Was there a previous version where this worked correctly?
I thought it was generally broken before, and now it’s an improvement - playback is possible with “good” files.
Share a sample or PM a link to the file? Infuse will play most everything; you might have something else going on.
On Apple devices, Plex (only) supports DV P5 via Direct Play to the Apple player.
So MP4 matters because the Apple player supports it.
But this ignores the fact that other players (Infuse, VLC) can play it using the MKV container and that previous versions of Plex server continue to support playing these files.
There’s no way this is a licensing issue. Licenses don’t work that way. You can’t distribute binaries or code without license checks. If it was causing problems with new releases, it would be doing the same for all releases.
And even if it were, do you think Firecore is outdoing Plex? Given their relative sizes, I just can’t believe Firecore has this working and Plex doesn’t. It’s absolutely a priority issue.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/plex
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/firecore
So while I’m posting, I’ll make it further clear for Plex what the issue is. Files like this don’t play at all in 1.26.2.5797:
Additionally, I did experiment with using the MP4 container and it will try to play, but only gets audio correct. The player is just black with a spinning loader.
People are right to be mad because there’s no answer or roadmap to an answer.
Don’t get me wrong, this is my first real issue with Plex, but the responses here leave much to be desired. I don’t need a fixed version at the moment, but I’d like to know when to expect it. The solution for an issue with Plex shouldn’t be to install another player.
Still looking into this and it seems like some files are not remuxing when they should (I had incorrect info before when i said a direct stream won’t work, it should)
This is actually an interesting point. The error says it’s attempting a transcode, but I’ve configured my server to use Direct Play. Switching to the “old” video player on the tvOS app will produce a black screen with a loading wheel as well and the details show it as Direct Play, but it doesn’t work.
I would have no problem if I could Direct Play these files, but not transcode. Transcoding issues are understood on my end.
Do you have any advice to force it to not transcode?
You can disable video transcoding in server settings but if the client specifically request a transcode because it thinks it cannot play otherwise it won’t help.
A remux (direct stream) is a transcode in that the transcoder is what does the remuxing. The info i have is that for the colors to be correct for Apple TV it needs to remux out of an Mkv because it needs to use apples avplayer, instead of mpv which would not get the colors right.
One things I was going to ask if you still have a copy of older server you said works, is to install that and play the file and grab the server and client logs. Then upgrade the server to current where it is not working reproduce and grab those server and client logs.
Hopefully devs will be able to determine what is different. If you need a copy of older server let me know I might be able to get a copy
If you have a copy of the server (the version people claim works) for WD MyCloud PR 4100, I would gladly follow those steps to provide logs.
We know Plex has other agreements with Dolby and incorporates Dolby-provided components.
So it’s possible Plex has agreed to never do anything “unauthorized” related to Dolby tech. I dunno! I’m not trying to argue about how things “should” be.
Edit: Just a note that I don’t have any conspiracy theory. Licensing agreements are complicated.
If they’re MP4, dvh1 HEVC DV P5 does for me.
Can you share your commands and the output?
Partly because I’d like to help you; partly because I’d like to further validate the technique I’m using.
Just tested using the version provided. I would be happy to provide logs, but the results aren’t ideal.
That said, the error is absolutely different. And this may be unique to the fact that I use a NAS device for Plex.
Could not transcode because: Not enough CPU for conversion of this item.
So for those people with enough CPU power, the remux may successfully run as they have reported.
You also say that
A remux (direct stream) is a transcode
but as I’m familiar with the term, this isn’t the case and even your documentation says so.
So is there possibly a mistake in this error as well? If it’s just a remux, then the video codec and audio codec aren’t being modified and the NAS device could probably handle it. I’ve used ffmpeg and mkvmerge before to re-containerize media and it’s always very low resource.
Let me know if you’d still like the logs.
I’d love a sample file that last worked in 1.25.4.5487. If somebody gets those logs for @BigWheel please share a sample file too!
Because … I can’t find anything that worked in 1.25.4.5487 but doesn’t work in 1.26.2.5797.
Using Chrome to access Plex Web on PMS 1.25.4.5487, HEVC DV P5 videos are transcoded but not tone-mapped. Plex isn’t aware of the colorspace and the colors are very wrong.
Using Chrome to access Plex Web on PMS 1.26.2.5797, HEVC DV P5 videos don’t play, and get the expected message: Playback Error: File is unplayable. Color space is not supported.
Both PMS versions behave similarly from an Apple TV 4K or a Roku TV. Neither works with MKV. The Roku works with TS. The Roku is more tolerant of MP4 flavors. The Apple TV works with MP4 dvh1.
I skipped the mp4dovi step because I wasn’t using the fork you were using and it produced a weird result. After using the fork from here,
I was able to get Direct Play of these files working with the correct colors.
I guess this is an acceptable workaround. But I don’t understand why all of these steps need to be taken for Direct Play to run properly.
Thanks for being persistent in helping.
Excellent!
Did I link to the wrong fork of mp4dovi anywhere? I considered forking it myself, so I was happy to find the configurable version.
The steps have to be taken for Direct Play because that’s what Apple supports, and Plex is currently forcing Direct Play for these. 
I’m hoping @BigWheel can tell us that Direct Stream will be possible. 
You didn’t link the wrong one. I just skipped that you linked it and went off searching for it on my own. That’s my mistake.
I’m now running these steps for all my DV files and I’ll keep an eye out here. If there’s any additional help I can provide on the files that weren’t working, let me know.
Sorry for confusion. I only meant the transcoder does the remuxing which would show as a direct stream. It is failing at that for some reason and giving the error that the reason is the colorspace is not supported.
I think this is the real answer. There was some deal made to stop DV content. Hence the lack of updates and “Licensing” reason given earlier .
This seems like a slippery slope of a concession.
Will newer versions of Plex be updated with a fix? Or do we need to use this older version indefinitely to maintain functionality?
I can’t say when they will figure out a fix. The devs are investigating and as I get info i will let you know. I apologize for having incorrect info previously
@doylema (or others) I’m still confused personally!
What worked before?
1.25.4.5487 sometimes rendered DV P5 media incorrectly. Later versions give an error instead of being wrong.
Are there files or situations that used to work, but now don’t?
Still there…wth? Really they release new version with the same issues. Fix this.
I ended up throwing this together today because it worked well for me. It’s just a script that should make conversion of files easier those who wish to try this method in the future.
Still feels like a bit of a workaround, but the reason for the issue does make sense to me now.
