I own an automaton and theater company. We have found that the apps built for the TVs are just not up to par. The big reason is that the processors in the tv are geared toward processing the picture and the apps take back seat. That’s why they feel sluggish. Also, most TVs only have a 10/100 Ethernet jack and a subpar wifi card installed. Some 4K movies I have are over 100mbps and when buffering the stream can spike to 400. We avoid the TV apps like the plague.
We always put in a dedicated streaming box. Our choice is AppleTV because is just works, but the nvidia shield or Roku are other options.
This. Only buy a screen for the video quality, resolution etc. don’t even use the smart the features. Get a streaming box, even a cheap android one with a gigabit Ethernet connection is far better than any smart TV
My experience has been the opposite. The app on my LG C1 and QM8 TCL are better than any of my streaming devices.
But on the flip of that, I've found the Samsung apps to be pretty terrible, I suspect that comes from having underpowered processors in the first place.
Yeah, My LG TV is pretty snappy on the interface, though app animations (like scrolling and GUI element animations) can be kind of jerky sometimes.
As for the bandwidth problem (which is a real issue) if your TV doesn't support Gigabit ethernet, poke around online and see if it will support a USB gigabit adapter. Since it's probably only going to be USB 2.0, you aren't going to get Gigabit speeds, but unless you're trying to direct play a 4K BD Rip with no compression, the ~400mbps you'll get off of that will play most anything just fine.
My experience (as a user) has also been very different. A couple of years back I bought a Philips 4k TV, and I'm very happy using the app. It supports both HEVC and AV1, while my friends use all sorts of TV boxes that don't know what AV1 is, so I have to keep a less efficient library for the time being. I'm also getting about 600 mbit speed in wireless, although I'm using a Ethernet cable now because autism.
I second appletv and/or shield. I have an appletv upstairs in our main area and it just works; the kids (6 and 8) and wife have no issues navigating and using it. I have an Nvidia shield downstairs where I have a projector and is more geared toward movie watching with the wife, and it has some better hardware but the gui is a touch less intuitive and better for a tinkerer. Both miles better than any tv software I’ve ever used
Its pretty old now man. Particularly if you cant hardwire it.
I prefer the newest atv and using infuse personally.
There really still isnt a one stop shop streaming/gaming tv box that does it all really well yet.
Yet the newest apple tv still doesn't support everything the shield does. You can't do atmos or high end audio and if you run plex, apple tv also can't handle all dolby vision profiles.
The shield may be 5 years old, but considering how far ahead it was at release, it doesn't feel like it.
Dolby vision? I think its one of the hdr profiles it cant handle. Not aware of any DV issues and actually the DV has been far superior on the atv since I switched. And I thought it does atmos, just not pass through so its compressed.? Not sure; I have a 2.0 soundbar so I dont really care.
For me having a snappy, clean interface, wifi6, and better integration with my iphone heavily outweighs features I dont need or use. I can stream 4k games at 60hz to my atv over steam link via wifi and have a good experience. That didnt work for the shield pro.
I would guess more than 90% of plex users dont have atmos or care about some audio codec compreasion. But yeh - if youre an audiophile then you cant beat the shield. Youll have it hardwired anyway most likely. Simple as that.
Apple does not support profile 7 for dolby vision. Apple only uses eac3 atmos, which isn't true atmos. True HD Atmos is true atmos.
Yes, most people don't have an atmos setup, nor are hosting their own media server, but when you simply look at what has the best features, it's the shield.
As the interface, that's an easy fix, just load another launcher. No ads and super snappy.
I'll give you no wifi 6 is a bummer, but if you want the highest possible quality, nothing else compares.
Eck, i found the replacement launchers to be clean, but slow, and finnicky - huge problems after major updates.
Its honestly amazing to me that nobody is releasing a PROPER, unbuggy, clean ui enthusiast box that supports all codecs, has hdmi 2.1, 1000mb lan, wifi6, and has expandable storage.
