Server Version#: 1.21.1.3766
Player Version#: 8.11.0.22093 (8e0f54d6) - AndroidTV
If I play a video with an subtitle in ASS format, it forces the video to be transcoded if the client option “Burn subtitles” is set to “Auto”. If I change that setting to “Only image formats” the subtitle is play as Direct Stream instead.
I’m also able to reproduce the problem with the Plex Web Client, but the Plex for Mac-client (which doesn’t have the option to Burn Subtitles) does the right thing and works correctly.