Dude thank you!
I could be wrong, but I’m 99% sure that only fixes it for that current stream. So they have to do it every time they watch something, which is annoying. It’s better to tell them how to set it properly from the settings to avoid this.
Found this at some point. It’s not perfect but it’s worth a share:
How can this thread be THIS long with basically everyone saying the same thing, and you still just refuse to change it?
For me, managing a plex server is 60% managing content, and 40% telling my users to STOP TRANSCODING 4k to 720p. Literally one clueless user brings down the entire server for everyone, and it’s such an easy fix that I can’t believe you still refuse to fix it.
yeah it could be. but if you have people (family members) that say 10mbit direct stream looks the same as 480p and you with a lot of effort get them to change the settings so your server is not transcoding for no reason and then this settings are get set back it makes you mad
As a compromise, provide default client control for server admins. We could assign original to whoever we want, for the one user with issues we can assign them 720p if we wanted to. And also designate that this only works with secure server connections, not insecure fallback stuff so plex.tv isnt overloaded.
In the same vein as kill_stream.py or stream_upgrader.sh, I’m pretty sure it would be possible to forcibly play a device-specific “how to reconfigure your device” video.
JBOPS/killstream at master · blacktwin/JBOPS · GitHub
Plex-scripts/stream_upgrader.sh at main · Casvt/Plex-scripts · GitHub
Meanwhile, Plex themes were released! Great use of resources! 
Also got a notification on app.plex.tv that Plex now has 200 Live TV channels available… Filled with junk that no one watches.
Yes it’s been 2 YEARS and this still makes perfect sense. Why is it taking so much time to be implemented or accepted by the Plex team?
Right, exactly!
I really appreciate in principle that Plex staff want to be sensitive to both server operator and end-user/client-device considerations; I just think they’ve missed the mark on what it actually means to follow through on that by overthinking themselves into a corner.
The end-goal that Plex staff have stated in this thread is automatic quality based on bandwidth/device profiling. That’s a graceful convenience feature, but it’s a very involved implementation (so, a long way off) and more importantly it doesn’t actually address the core problem.
Somehow, the notion of prompting users to actively choose a desired default ended up in the blind spot, when it a) is the actual solution to the actual problem (in all senses), and b) will be needed anyway, with or without auto-determination, which itself should be respecting any ceiling caps anyhow.
It really is the actual solution, not wasted development time on an interim/compromise one, and it still remains necessary due diligence with or without auto-determination.
My schematic take is this:
- the server operator should be able to set a suggested default quality
- the end-user should be prompted to select a quality limit, with the server-suggested default being the initial value
- e.g.
Maximum (default)or(suggested),(suggested for/by server) - this choice should be presented as a step in device/app initialisation, same as (hell, probably right after) the end-user selects libraries
- e.g.
So that’s… one new datafield, one server-side drop-down to set it, one clientside drop-down during setup to set the existing Quality setting.
Optionally, the (ceiling) config for playback quality should be a through-relationship between a given client and a given server, which is a bigger ask UI-wise but the necessary level of due diligence for properly supporting multiple-server users.
All in all: this boils down, like many things do, to, “… have you tried just asking them?”.
about to just switch to emby for this
How has this not happened already? What does it matter to plex what I do with my shared library, my content isn’t running off your servers. There’s nothing I can see that’d break for you by doing this. Unbelievable.
Every day I have people hitting me up about being locked out because of transcoding restrictions on 4k and I can’t do a thing about it unless I go to their house to flip a switch. What is the reason that I can’t demand it to play direct/close to direct on default? Why are there plugins to disable streams on users that don’t do these changes, and none that can change it for them?
Relevant…
It had been almost an entire day since somebody posted in this thread, begging you to change this, so I thought I’d chime in.
PLEASE fix this. Your customers are literally begging you, and have been for years.
This is embarrassing.
If there was a viable alternative, I’d switch.
Hopefully JellyFin reaches feature parity in the coming months.
jellyfin is at a standstill for years 
yup we need this default to all users or plex devs could implement a speedtest in background to check plex users internet speed and base their setting to that. or whatever algorithm software plex use on their Plex movie and shows.
It sucks that I got users who are in gigabit internet and are using Nvidia shield but they’re viewing my media in 720ps.
All my content can be direct play. Im not saying my Plex users could not do it manually select the max setting in their own, but some of my users don’t give a sht about quality and are fine with 720p. Only important to them is it works so there’s no problem, but it could be better if the default setting could be set in max. It’s going to be help with Plex owners maximizing their resources. Transcoding reserves for Plex client that really needs it and doing direct play (max setting,) to all Plex client who got gigabit internet and got devices capable direct play.
Time to un-sub from this thread. To f’in annoying seeing these comment updates everyday. We just gotta understand they are never going to fix it, but rather keep claiming “they are working on something big” but will never provide updates about.
this… a quick speedtest to determine what quality that user is capable pulling from their internet connection when they first open the Plex app.
it’s understandable why Plex devs made 720p the default because there are users who got shtty internet.
However, more people have now access to higher Internet speed and internet is getting cheaper. And soon it’s going to be norm that everybody gets high speed internet… the default quality 720p needs to change. And I know and you (Plex) know too that 720p is lowest quality out of HDs videos. Tv right now are in 4K and still go up. Plex don’t need to be stagnant and stick with 720p as default. It has to move forward with maximum quality as default.