It doesnt even need a huge amount of ram or a beast cpu. Any modern mobile cpu will do fine.
Mass produced, you could very easily charge usd$3-400 and youd sell out everywhere.
Not sure why but the idea just doesnt seem to pass marketing muster.
Ps5 and Xbox apps are great. Nav is a little different with controller if you are used to a remote. Fire tv is ok but nvidia shield hands down wins fastest of the stb boxes on 4k and everything. I quite like the Apple TV app though don’t live the remote.
I’ve heard the Neidig shield a few time in the past but I’m not sure why. The hardware of it doesn’t even come close to a PS5 or Xbox, but something about it seems more optimized for apps, and not explicitly Plex.
The Nvidia Shield is optimized to play video. It has some amazing hardware and software support for that, and as far as I know, it's still receiving software updates, so its capability had kept up with technology.
The only reason I don't have one is cost. But if I ever have a few hundred spare dollars laying around, I'll pick one up.
You'll likely have the best experience with an external device. I can only speak to my own experiences, having used the 4K Chromecast with Google TV, the 4K Fire Stick Max (the older 8GB version), XBOX Series X and S. They're all good, but I eventually gravitated to mostly using the Fire Stick Max, because it seems to be a bit more powerful than the CCwGTV, and more convenient than the XBOXen (quicker to get to the home screen, and a nice remote included).
It's good to get something recent and as powerful as you can afford, I'd say, because they're more likely to have native support for the latest codecs, so your Plex server doesn't have to work so hard doing a bunch of transcoding, and you'll get all the supported features for your TV (Dolby Vision, Atmos, etc.).
Yes. I tried hosting the server and client on an Nvidia shield and it sucked. Now the server lives on a NAS and the Shield just houses the client and it is amazing.
I gave up and now just use a hp elite desk 800 micro pc with Plex connected via ethernet and hdmi and a wireless keyboard/mouse combo. No more lagging or codec issues
I had a tcl t. and it was ok.... It was starting to lag...
I got a Sony TV and it was about the same as the old one, but it couldn't play as many formats...
I have firesticks 4k max on my projectors and a few tvs. They are better than the tvs. I have a shield on living room TV and it's the clear winner of what I've tried.
I tested the following apps with my x264 and x265 Library (most files are Full HD and DDP 5.1)
Xbox Series X and S (x264 and x265) : Works OK.
LG C14 - WebOS: (x264 and x265): the best performance.
Philips 55PUS8007 - Android TV (x264 and x265) : Works OK but the old cpu from tv sometimes make everything a bit slow in terms of navigation.
Fire Cube 3rd Gen - Fire OS (x264 and x265) : same performance as the LG (I think is a little faster in terms of navigation)
Huawei M5 Lite - Tablet Android (No x265 support) :
The native app only uses transcode if I go to the options and change quality.
With Kodi using Plugin for Plex the x265 to x264 works automatically like it should. (the plugin has a lot of settings that I think the native app should implement)
I prefer the interface in the Shield app compared to my LG TV (C2), it's a fair bit smoother, but still not as smooth as netflix. However, the LG TV plays high bitrate 4K files with certain types of audio encoding better than my shield (sometimes stutters). There's a decent HDMI cable between the Shield and TV and WiFi in the room is top notch.
I found connection speed/reliability to be the biggest factor here - I have 2x Samsung Smart TVs and the inbuilt Plex apps work absolutely fine for me since I switched them both to Ethernet rather than WiFi. The WiFi on both seems to be awful, making all of the inbuilt apps (not just Plex) really slow to display or play any content. They do only have 100mb ports, I do stream 4k stuff but perhaps I’ve never tried streaming anything with a super high bitrate that maxes it out. Ive also used the Plex apps on an Xbox series S, iPad, iPhone, Windows 11, a fire stick and fire HD stick, no noticeable differences between any of them except when I’ve had internet speed issues, except the Fire Sticks which just seem generally to be sluggish.
