@barney007 said:
I just wish plex could handle 4K like kodi does. I have no problems at all when playing it via kodi from my server.
Again, it’s mostly a question of clients. If you use a PC with PHT/OpenPHT/PMP, or a Nvidia Shield, you’ll have no issues with 4K on Plex, because they have the available codecs to play the files. Roku 4 is also a pretty good client for it. Maybe FireTV 4, not too sure what it supports.
@NedtheNerd said:
PHT may have been discontinued but OpenPHT lives on with major updates and fixes that people have been waiting years for in PHT, still based on Kodi, even more so with the next release having major updates from Isengard and Jarvis.Perhaps Otto now has to ‘toe the party line’.
Not at all.
I’d be happy to hear about and happy to spread the word when OpenPHT has gained 4K support!
@cayars said:
@barney007 what type of file are you playing and on what device (PC?).
What are you comparing it to? If Kodi is on a PC are you comparing this to PMP which also runs on a PC and should have the same codecs available?Carlo
I am using plex and kodi running on my Sony x55809c and if I play the same file on both kodi handles it a lot better.
I have played a hevc codec and it did play direct through plex so I might redo my files in hevc/x265
@NedtheNerd said:
@OttoKerner said:
@barney007 said:
I just wish plex could handle 4K like kodi does. I have no problems at all when playing it via kodi from my server.Kodi brings its own AV engine, whereas most Plex clients use what’s already on their respective system.
The only exception being PHT and PMP.
With PHT being discontinued, this leaves only PMP.
Have you tried PMP with 4K content?PHT may have been discontinued but OpenPHT lives on with major updates and fixes that people have been waiting years for in PHT, still based on Kodi, even more so with the next release having major updates from Isengard and Jarvis.
Perhaps Otto now has to ‘toe the party line’.
Regards
I’d argue that right now OpenPHT plays my 4k content (downscaled to 1080p) better than PMP does.
Here’s something I’m curious about but haven’t seen discussed. If I have 4K HDR content on my Plex server will it transcode to my clients and maintain the HDR information?
Disregard the computational costs, for the sake of argument let’s just assume my server is capable of transcoding 4K HDR Atmos content in faster than real time.
More specifically:
Using any available Plex client will I be able to play that file via the server and keep the 4K and HDR information?
And secondly, could the Plex server transcode the video to 1080p and keep the HDR information?
@berylium said:
Here’s something I’m curious about but haven’t seen discussed. If I have 4K HDR content on my Plex server will it transcode to my clients and maintain the HDR information?Disregard the computational costs, for the sake of argument let’s just assume my server is capable of transcoding 4K HDR Atmos content in faster than real time.
More specifically:
- I have a .MKV file with 4K HEVC encoded video with either HDR10 or Dolby Vision HDR metadata and Dolby Atmos audio.
- I have a Plex server that could theoretically transcode that file in faster than real time.
- I have a Plex client with an HDMI 2.0a port.
- I have a 2016 LG E6 65" OLED TV with support for HDMI 2.0a, 4K, HDR10, and Dolby Vision.
Using any available Plex client will I be able to play that file via the server and keep the 4K and HDR information?
And secondly, could the Plex server transcode the video to 1080p and keep the HDR information?
Good questions and would also like to hear the answer. 
@berylium said:
Here’s something I’m curious about but haven’t seen discussed. If I have 4K HDR content on my Plex server will it transcode to my clients and maintain the HDR information?Disregard the computational costs, for the sake of argument let’s just assume my server is capable of transcoding 4K HDR Atmos content in faster than real time.
More specifically:
- I have a .MKV file with 4K HEVC encoded video with either HDR10 or Dolby Vision HDR metadata and Dolby Atmos audio.
- I have a Plex server that could theoretically transcode that file in faster than real time.
- I have a Plex client with an HDMI 2.0a port.
- I have a 2016 LG E6 65" OLED TV with support for HDMI 2.0a, 4K, HDR10, and Dolby Vision.
Using any available Plex client will I be able to play that file via the server and keep the 4K and HDR information?
And secondly, could the Plex server transcode the video to 1080p and keep the HDR information?
