[JGrana01]

The Shield issue that I experience is probably when the player tries to adjust the refresh rate before playing a file. I experienced it in Plex too. Plex doesn't have an application level refresh rate setting like Kodi - it uses the one set at the device level but can adjust it at start/stop of playback if that setting is enabled.

I agree that the problem/crash occurs before any part of the video is displayed. I should have been clearer on the crashes. The spinning wheel happens, the upper part of the display shows the name of the file and the "play" icon, but the display dims, wheel spins and....when you press "Stop"...crash.
BTW, this only happens with .mkv files. The .mp4's seem to play just fine.