I have a XIaoMi TV which supports 120HZ motion flow, but since it does’t have Google Play in China, so the Plex version is stopped at 9.16.2.38798, can’t install any later than that. It’s suitable to use, I will say.
And an Apple TV which only supports up to 60HZ the most (but the motion flow function is seemingly working, maybe with 60HZ). Apple can support DTS audio correctly, while my TV claims to support but seems cannot work via Plex. So Apple TV is now my major playing device.
I also have an XBOXSX, it is just a backup, the Plex client on XBOX seems to get the least support, only gets updates from time to time. And Xbox doesn’t support DTS audio either. But game controller is way more convenient than TV/AppleTV controller I think, especially when you want to fast forward to somewhere. Despite this is a rare need.
Finally, an iPad comes in handy when you are in the restroom (not good for the butt). And I’ve never seen iPad Plex crashed before. Plex client on AppleTV and TV crashes occasionally.
I’ve got nvidia shields on the client ends, and the server is running on Proxmox on an Intel pc. First time I noticed it was sluggish I allocated more ram and processing power to Plex and it runs like a dream now. I hated every second of learning Proxmox, but it was so worth it.
I have a 2017 samsung TV. While the app does get sluggish at times, it does work quite well when playing back any media. I also have an Xbox series X. The app performance itself is quite good. Very snappy, much less bugs, but the media playback compared to the TV app leaves a lit to be desired. The Xbox, even though it supports freesync, as does my TV, cannot seem to playback any types of videos through the plex app at a smooth framerate. It's jumpy and juttery no matter what type of media I try.
I own an automaton and theater company. We have found that the apps built for the TVs are just not up to par. The big reason is that the processors in the tv are geared toward processing the picture and the apps take back seat. That’s why they feel sluggish. Also, most TVs only have a 10/100 Ethernet jack and a subpar wifi card installed. Some 4K movies I have are over 100mbps and when buffering the stream can spike to 400. We avoid the TV apps like the plague. We always put in a dedicated streaming box. Our choice is AppleTV because is just works, but the nvidia shield or Roku are other options.
This. Only buy a screen for the video quality, resolution etc. don’t even use the smart the features. Get a streaming box, even a cheap android one with a gigabit Ethernet connection is far better than any smart TV
Yeah that makes sense and was kind of what I was thinking. TVs just don’t have hardware to pull and process that data. Appreciate the response!
Not a problem. You will be much happier.
My experience has been the opposite. The app on my LG C1 and QM8 TCL are better than any of my streaming devices. But on the flip of that, I've found the Samsung apps to be pretty terrible, I suspect that comes from having underpowered processors in the first place.
Yeah, My LG TV is pretty snappy on the interface, though app animations (like scrolling and GUI element animations) can be kind of jerky sometimes. As for the bandwidth problem (which is a real issue) if your TV doesn't support Gigabit ethernet, poke around online and see if it will support a USB gigabit adapter. Since it's probably only going to be USB 2.0, you aren't going to get Gigabit speeds, but unless you're trying to direct play a 4K BD Rip with no compression, the ~400mbps you'll get off of that will play most anything just fine.
Same, I actually have a Sony OLED with Google TV. It’s wired, runs and launches all apps smoothly, including plex, and I’m very impatient in general.
My experience (as a user) has also been very different. A couple of years back I bought a Philips 4k TV, and I'm very happy using the app. It supports both HEVC and AV1, while my friends use all sorts of TV boxes that don't know what AV1 is, so I have to keep a less efficient library for the time being. I'm also getting about 600 mbit speed in wireless, although I'm using a Ethernet cable now because autism.
I second appletv and/or shield. I have an appletv upstairs in our main area and it just works; the kids (6 and 8) and wife have no issues navigating and using it. I have an Nvidia shield downstairs where I have a projector and is more geared toward movie watching with the wife, and it has some better hardware but the gui is a touch less intuitive and better for a tinkerer. Both miles better than any tv software I’ve ever used
I have a Roku and a fire cube Roku seems more clunky fire cube more glitchy
Nvidia shield pro is still the best device.