Good question, I don’t know the exact answer. But if your TV supports 4K HDR10, why would you want PMS to transcode it?
If it does get transcoded to 1080p, then it will most likely use H264. Plex isn’t able to transcode 1080p H265. So with H264, I would think you would lose the HDR10 info, since that’s not supported.
Good question, I don’t know the exact answer. But if your TV supports 4K HDR10, why would you want PMS to transcode it?
I run my Plex server from my office for a variety of reasons (rack space for servers, fiber internet connection, etc.). I have Plex clients in both my primary residence and a second home. Not all my TVs support 4K and HDR. But I would rather not store multiple encodings of my media at different resolutions. Further, my internet connection at the second home can be sketchy so sometimes I’ll limit the PMS bandwidth in the Plex clients to a 1080p option. I’d still like to get HDR on the TVs that support it even if 4K streaming is too bandwidth intensive.
If it does get transcoded to 1080p, then it will most likely use H264. Plex isn’t able to transcode 1080p H265. So with H264, I would think you would lose the HDR10 info, since that’s not supported.
This could be the key to my question. If PMS only transcodes to h.264 and h.264 doesn’t allow for the encoding of HDR color space metadata then I can only get HDR video out of my Plex Server in direct stream situations. That is, until the PMS is updated for h.265 (or VP9) transcoding which could be a while given the monstrous CPU requirements.
Here’s an interesting paper titled: Compression of High Dynamic Range Video Using the HEVC and H.264/AVC Standards
It’s a quick read, only a few pages. But as you can tell from the title it implies that h.264 can be used as a delivery method for HDR content. h.264 compares poorly to h.265 in their testing but given the computing requirements of h.265 encoding I wonder if the Plex devs would be open to implementing something like this for h.264 for users with slower servers but internet bandwidth to spare?
(It’s also quite possible that I misunderstood their methodology for encoding HDR in h.264 given their monitor+projector display setup and they aren’t creating a single h.264 encoded video but instead merging two videos encoded with different dynamic ranges. :-?)
So, I might have missed it in this thread, but can Plex direct play HDR10/DolbyVision content currently, assuming I have the player (Vizio P Series/GoogleCast) and the files or does it not know what to do with the meta data?
The start of this thread was less about concern for the PMS and clients to eventually play the content, but more about where the content will come from. If rips are unlikely for UHD BD’s then where does the content come from, “semi” legally?
Therefore, I formally reject the “WTF” i received from this thread . . . LOL (I just noticed it the other day and was like “WTF, a WTF?”
The focus is not on 4k ATM, but I think it should and will be shortly and I am curious what is next for plex.
@hatcher.server said:
The start of this thread was less about concern for the PMS and clients to eventually play the content, but more about where the content will come from. If rips are unlikely for UHD BD’s then where does the content come from, “semi” legally?Therefore, I formally reject the “WTF” i received from this thread . . . LOL (I just noticed it the other day and was like “WTF, a WTF?”
The focus is not on 4k ATM, but I think it should and will be shortly and I am curious what is next for plex.
So 4K media streams as far as I know have been cracked, but 4K blurays have not yet. I wouldn’t be overly concerned as it will eventually be cracked, we all know it will.
@hatcher.server said:
The start of this thread was less about concern for the PMS and clients to eventually play the content, but more about where the content will come from. If rips are unlikely for UHD BD’s then where does the content come from, “semi” legally?Therefore, I formally reject the “WTF” i received from this thread . . . LOL (I just noticed it the other day and was like “WTF, a WTF?”
The focus is not on 4k ATM, but I think it should and will be shortly and I am curious what is next for plex.
Here’s a LOL to counter the WTF (wasn’t me). To be fair, your initial post was quite sparse on details/direction. I assumed it was about playback and not sourcing.
Man… The day I pay more for HD over SD or UHD over anything will… Never… Come…
Game developers don’t charge you more to run your game in 1080p over 480p. All digitally owned media should be dependent on the hardware, not superficial market separation.
Anyone heard of this: https://www.myuv.com/en/us ? (UltraViolet)
