV streaming apps and the TV update function too.

Peter UK · 3 May 2020 at 12:44

You said you went down the rabbit hole exploring Nvidia Shield - did you actually buy one or did you just look at it? I have two of those and regularly use them to play high bitrate 4K content, they can play anything pretty much. Depending on what you end up watching the TV might have trouble with certain elements inside the container (like PGS subtitles or something), but then again it might be fine.

oHUTCHYo · 3 May 2020 at 12:55

Peter UK said:
You said you went down the rabbit hole exploring Nvidia Shield - did you actually buy one or did you just look at it? I have two of those and regularly use them to play high bitrate 4K content, they can play anything pretty much. Depending on what you end up watching the TV might have trouble with certain elements inside the container (like PGS subtitles or something), but then again it might be fine.

I managed to find a 2019 Shield Pro at my local PC World just before lockdown. During that time they had been sold out everywhere and people were commanding a premium on the auction site. So took a punt...

Very impressed and played everything I threw at it. Sadly however it failed the wife test who likes the easy access of the built in TV apps. So duly sold it and thankfully broke even...well made a £10er. Great device though.

Just pleased Ive managed to get everything (2160p HDR) playing natively on my TV without further hardware.

Peter UK · 3 May 2020 at 13:04

Ahhh gotcha. I have an LG C8 and a Shield but also have a Logitech Harmony so there's just one remote and it all flows nicely together. Sorts out the inputs on the soundbar and stuff as well.

Yeah if it's working for all of your content then that's great, I normally don't even try and play anything natively now if I get a new TV or whatever, I know the shield will cut it so I just use that as it makes my life easier!

oHUTCHYo · 4 May 2020 at 12:57

Peter UK said:
Ahhh gotcha. I have an LG C8 and a Shield but also have a Logitech Harmony so there's just one remote and it all flows nicely together. Sorts out the inputs on the soundbar and stuff as well.

Yeah if it's working for all of your content then that's great, I normally don't even try and play anything natively now if I get a new TV or whatever, I know the shield will cut it so I just use that as it makes my life easier!

I have a Harmony Smart, love my Harmony remotes. Sort of redundant now really though as its only connected to my TV and soundbar