# 2 Mbps, 720p = 480p? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Tags:** server-windows\ **Created:** [May 24, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444 "2024-05-24T20:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kilgry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kilgry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Kilgry)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/1 "2024-05-24T20:10:03Z")
Hello, I’m curious why a Plex client/player that is set to “2 Mbps, 720p” always appears to transcode down to 480p resoltion (when transcoding is needed)? Shouldn’t the selection be labelled “2 Mbps, 480p” to be accurate, or is something else going on? ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/9/f/8/9f8eaf525c16e13b5144861ce019d96aefba9f5b.png) ---
**Author:** ![Kilgry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kilgry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Kilgry)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/2 "2024-06-07T21:34:15Z")
And so the mystery continues. ---
**Author:** ![Divideby0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/74df32/32.png) [@Divideby0](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Divideby0)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/3 "2024-06-08T13:45:27Z")
Looks like a round-up issue. Plex looks at a resolution, and if any one of the two dimensions is larger than is typical for that resolution, it displays it as the higher number. 650 is bigger than 640, so it is thus bigger than 640x480. Thus it is 720p? That’s all I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kilgry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Kilgry)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/4 "2024-06-08T14:02:47Z")
I see what you are saying, however Plex is taking a 1080 vertical video and making it 480 vertical. From what I can find online, “480p” can mean many different horizontal resolutions but always means 480 vertical: > **[480p](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/480p)** > > 480p is the shorthand name for a family of video display resolutions. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 480 denotes a vertical resolution of 480 pixels, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 aspect ratio (480 × .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect... Thus, it would seem that a label of “2 Mpbs, 480p” would be an accurate description of the transcoded video output and should be used. ---
**Author:** ![anon5074910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@anon5074910](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon5074910)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/5 "2024-06-08T15:30:52Z")
I was going to reply last night but got side tracked. I suspect width is a factor here in how plex reports the resolution. When I started ripping content I used vertical scaling `scale=-2:720` or `scale=-2:480` and plex ending up reporting some odd (at least odd to me) resolutions in their UI due to the width the video ended up at. I then switched instead to horizontal `scale=1280:-2` and plex always reports this as 720p. I see the width in your source is 1464 so I guess when this downscales plex reports it as 480p. That’s my guess anyhow and as always I’m open to correction on this. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kilgry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Kilgry)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/6 "2024-06-08T15:56:04Z")
Good input. So, I ran two more tests. One with a source file of 1440x1080 (4:3 ratio) and another with a source file of 1920x1080 (16:9 ratio). Neither of these tests resulted in a 720p stream. Test #1: Transcoded output is 640x480, resulting in resolution “480p,” which would fit the 480p definition perfectly. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/7/c/9/7c9ec72380830aed8b0e28e3a000942a46d365f1.png) Test #2: The transcoded “Resolution” comes out as “SD” and the WxH are 720x404. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/1/8/1/1811d1e93aaa2cf11a8c3ee7f02c88df5ad37f0e.png) ---
**Author:** ![Kilgry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kilgry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Kilgry)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/7 "2024-06-08T16:01:06Z")
Going further, I took the same file using in Test #1 and reran at “3 Mpbs, 720p HD (Medium).” This time it hits 720p. I’m not saying Plex should change how “2 Mbps, 720p” transcodes, but I think it should be re-labelled as “2 Mbps, 480p” to give a better description of the expected resulting stream. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/0/0/3/0031e0b9ca39fd6a2543bb259af9911f0cfd1bb2.png) ---
**Author:** ![anon5074910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@anon5074910](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon5074910)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/8 "2024-06-08T16:02:40Z")
I see the same thing … ![Screenshot from 2024-06-08 17-00-57](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/b/4/d/b4d3e5a15d3d7fba4ec1b28af6891143eea91711.jpeg) reports as SD quality … ![Screenshot from 2024-06-08 17-01-12](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/7/f/a/7fa22e41c7177276a8828a397d654a0cbe0fd26d.jpeg) Not sure what is happening here. Could be a bug alright. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kilgry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Kilgry)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/9 "2024-06-08T16:07:01Z")
Right, this setting appears to never give you a 720p stream. I have a user whose bandwidth limitations require them to use “2 Mbps, 720p” for all their streams. I have yet to see a single transcoded stream to that user output at 720p. It might be a bug, but more likely a mislabeling. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/2-mbps-720p-480p/878444/10 "2024-09-06T16:07:06Z")
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