Reading through many of the comments above I believe the problem is being miss-represented.
Disabling transcoding is a work-around for the problem, not the fix. I believe that the actual issue is that there are common file formats still incompatible with direct play.
For myself, this is primarily mkv/4k/x265/HDR. All of which have become standard formats over the last few years. The fact that I can open up one of many video players, point it at the file on a network drive (the same one Plex is accessing), and have it play smoothly means that this is not a device/performance issue, itâs how the file is being handled. If Plex were capable of direct playing this content, there would be no need for a transcoding disable toggle.
Not sure Plex has much control over other company hardware.
Take the Roku. Many of these models are supported but many older ones do not support 4K and such(about 37 models and 9 w/4K support). Plex could outdate the hardware and ask everyone to upgrade to the newest Roku device but that would not be fair, probably (and sortof did happen and we were outraged). The fact that plex plays at all on these older models is absolutely fantastic! Many of these devices would be lost without transcoding.
Heck, not to long ago many new apps refused to install on my android phone cause the phone was so outdated. Very frustrating.
I even have a few x265 HEVC movies that VLC can barely handle(shutters and out-of-sync from time-to-time). Common file formats or not. Whatâs common today may not have been common ten years ago. No level of software can fix the limitations of hardware.
For sure, and thatâs where notices and warnings would make sense. (Eg, Plex has detected that this device may not be capable of direct playing this content, would you like to try encoding?)
The web client would benefit the most from this for sure. Provided the device has hardware decoding capable of playing the content.
How would that help you(the server admin)? I mean this leaves 2 options if you, the admin was to see this.
Select no. File will not play.
Select yes. PMS transcodes and file plays.
And this also leaves other people you share your content with 2 options.
Select no. File will not play.
Select yes. PMS transcodes and file plays.
Unless you want the admin to be able to turn/disable transcoding altogether, which leaves your friends with only one real option.
Select no. File will not play.
Select yes. (admin has disabled transcoding). File will not play.
You will be doing exactly what plex inadvertently did by outdating peoples Roku and other older devices.
Not everyone has a golden collection that plays on all the devices they own. I for one love the transcode feature. I and my family/friends would not be able to watch many movies without it. The feature almost guarantees the file will play seamlessly. To disable it would be an injustice to you(and family/friends).
EDIT: Here is a prime example. My friend would not be able to watch this without transcoding.
So, I can either conform to all my family/friends by converting all my content to the lowest possible quality to meet their hardware requirements or have all my family/friends conform to my standard and have them upgrade all their devices. Until the next time I ask them to upgrade cause their ânew/newestâ device doesnât work anymore.
As of right now, those files are being limited by the server hardware, severely limited.
Transcoding those files to the highest quality would probably require somewhere north of 30k passmark per stream. Even 720 or 1080 versions will max out my L5640. (Possibly due to HDR decoding performance limitations?) Adding a quadro card would remove the CPU requirement but is significantly worse picture for equivalent bandwidth.
The result is that high performance clients that have enough bandwidth (10gb in my case) and full hardware decoding support are limited to 720 or 1080 depending on how much resource Iâm willing to give it. Why would I even use plex at that point?
Even an âOpen in local video playerâ button would suffice. Where it would supply a network file stream that VLC or MPC:HC would open.
I think youâre mis-understanding the request. Iâm not looking for a server side disable transcode button. Iâm looking for another entry in the top of the quality drop-down menu for it. This would be client side, and 100% dependent on the clients ability to playback the raw file at the full bandwidth.
Another potential use for it is x265 low bitrate content. Still not direct play compatible, but the source bandwidth is lower than the highest 720p option. Low enough that even my internet connection could stream it directly in full quality. If iâm forced to encode it (which I currently am), I have to downgrade the video significantly.
Hereâs two perfect files for this situation, 4k, 6mbps, but incompatible with direct play. Iâd have to transcode it down to 720p @ 4mbps to be able to stream it (8mbps is a bit too high).
Perhaps yours, but not the grand scope of this entire thread. So many people want the ability to disable transcoding for many, many reasons.
What I find silly is that some files do get transcoded when they should not. BUT to try and force them to direct play will almost certainly end in failure.
