It’s clear to anyone watching that Plex is revamping its clients and with that either the desktop app will see similar or cease entirely. The above mentions there are plans hinting at the former but fails to expound on whether those plans include what users would expect from the Desktop apps:
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Audio passthrough
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Multi-channel audio
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Refresh rate matching
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High quality scaling (jinc-based scalers and FSRCNNs)
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Debanding
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Anti-ringing
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HDR metadata passthrough
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Downloads (not present in Plex HTPC)
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Wide Codec Support (beyond H.263/4/5, AV1, MP3, AAC, AC3, EAC3)
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and more
Accomplishing the above requires some significant outlay of work. In light of the last 3 rounds of layoffs, this seems less likely. Combined with the fact that the desktop apps are very heavily skewed toward personal media, the likelihood drops even further.
Without the above, the spirit of the desktop apps is dead. What would be their point over simply using a browser on a set-top box instead?
So, the real question is: will this future app have a good playback engine that supports the above or will it be what one finds in a web browser?
Edit: Added wide codec support entry