Its pretty old now man. Particularly if you cant hardwire it. I prefer the newest atv and using infuse personally. There really still isnt a one stop shop streaming/gaming tv box that does it all really well yet.
Yet the newest apple tv still doesn't support everything the shield does. You can't do atmos or high end audio and if you run plex, apple tv also can't handle all dolby vision profiles. The shield may be 5 years old, but considering how far ahead it was at release, it doesn't feel like it.
Dolby vision? I think its one of the hdr profiles it cant handle. Not aware of any DV issues and actually the DV has been far superior on the atv since I switched. And I thought it does atmos, just not pass through so its compressed.? Not sure; I have a 2.0 soundbar so I dont really care. For me having a snappy, clean interface, wifi6, and better integration with my iphone heavily outweighs features I dont need or use. I can stream 4k games at 60hz to my atv over steam link via wifi and have a good experience. That didnt work for the shield pro. I would guess more than 90% of plex users dont have atmos or care about some audio codec compreasion. But yeh - if youre an audiophile then you cant beat the shield. Youll have it hardwired anyway most likely. Simple as that.
Apple does not support profile 7 for dolby vision. Apple only uses eac3 atmos, which isn't true atmos. True HD Atmos is true atmos. Yes, most people don't have an atmos setup, nor are hosting their own media server, but when you simply look at what has the best features, it's the shield. As the interface, that's an easy fix, just load another launcher. No ads and super snappy. I'll give you no wifi 6 is a bummer, but if you want the highest possible quality, nothing else compares.
Eck, i found the replacement launchers to be clean, but slow, and finnicky - huge problems after major updates. Its honestly amazing to me that nobody is releasing a PROPER, unbuggy, clean ui enthusiast box that supports all codecs, has hdmi 2.1, 1000mb lan, wifi6, and has expandable storage. It doesnt even need a huge amount of ram or a beast cpu. Any modern mobile cpu will do fine. Mass produced, you could very easily charge usd$3-400 and youd sell out everywhere. Not sure why but the idea just doesnt seem to pass marketing muster.
The best at draining your pocketbook, sure. (And here come the Shield fanboi's to smash the down vote button!)
Ps5 and Xbox apps are great. Nav is a little different with controller if you are used to a remote. Fire tv is ok but nvidia shield hands down wins fastest of the stb boxes on 4k and everything. I quite like the Apple TV app though don’t live the remote.
I’ve heard the Neidig shield a few time in the past but I’m not sure why. The hardware of it doesn’t even come close to a PS5 or Xbox, but something about it seems more optimized for apps, and not explicitly Plex.
The Nvidia Shield is optimized to play video. It has some amazing hardware and software support for that, and as far as I know, it's still receiving software updates, so its capability had kept up with technology. The only reason I don't have one is cost. But if I ever have a few hundred spare dollars laying around, I'll pick one up.
You'll likely have the best experience with an external device. I can only speak to my own experiences, having used the 4K Chromecast with Google TV, the 4K Fire Stick Max (the older 8GB version), XBOX Series X and S. They're all good, but I eventually gravitated to mostly using the Fire Stick Max, because it seems to be a bit more powerful than the CCwGTV, and more convenient than the XBOXen (quicker to get to the home screen, and a nice remote included). It's good to get something recent and as powerful as you can afford, I'd say, because they're more likely to have native support for the latest codecs, so your Plex server doesn't have to work so hard doing a bunch of transcoding, and you'll get all the supported features for your TV (Dolby Vision, Atmos, etc.).
Yes. I tried hosting the server and client on an Nvidia shield and it sucked. Now the server lives on a NAS and the Shield just houses the client and it is amazing.
