More server-side controls are desperately needed. I realize that ‘auto-adjust quality’ feature might solve this issue for many. But the way it should work in theory is that each Plex client/app should have global settings; but whenever it connects to a particular server, it should pull a settings profile from the particular server they are connected to, which is used as the default settings for all content streamed from said server and only said server. This is only overridden if a user manually adjusts the global and/or said server settings themselves. With the exception of the current server-side restrictions in place.
And before anyone tries to argue this is too complicated…the way it is now is 1,000,000x worse. With having to nag/walkthrough every user to change their settings on every device they use, god forbid the settings get reset which happens in browsers all the time, or they sign in on a new device months/years later etc. I as a server owner, I know what my hardware and internet connection can handle better than my users. Hell I have a better understanding of my own users hardware and networks than most of them do. And this is the case for 99% of people who run plex servers. Anyone experiencing problems with my server-side defaults will be the exception to the rule and I will gladly deal with that because the way it is now, I not only have do this with every user on my server, but with every device they have. It’s madness.
And I’m not even arguing for more granular control like other are, where they not only want what I mentioned above but want to it be applied on a user by user or a device by device basis (the latter some already do with having to clumsily edit quality profiles in the text files of the plex install). Let’s just start with the basics here. But if the Plex server/client ecosystem was set up as I mentioned above from from a tech side, it would build the foundation to allow for that type of control in the future, or even something more elegant like different server-side quality settings device ‘types’ like mobile devices, Smart TVs etc. I’m not a developer but I am a network/server professional, not just a hobbyist. So I know this type of server/client control is possible and the potential it has for Plex.
Some unnamed competitors already have these features and once they reach a level of polish that Plex has, it’s going to be a tough sell for me to stay on the platform. Especially combined with the Plex Movies, Tidal and News bloat that I won’t elaborate on here. Please, Plex team. You guys have created an incredibly capable product considering what it does and how it all works. You already addressed part of this issue when you added server-side settings to limit max # of transcodes, upload speed, and bitrate/quality. Just take it a step further!
