Hi all
I’ve been using Plex for years and years now, across many devices, but recently it seems as if the software has been going backwards and things that used to work no longer do. I’ve been doing a lot of research recently, and I’ve seen a lot of similar posts, but nothing that definitively answers my question, or asks the exact same one.
I run Plex on a HP Gen 8 Microserver, running Windows 10. It’s a low powered machine, but that’s perfect as it’s essentially just a file server. It’s just holding the files, I don’t want it to do any transcoding. For this posts, I’m referring to when I play files on my Samsung Q8 TV, which is Tizen based… Both TV and Server are up to date.
I can direct play all my files perfectly, all audio and video tracks for files I have are compatible, including newer DTS X or Dolby Atmos, and also 2160p or HDR files. They all direct play and I can change through audio tracks if I desire. However, recently (probably for the last few months at least actually) as soon as I add external subtitles, the audio track transcodes. The video direct streams, but Plex decides the audio track needs to transcode. The audio track is compatible and known working as I can direct play it without external subs, so why does it transcode when I select the subtitle track? The external subs are in .srt format and I’m using external subs embedded subtitles force transcoding anyway as far as I’m aware.
Like I said, this issue has only arisen “recently” and previously I used to watch all my films in this way on my older Samsung JS8500 TV, which didn’t run the Tizen OS.
Does anyone have any idea why this function is no longer working? It was one of the better features and now I’m loosing faith with Plex and looking at alternatives like Emby.
Any feedback or advice would be great.
Thanks
If this tv is using Orca’s SmartHub Plex app, you better ask in here:
https://forums.plex.tv/categories/samsung-smart-hub
If you are just using the default DLNA player that comes with the tv, you probably have to modify the approriate hardware profile.
I assume the TV is not running Android, right?
Could you provide a little screenshot of the main page of the app?
That way it is easier to tell what type of app you are using.
This TV doesn’t run the Orca version of the app. That was for older, non tizen based OS TVs. The app is the official Plex app for Tizen based Samsung, so no it’s neither android nor the build in DLNA app.
OK, then the appropriate forum is here:
https://forums.plex.tv/categories/smart-tvs
I have same problem… in some thread someone wrote what is the problem… plex doesn’t support subtitles in direct play mode, only in direct stream mode… and dts audio can’t be sent to tv in direct stream only in direct play mode… so when subtitles is enabled, stream go from direct play to direct stream and dts audio must be transcoded…but again this is plex issue… xplay, emby, and dlna can play subtitles in direct play, and plex official can’t…
Thanks for the answer, tbh I’ve given up with Plex and moved my premium subscription to other software. Every update seems to make it more unreliable. It’s also very cumbersome and the UI is terrible these days.
I have same issue and doing lot of research like you.
Could you advise some software to move on?
