I’m running Server on Mac (Version 1.18.5.2309) I noticed that on two clients: web (4.22.1) and Android TV (7.27.1.15203(5c57babb) ) neither will down-sample videos when connection is slow.
I’m watching a video. I have quality set to “convert automatically”. Every 5-10 seconds the video stops (presumably while more is transcoded + downloaded). However the quality never goes down to a lower bitrate. I can confirm
There are lower bitrates to choose from. I.e. I’m not already at the lowest bitrate
same behavior on Android TV and web clients
if I manually reduce quality the video plays fine w/out pausing
It’s not limited to a single video file. I’ve tried multiple files, each with different original bitrate / encoding.
Yep I have both of those checkboxes enabled. I am talking about the “convert automatically” setting when playing a video. I think even w/out those checkboxes I can still manually select this when playing a video:
Those settings are the same. Keep in mind that the bitrate only goes down if it is a transfer issue. If your server is not powerful enough to perform the conversion, it will not lower the bitrate. I see you have a Plex Pass, so check the dashboard when you are playing. See if the CPU load is maxed out.
I no longer have a Plex Pass. If I’m able to manually reduce bitrate and the video still plays (in fact plays faster), doesn’t that mean that my computer has the processing power to down-transcode the file?
No. Transcoding to a lower bitrate requires less cpu power. Manually lowering it means that at the setting you choose, there is enough power, at that bitrate.
The automatic adjustment starts at the quality set by the user. If they set it higher than what your cpu can handle, it will not automatic lower and requires a manual change.
