Having a standard HD stream issue between my Plex server and NVidia Shield.

Could be caused by HDR->SDR conversion. If you have Plex Pass, you can try enable HDR->SDR tone mapping on the plex server.

Try your Shield on a 4K TV to rule out everything else.

I encountered the same thing when I did the similar with my Chromecast with Google TV using Kodi.

I had a lot of problems using a non-pro (tube) Shield for streaming higher bitrate .mkvs (Using both Plex and Kodi via SAMBA.) I would frequently see micro stutters, sometimes see stutters long enough to cause audio hiccups, and rarely see complete stops with a buffering wheel. I tried both wireless, and wired (with the server and shield directly connected to the same switch) but it didn't seem to make a difference.

No direct solution for you (I ended up solving it by getting a different player for my local streams and now only use the shield for internet streaming) just wanted to say that you aren't alone with this issue.

Is the audio transcoding? That has caused video stuttering issues for me in the past with Plex.

Steve Voelker said:

Is the audio transcoding? That has caused video stuttering issues for me in the past with Plex.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking something is Transcoding since the Shield is connected to a 1080p display. Could the Plex Media Server be trying to downscale the Video, which would mean that Transcoding is involved?

Before I upgraded to a 4K display, The Highest resolution I would play via Plex on my Nvidia Shield would be 1080p from Blu Ray Rips.

It probably is doing some kind of transcoding then. See if you can set this particular Shield to Direct Play. It would force the Shield to do the transcoding and not your server. You can also try Kodi on the Shield, just a quick set up and see if it still has the issues. You wouldn't point Kodi to Plex, just to your shares to see the files. Or VLC and see what the playback is. If neither of those two struggle with the file it's most likely Plex is the culprit. If they also struggle, I would guess it's something else - your TV doing something, bad Ethernet cable, etc. I'd also try finding a 1080p x264 .mkv file with plain DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 and see what your playback from Plex is via that Shield. Again, if that plays fine but the 4K version doesnt it's probably Plex and transcoding.