Can’t play hevc any more on iPad

Plex Players Mobile Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.25.8.5663
Player Version#: 8.0

I swear this worked until recently, but now playing hevc content on my kids’ iPad (iOS 15.4, model iPad Air 2) gives an error. I only allow direct play but I’m sure it used to work!

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I’ve seen a load of reports of this with fix ideas; I’ve tried:

  • reinstalling the app
  • check private relay is disabled
  • check that the old player isn’t turned on

I’m at a loss really. Any other clues out there?

2

I believe the issue is the iPad Air 2 has the A8X chip, that has some limitations, HEVC isn’t listed in the tech specs:

https://support.apple.com/kb/sp708

  • Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 4K, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.2 with AAC‑LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG‑4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC‑LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M‑JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

I also found this redmondpie article extract that seems to indicate that this should be working in software (not hardware), so it might be a limitation of Plex?:

HEVC Decode Support

  • 8-bit hardware decode: iOS devices with A9 chip and over | macOS devices with 6th Generation Intel Core and over
  • 10-bit hardware decode: iOS devices with A9 chip and over | macOS devices with 7th Generation Intel Core
  • 8-bit software decode: All iOS devices | All Macs
  • 10-bit software decode: All iOS devices | All Macs

from HEVC And HEIF Device Compatibility In iOS 11, macOS High Sierra | Redmond Pie

3

Thanks, that’s really useful! The other iPad I’m having trouble on is an A8 also. But as the article you linked seems to imply, it can work in software. I wonder, did the Plex apps perhaps do that before, but have somehow lost the capability?

4

Yep that is the question to ask, hoping someone else can help here. I’ve never tried to playback HEVC with A8 hardware, so can’t confirm if I’ve seen it working in the past. It could also be limitations of specific HEVC content (Main 10 for example), so might pay to do some handbrake conversions with different settings to see what works and what doesn’t work.

Regardless, you might consider avoiding H265 for A8 hardware, given the devices will already have weak batteries, doing this decode in CPU even if it works would further impact.

5

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