Ladies and gents,
There are quite a lot of info out there but every resource says something slightly different.
I have built little home server out of Dell Wyse Z90D7 (CPU TDP is only 18W so super friendly with electricity bill) which is fairly low spec machine therefore I’d prefer to avoid any transcoding if possible.
Also hence I have a kid one movie can be played up to 2-3x times a day - and do transcoding every time is a bit of resource waste.
So… I’m looking in to converting all my movies etc into DirectPlay friendly content. DirectStream also would be an option but obviously DirectPlay is preferred.
So I’ve found so far that MP4’s with H.264 and AAC audio should be the perfect solution but for some reason when content is played my server still does transcoding…
I have 2x Samsung 1080 smart tv’s, android tablet, ipad and 2x iphones. I’ve tested that movie by playing it directly on each device but if played via plex - transcoding…
Is there a format which fits them all?! Or I’m missing something?!
Nice feature in plex server would be to convert movies for regular playback, or transcode and keep transcoded data for future playbacks or so… Just in case if someone from Plex team reads this… 
Thanks in advance.
Kris
Step One is to find out why it’s transcoding. Possible reasons:
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Local Quality set too low - forces Plex to transcode to fit into the ‘window’ your quality setting is dictating. Possible solution is to always use ‘Original’ quality setting. App Quality settings are made on the Device App Settings, not on the server.
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Image based sub titles will cause a video transcode on many (most) devices. Possible solution is to use UTF-8 (text) based subs. Sidecar SRT files are more likely to Direct Play. Selecting ‘Always Burn…’ will, as you may guess, ‘Always Burn’ (Transcode) subs.
2a) I just finished encoding ‘Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)’ along with all the BluRay extras. ‘Her Own Words’, of course, are Swedish Words and here in West Virginia Swedish is something we don’t speak much. The BluRay contained Forced PGS subs - that will transcode on everything I own so I opted to just Burn the Forced Sub Track right into the Videos with Handbrake negating the need for any subs at all.
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AAC 2.0 is more likely to Direct Play. AAC 5.1 is more likely to Direct Stream. Solution is to create an audio track that Direct Plays on all your devices.
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If you’re using MakeMKV to create 1:1 BluRay rips and you encounter a VC-1 video stream - that will need a full blown transcode on most devices. The only answer to that is a full blown re-code - or optimization (that will take hours/days - depending on your server’s horsepower).
Plex will ‘Optimize’ a version that will Direct Play (or at least it will try). I would try using a ‘Mobile’ profile. That’s what I hear, I can’t go into more detail because I use Handbrake and do my own. I know what I want/need and can’t be bothered with Plex making any wrong decisions. If there are any bad moves to be made I prefer to make those myself. 
My Handbrake Guide (link in my signature) may help if you want to go that route.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/213095317-Creating-Optimized-Versions ← Plex Optimize Feature
Log Files may reveal the reason for a transcode:
Drag Zip File to message window and drop it.
Playing an item, opening Plexweb, going to:
Status, Now Playing, Rolling mouse over preview provided could also reveal a reason for a transcode.
Investigate Media Info - particularly through Mediainfo app - MediaInfo - or by investigating/posting XML Information:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats
I have no idea what an ‘I Thing’ wants, but I’m sure somebody does.
