Anyone made a guide to insure Direct Play?

General Discussions
1

So there is this https://support.plex.tv/articles/203824396-what-media-formats-are-supported/ That talks some about it.

But I am looking more for best practices to insure Direct Play in general. Such as “don’t use subtitles” or maybe burn them in?

Like best general file type for all clients mp4? Mkv? Mpeg? : for 4k? Same for 1080?

Basically a beginners guide to answer “why is it buffering” (especially on my wired home network).

Please comment with more advice I will try to up date this.

What I have learned so far is:
Do:

-Set direct play on client.
-Force direct play (only have seen this option on roku).

Don’t :

-Use subtitle (or srt if you do)
-Use Ac3 audio
-Use (or Avoid using) mkv

2

I suppose you won’t find a general description that fits all. What you’re looking for highly depends on your particular client and its capabilities (or how it let’s Plex know of its capabilities).

drivers usually are the combination of:

  • container format (mkv, mp4…)
  • video codec and average/max bitrate
  • audio codec, number of channels and average/max bitrate
  • subtitle codecs

(and of course network bandwidth; to some degree)

For the majority of clients you should be good with mp4 containers and h.264 encoded videos, AC3 audio – bitrates already get tricky. As you already pointed out… subtitles tend to make things more tricky – general rule of thumb: SRT subtitles (text) should be more widely supported than VOBSUB/PGS subtitles (images).
However… what works brilliant for one client might not work at all with another client…

3

I was afraid someone would say that. Okay well I guess then make a negative list. When ever possible…

Do:

  • Use mp4 (when you can)
    -Set direct play on client.
    -Force direct play (only have seen this option on roku).

Don’t :

-Use subtitle (or srt if you do)
-Use Ac3 audio
-Use (or Avoid using) mkv

4

don’t… at least not as a general rule.
check what works for your client.

giving you some context:
I keep my blu-ray content in MKV with the original codecs and full bitrate. My main client is my tv and it can deal with that quality – so why compromise.
If you’re keen on having your content also available on-the-go… look into optimized versions instead.

5

Well I just tried on 2 clients (Xbox 1S) and a fire TV (not the stick the TV) both hard wired and set to direct play… To run a 4k mkv no subtitles with the lowest sound (5.1 I think). And it was a buffer fest/unwatchable. I am going to go try on the roku right now.

Okay can play on roku (the new fancy hard wired one), but only because it has an option to “force direct play”.

6

4K is even trickier :wink:

check out this support article on 4K on Roku:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/214577427-is-4k-content-supported-on-the-roku/

The link you had found before details what formats should work for the Xbox One (4K only on Xbox One-S or One-X):

  • Content being Direct Played or Direct Streamed *
  • Resolution: 4096×2160 or smaller
  • No subtitles are enabled
  • MP4 container
    • Video Encoding: hevc (H.265), mpeg4
  • MKV container
    • Video Encoding: hevc (H.265), mpeg4 , vp9
7

Yes that is kinda my point.

I want a consolidated one for all /most general clients

8

I have found that with a TV client like LG mkv files are king, 98% of my library. Audio can be the issue, if not configuring your app/player in settings to the devices capability. So my conclusion is similar to Tom’s with some regret to 4K files, It’s best to be in a mpg container for 4k titles.

1 Like
9

So in general mpg4.?

And I don’t understand what you mean with the audio bit. Could you clear that up?

10

Many TVs don’t have support for DTS audio (at least not for apps). Even with AC3 there can be restrictions to certain versions (e.g. no Dolby Atmos).

11

Audio seems to be AAC or AC3 generally but then it doesn’t matter much if your using a ARC connection from TV to a recent AV Receiver for your Audio.

12

So to insure best way to get direct play on most devices you think someone should use… What type?

13

You can’t really blanket all devices equal but after saying that mp4 with AAC or AC3. Forget 4k for now, that is what i would do if your sharing your library with a varied device group. Then again you could if prepared to do a multi Library of different formats. Example: mkv with ac3 and mp4 with AAC audio. But if you entertain 4K stay with Mp4 containers in a separate Library. This way a friend can select a option that does not buffer

14

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