Set up a completely new account, reset the app, share your library with it, then see if the quality is maximum by default.
My safari just reset itself to 720p default and convert automatically still transcodes.
Nothing has changed.
Same, for some reason my chrome reset, and it is back to 720p as well.
Max is not the default for browsers yet it seems. dont have a way to check but it seems like only android tv and rokus are now on max. had two users who always transcode direct stream last night.
The defaults have not changed for any platform at this time.
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Why not?
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Here we are 4 months after my last comment, Default All Clients to Max Internet Streaming - #1066 by derekakelly It really is disheartening that this has gone on for so long.
My best guess is they’re trying to make the automatically adjust video quality feature jump between a transcode and direct play, but are having trouble. This truly would be the ideal solution in my opinion. But for now, an update to the defaults would go a long way with everyone here.
This thread was started 4 years ago. We are some of Plex’s most loyal system admins. Why can’t we get away from 720p? Can we get something, even if it’s just 1080p?
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Can you change them, please?
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There was one before this as well, so it’s around 6-7 years if not longer I think.
Even a half-assed update would go a long way in this thread… I’d be shocked if there was another thread in here with more activity. Votes, I’m not sure. But it gets daily attention from us at least… My opinion, it’s the only thing holding Plex back right now.
Multiple Versions would actually function properly and as intended if quality was set to original by default.
My 4K movies 1080p movies are merged, rather than having to click play version, 100% of people could easily just hit play and if they’re TV is 4K, 4K will play. As it stands right now I need to use Tautulli to kill off 4K transcodes because users aren’t techy enough to figure out how to change their quality, and for some reason “Play Version” is hidden under the “More” button… Until the default quality gets a bump up, it should be clear as day beside the normal play button, or have the play button with a drop down to play version. Just not in the more section.
Yes I could split my 4K into another library again… but I shouldn’t have to.
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That is the reason I have separate libraries, and I hate it.
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Love that this is the only thing we get any feedback on.
On a related note I went traveling recently, you know what I did before streaming non-stop? Checked my quality settings.
2 Mbps was probably a decent, albeit low, default in 2007.
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Like their SQL database page_size settings, it’s just one more vastly outdated component of Plex…
(increasing the page size allows clients to load and operate much faster)
I think this guy nailed it on the head…
And we are still transcoding to h264… even native HEVC files get transcoded back to h264 unless they are Direct Play / Direct Stream. We could be saving 2x bandwidth or pushing 2x higher quality at the same bandwidth… but we are using a codec from 2004.
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Good to see plex (employees at least) do actually see and read this, it gives me a slither of hope.
Too bad it was only to kill some excitement and not bring us anything to soften the pain 
Nowadays I warm my living room with my PC so I don’t really mind transcodes that much… Just my CPU can’t handle it and neither can my Quaddro K620 (old af), so we’re just generating a bunch of heat and then get complaining “that plex of yours runs like complete ■■■■” which usually ends by “But at least netflix works fine so I’ll use that instead”
And it does. Thanks Plex! Out of my monthly payment to you I get ■■■■ to eat!
and arcade games!
I do appreciate DaveBinM clearing it up though.
I could have sworn I set up a fresh Android TV box for myself the other day, and it was already set to max.
And in the Downloads app settings, the first two parameters are set to Original (this is good), but the third one is set to “Maximize Compatibility”, this triggers totally unnecessarily transcodes in iOS/iPadOS, so I have to tell all my clients to set that one to “Original” as well. It is like Plex developers never use the software they write.
It should be noted that any cheaper clients that aren’t 4k will not have the ability to play HEVC and will force a transcode to h264.
I don’t know about you guys, but probably half my users have these type of devices.
Thus changing the default to max ends up using just as much resources. We need to make sure the solution is smarter.
I don’t have any clients which can’t support HEVC. Any device manufactured in the last half decade will do so. Phones, game consoles, computers, streaming sticks, televisions…. They all support it unless it’s pushing ten years old. That doesn’t change that if the logic exists to detect capability based on client type (which Plex already has) it isn’t that much tooling to add HEVC transcoding for supported devices with AVC fallback.
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That is not true at all.
I know as of last year Roku and Amazon were selling streaming sticks that did not support HEVC.
And these devices will probably still be used a decade from now for much of my family using this service.
So yes, they need to be careful about making a blanket change across the board.
Please provide a link to the specs for an Amazon or Roku product without HEVC support from the last 24 months.
Edit: Don’t conflate 4K support with HEVC. A device will definitely support HEVC if it supports 4K, but a lack of 4K support does not mean a lack of HEVC decoding. It simply may be at a lower level, such as 4.0 vs 5.1.
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