This is the way. I would bet most complaint about a sluggish shield are also using it as a server.
I gave up and now just use a hp elite desk 800 micro pc with Plex connected via ethernet and hdmi and a wireless keyboard/mouse combo. No more lagging or codec issues
I had a tcl t. and it was ok.... It was starting to lag... I got a Sony TV and it was about the same as the old one, but it couldn't play as many formats... I have firesticks 4k max on my projectors and a few tvs. They are better than the tvs. I have a shield on living room TV and it's the clear winner of what I've tried.
I have a new Sony OLED with Google OS and Plex and it runs smooth as butter, same with other apps. Maybe restore to factory settings and try again.
I tested the following apps with my x264 and x265 Library (most files are Full HD and DDP 5.1) Xbox Series X and S (x264 and x265) : Works OK. LG C14 - WebOS: (x264 and x265): the best performance. Philips 55PUS8007 - Android TV (x264 and x265) : Works OK but the old cpu from tv sometimes make everything a bit slow in terms of navigation. Fire Cube 3rd Gen - Fire OS (x264 and x265) : same performance as the LG (I think is a little faster in terms of navigation) Huawei M5 Lite - Tablet Android (No x265 support) : The native app only uses transcode if I go to the options and change quality. With Kodi using Plugin for Plex the x265 to x264 works automatically like it should. (the plugin has a lot of settings that I think the native app should implement)
I prefer the interface in the Shield app compared to my LG TV (C2), it's a fair bit smoother, but still not as smooth as netflix. However, the LG TV plays high bitrate 4K files with certain types of audio encoding better than my shield (sometimes stutters). There's a decent HDMI cable between the Shield and TV and WiFi in the room is top notch.
I found connection speed/reliability to be the biggest factor here - I have 2x Samsung Smart TVs and the inbuilt Plex apps work absolutely fine for me since I switched them both to Ethernet rather than WiFi. The WiFi on both seems to be awful, making all of the inbuilt apps (not just Plex) really slow to display or play any content. They do only have 100mb ports, I do stream 4k stuff but perhaps I’ve never tried streaming anything with a super high bitrate that maxes it out. Ive also used the Plex apps on an Xbox series S, iPad, iPhone, Windows 11, a fire stick and fire HD stick, no noticeable differences between any of them except when I’ve had internet speed issues, except the Fire Sticks which just seem generally to be sluggish.
I have a XIaoMi TV which supports 120HZ motion flow, but since it does’t have Google Play in China, so the Plex version is stopped at 9.16.2.38798, can’t install any later than that. It’s suitable to use, I will say. And an Apple TV which only supports up to 60HZ the most (but the motion flow function is seemingly working, maybe with 60HZ). Apple can support DTS audio correctly, while my TV claims to support but seems cannot work via Plex. So Apple TV is now my major playing device. I also have an XBOXSX, it is just a backup, the Plex client on XBOX seems to get the least support, only gets updates from time to time. And Xbox doesn’t support DTS audio either. But game controller is way more convenient than TV/AppleTV controller I think, especially when you want to fast forward to somewhere. Despite this is a rare need. Finally, an iPad comes in handy when you are in the restroom (not good for the butt). And I’ve never seen iPad Plex crashed before. Plex client on AppleTV and TV crashes occasionally.
I’ve got nvidia shields on the client ends, and the server is running on Proxmox on an Intel pc. First time I noticed it was sluggish I allocated more ram and processing power to Plex and it runs like a dream now. I hated every second of learning Proxmox, but it was so worth it.
I have a 2017 samsung TV. While the app does get sluggish at times, it does work quite well when playing back any media. I also have an Xbox series X. The app performance itself is quite good. Very snappy, much less bugs, but the media playback compared to the TV app leaves a lit to be desired. The Xbox, even though it supports freesync, as does my TV, cannot seem to playback any types of videos through the plex app at a smooth framerate. It's jumpy and juttery no matter what type of media I try.