# 4K support not working?

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930>\
**Category:** Player Betas\
**Tags:** apple-tv-beta\
**Created:** [October 4, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930 "2017-10-04T21:47:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jjross](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jjross/32/5936_2.png) [@jjross](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jjross)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/1 "2017-10-04T21:47:00Z")

</div>

So I see the latest version of the beta enables 4K support for the client but when I try to play 4K context I see the server is still transcoding from HEVC to H264. Do we need a server update before this will work?

What do the release notes mean?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chfredrickson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chfredrickson/32/259739_2.png) [@chfredrickson](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chfredrickson)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/2 "2017-10-04T23:08:19Z")

</div>

Hey there, we added support for Direct Playing h264 at 4K resolutions for mp4 like containers. We’re still working on catching up with HEVC, I’m going to steal a nice write up from someone else on our team:

TL;DR: We’re working on catching up here. We know that we’re late to the game. Expect updates before the end of the year, but hopefully much sooner.

For HEVC (H.265) on iOS/tvOS, there are 3 separate issues here:

1. Direct Play of HEVC .mp4 files

- On iOS/tvOS, this is limited to .mp4/.mov files with AC3, EAC3, or stereo AAC.
  - You can achieve this now by editing the profile XML, but this will break older versions of iOS, tvOS, older iOS devices, and older Apple TV devices. It will also cause some older devices (e.g. pre-iPhone 6S) to choose to play HEVC even though they only support software-based decoding, which will burn through your battery quickly.
  - We are working on adding this from the client side by detecting hardware HEVC support and dynamically adding Direct Play support for HEVC when available. This should come soon.

1. Direct Stream of HEVC in any other format (.mkv, other audio)

2. Transcode of HEVC to other formats

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jjross](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jjross/32/5936_2.png) [@jjross](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jjross)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/3 "2017-10-05T05:01:14Z")

</div>

Ah! This makes perfect sense. Thank you for the clear answer.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vitorero](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/vitorero/32/20740_2.png) [@Vitorero](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Vitorero)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/4 "2017-10-07T17:42:38Z")

</div>

Thank you very much for the answer, I hope the update come soon!!!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![stephenl03](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@stephenl03](https://forums.plex.tv/u/stephenl03)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/5 "2017-10-18T01:09:42Z")

</div>

What about HDR content?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SauRoNZA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@SauRoNZA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SauRoNZA)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 9:32am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/6 "2017-10-18T09:32:55Z")

</div>

> @chfredrickson said:  
> SNIP

Would this be any different 1080p HEVC/x265 content?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![laurent0035](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@laurent0035](https://forums.plex.tv/u/laurent0035)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/7 "2017-10-27T12:43:02Z")

</div>

Hello,  
Beta 1.19 (7925) say “HEVC Support”, but it is still KO for me.  
My mkv HEVC 4K video are still transcoded by the server (Synology 1.9.4.4325)…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jjross](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jjross/32/5936_2.png) [@jjross](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jjross)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/8 "2017-10-27T22:31:36Z")

</div>

I am seeing the same thing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eric\_Hoffmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90ced4/32.png) [@Eric\_Hoffmann](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Eric_Hoffmann)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/9 "2017-10-28T15:29:07Z")

</div>

It doesn’t work for me neither. Synology NAS server Version 1.9.6.4385. Latest Plex Beta on Apple TV 4K, the movies doesn’t even start to play.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SauRoNZA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@SauRoNZA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SauRoNZA)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/10 "2017-10-28T17:02:36Z")

</div>

Oops, wrong thread.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![whodean](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/whodean/32/437_2.png) [@whodean](https://forums.plex.tv/u/whodean)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/11 "2017-10-29T04:10:16Z")

</div>

I suspect its still only mp4 HEVC that will direct play?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Torsten](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/torsten/32/85308_2.png) [@Torsten](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Torsten)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/12 "2017-10-30T20:39:53Z")

</div>

If only mp4 HEVC files will direct play, shouldn’t mkv HEVC file direct stream? Currently the server transcodes everything.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eric\_Hoffmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90ced4/32.png) [@Eric\_Hoffmann](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Eric_Hoffmann)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/13 "2017-10-30T21:54:59Z")

</div>

I didn’t make the testing using .mp4 using HEVC, but .mkv using HEVC. It should try to transcode knowing it’s HEVC .

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eric\_Hoffmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90ced4/32.png) [@Eric\_Hoffmann](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Eric_Hoffmann)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/14 "2017-11-02T12:32:33Z")

</div>

Update. I use SUBLER to remux MKV files in MP4 files (still using the HEVC codec), and now, the directplay works on plex. I can play an HEVC 4K file on Plex and Apple TV 4K. I tested 2 files so far, and it works very well.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hashiko](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/hashiko/32/86618_2.png) [@hashiko](https://forums.plex.tv/u/hashiko)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/15 "2017-11-02T17:16:25Z")

</div>

I did the exact same test. Took an MKV HEVC 4K and remuxed with Subler only to include the HVEC video and an AC3 Soundtrack. Latest versions of PMS and tvOS on Apple TV 4K, with updated tvOS.xml profile.

For me it plays in 4K but it’s still transcoding to H264. No direct play.

> @Eric_Hoffmann said:  
> Update. I use SUBLER to remux MKV files in MP4 files (still using the HEVC codec), and now, the directplay works on plex. I can play an HEVC 4K file on Plex and Apple TV 4K. I tested 2 files so far, and it works very well.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eric\_Hoffmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90ced4/32.png) [@Eric\_Hoffmann](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Eric_Hoffmann)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/16 "2017-11-02T17:28:02Z")

</div>

Hi Hashiko, did you setup Plex Client on ATV for maximal local streaming quality . If you try to play a 4K video and setup the streaming quality to 1080p max, your PMS will have to transcode to 1080p instead playing in direct play. Also, I tested DTS audio, and seems it works too

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hashiko](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/hashiko/32/86618_2.png) [@hashiko](https://forums.plex.tv/u/hashiko)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/17 "2017-11-02T17:35:10Z")

</div>

Yes in Plex Client settings Home Streaming is set to Maximum. I should note PMS is transcoding to 4K H264, not 1080p. So I see a 4K picture thru the Apple TV but it’s the result of PMS transcoding the file to H264 rather than direct playing the file.  
Additionally, PMS direct plays the same movie without issue to my Bravia 4K TV.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hashiko](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/hashiko/32/86618_2.png) [@hashiko](https://forums.plex.tv/u/hashiko)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/18 "2017-11-09T17:58:29Z")

</div>

Okay… more digging and I think I’ve solved this. Seems that I was streaming HDR content to my Apple TV 4K that was connected to an SDR TV. When streaming SDR 4K HEVC in a .m4v container with subtitles off and a compatible audio stream (ac3/aac), I can direct play. However, doing the same thing with HDR content without having an HDR TV connected, it always transcodes to h264.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hashiko](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/hashiko/32/86618_2.png) [@hashiko](https://forums.plex.tv/u/hashiko)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/19 "2017-11-10T02:11:13Z")

</div>

Spoke too soon. Only one video will direct play even in SDR. What’s truly odd is that every 4k HEVC m4v SDR or HDR direct plays over wifi to my iPhone X. Yet only 1 will direct play to AppleTV.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jcarr84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@jcarr84](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jcarr84)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930/20 "2017-11-11T00:10:06Z")

</div>

Just download Infuse by firecore. Maybe if everyone cancels their plex pass they will get the hint that we want mkv-hevc…

[Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/4k-support-not-working/208930.md?page=2)
