Even if this existed as a feature, not sure I would enable it.
If the intended outcome is for a Plex Media Server to stop transcoding video, well you can do that already.
Settings \ Transcoder (Show Advanced) \ Disable video stream transcoding
This assumes that the content video codec and the supported video codecs on client applications are with a codec support matrix, I often this is not the case in my experience.
Rather, I take the approach of defining the number of supported transcodes on my server.
Settings \ Transcoder (Show Advanced) \ Maximum simultaneous video transcode
Then if a user complains that a transcode slot is not available I recommend
+1, Server admins should be able to set this up as a configurable option. Those who wish to transcode can then do so, those who do not want to Transcode can select Original.
I recently found this thread. When seeing it was over 2 years old and had so much attention I figured by the time I reached the end there would be a solution. It’s sad at this point there isn’t even a transparent plan in place.
Is there even a plan at all at this point? It’s been silence for a while now.
It’s ridiculous when investigating why my processor is under so much load only to find it’s transcoding 14 similtanious streams. 90% of them could direct play if they weren’t defaulted to 720p.
Why is the default not set to Direct Play?! It makes no sense.
There is no excuse, even for clients with bad internet.
What happens when a client currently when they can’t play at 720p 4mbps? It figures it out and
plays lower quality…
So why can’t it do this with Direct Play as the default?
Plex wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for server admins.
I’ve personally brought over 60 people to Plex. And news flash, they’re not there for the
Plex-provided content.
If they can’t fix such a simple thing, maybe it’s time to take the business elsewhere.
Does anyone have experience with Emby or Jellyfin?
How do they handle default playback?
While this is some good information that some people may not be aware of, what you’re describing is more of a workaround than an actual solution to what many people want. The intended outcome is to not transcode when it isn’t necessary. Not necessarily to not transcode at all ever. Some content may need to be transcoded as it’s not directly supported by the client. For me, this is old DivX or XviD encoded files. I don’t really care if those transcode or not. The CPU usage to do that is relatively minimal. However, CPU transcoding HEVC/x265/HDR content with tone mapping, especially 4K content, is a bit demanding and un-necessary.
Some people may not care about the hardware demands but want a more consistent experience with playback for themselves and users. It does not make sense to by default, force transcoding when the host and client can sufficiently deliver and play the source file without issue.
To make matters worse, I find that client updates often wipe out settings and reset it to the default 720p. It would be nice if a user’s settings migrated or synced back over. Better yet, it would be nice if Plex would be more vocal as to what their intent is to fix this, if there really is one. This thread is 29 months old with 800+ responses. I think it’s past time to actually address the issue and disclose if it’s going to be worked on.
Would be really nice to have this. Is there a reason that the various plex apps can’t determine automatically whether they have the available bandwidth for original quality when playing a file?
I’d be fine if it was an automatic process and occasionally transcoding was required, but defaulting it to require transcoding just causes headaches for every server operator that exists.
Please add this feature I’m tired of explaining to users how to do this. Setting Quality settings is not something basic users wouldn’t do themselves or even have an understanding of. Most shared users are using plex from a home device be it a computer, set-top box, or PC, and the internet these days even most basic plans are more than enough to stream content natively without bogging down severs with useless transcodes. Please eliminate this pain point from a usability perspective
I have to keep constantly reminding my friends to change their quality settings. Soon I’m going to start killing transcodes and they’ll probably think Plex is just “bad” because it crashes and go back to using Netflix.
As a band aid to at least help us out, how about at least letting Admins post a “message of the day” that user see when they log in. We could at least put instructions to change their streaming quality there, or to contact us if they can’t figure it out.
