Auto select 4K, 1080p, etc based on player

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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In a chat I had with a Plex person i was told I didn’t necessarily need to separate my 4K files from everything else. I could just drop them into the same parent folder and Plex would serve up whichever file the client could play. One reason to do this is to fix the double file showing up on the home screen. I currently just have the 4K library set to not show.

Alright… so does this actually work? I don’t want my server needlessly transcoding a 4K file to play on an iOS or Other non-4K device.

If the above does work this way, is there any way to still have a 4K library showing in the menu? My main 4K client is an Apple TV 4K.

Let me know what you think.

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What chat was this? In the form? If so please post a link to where that was posted.

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there was something to that affect in one of server (I think) release notes.

in any case, IMO its still better to keep a separate 4k library, so you can completely prevent any unnecessary transcoding.

edit: plex is supposed to pick the most appropriate (whether it does or not, I think is also dependent on the client, and the phase of the moon, and whether or not you told your mom you loved her today).

as far as if you have a single library with mixed 1080/4k content, there is no separation of 4k from other content, so there is no separate 4k library menu.

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Here’s the support article which states this is supported:

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I feel like a secret agent here. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill ya.

Kidding of course.

I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus here. It wasn’t a public chat, but was credible for sure. It’s obviously been on my mind and was hoping for solid confirmation before I went and moved things around. Sounds like maybe not so much.

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Yeah. That’s my understanding as well. Was just asking if there was a way to do that. Keeping them separate in the menu is preferable I guess.

It just sucks that in order to not have 2 of the same thing showing on the home screen, means that if you stop a movie and want to back to it you have to drill down into the 4K library to find it. If you go to the item on the home screen it’s going to be the 1080p version or what have you since hiding the 4K version is the only way to not have 2 showing.

Maybe the Plex gods can come up with a fix? I’m actually kind of shocked it hasn’t been addressed other than mentioned.

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