Long time Mezzmo user here- Installed Plex tonight and disabled Mezzmo server because the interface is just neat. Everything I have seen is just slick. After installing, I immediately went to Settings>Transcoder⊠no disable toggle or dropdown to change âautomaticâ to âdonât transcodeâ. System is a (Vorke v1 PC)J3160 Celeron w/ 8GB memory running other services for a smart home, NVR, etc., and does quite well with Mezzmo(transcoding switched to off). When I turned it on⊠that little Celeron gets the crap beat out of it. Transcoding is not going to work on my little 9 watt beast of a server mini computer. But man it can server videos all day if not having to grind on it. Just ranting here with the rest of the people from⊠gees, almost 4 years ago. What a shame. Converting one stream to 1080P, from 1080P, stutters and pauses a few times a minute and sends CPU to ~70%âŠ
The funny part is, beside the Plex team talking bs (first posts in this thread) about streaming and accessing direct files and whatever arguments they might say to justify useless transcoding,
I can prove that IT IS NOT NECESSARY.
take my argument :
My setup (like 99% of ppl) is actually lan server to play my tv shows on my tv.
My tv app does not have any âstick to original qualityâ option (and if it did, i bet it would change nothing)
My Plex server runs on a very old pc not capable of Transcoding.
BUT, i found out that playing the media in chrome, THEN cast it to the tv, disable the transcoding.
and guess what ? it works. So now tell me smart boys.
If my transcoder was needed back when i played the media through the lg-plex-app, why it not needed anymore when i cast it to THE EXACT SAME APP.
But i see, some of you prefer to stick to their opinions, thatâs easier than admitting you donât have the same knowledge as the 300ppl speaking to you on this exact thread, asking for support.
Can anyone stop denying what ppl are asking support for, and actually reply with logic and sense ? thank you.
I not sure thatâs 100% correct. I canât see a computer not capable vs being able to, just not that wellâŠ
But arenât you playing from your computer, then casting it to you tv app? I mean, in essence your TV is just a wireless monitor at that point and your computer is doing all the hard work. Your tv is very limited in what it can do and what it can play. Remember the days where almost every file you downloaded from the internet needed some stupid codec or it wouldnât play. Iâm so glad for VLC because I never wanted to install K-Lite packs and stuffâŠRiddled with virus and trialware/spyware/ransomwareâŠ
Well now youâre just being pedantic. The computer is not capable if it canât do it in real time, i.e. if the movie stops while waiting for it to transcode. Just like a server is capable of 4 simultaneous transcoded streams if it can do them in real time, not just because you allowed it to try.
But arenât you playing from your computer, then casting it to you tv app? I mean, in essence your TV is just a wireless monitor at that point and your computer is doing all the hard work.
Doesnât sound like it. He is talking about casting it to the tv plex app. In that case the browser is just basically a remote for the app, but the difference in the settings sent means the tv app doesnât request a transcode but instead a direct stream. If he meanât casting a tap in chrome as you suggest, it would have to include a tertiary device like a chromecast as the receiver, and since that is not in the post, it seems like a more reasonable assumption that he is casting to the smart tv app.
IMO itâs really annoying plex refuses to just give us the option of turning it off on the server. I too have a server not âcapableâ of real time transcoding and sometimes the stream in the browser will just decide that it doesnât have the bandwith to stream directly and switches to transcoding, at it goes from maybe a 1 second bandwith hicup to completely stalling. All my media are playable by all the devices used, yet this still happens frequently.
Why do you think that is? Iâm gonna quote someone from the top of this thread.
Thatâs an issue. Why do you want to handicap yourself. I mean plex is known/wantâs to be known for being capable of playing all kinds of media. To remove this would hurt plex(and you, and your family/friends). What Iâm trying to say is âfor whatever the reasonâ plex needs to transcode, even if it can direct play.
My example of this is above (this post Disable Plex Transcoder Totally - #270 by NewPlaza)
Believe it or not, my friend watched half of it then and the later half at night. When he picked it up that night, it WAS direct playing. Files that can be direct played any day of the week may still need to transcode due to other issues outside the file format. Can you imagine, half your stuff wonât play. That would be absolutely crazy! Coming home from a hard day at work only to sit in your nice comfy chair/sofa and load plex so you can watch a movie then BAM!! Sorry, you canât watch because it needs to transcode today(Yes, yes. I know. It played fine yesterday⊠But that was when the stars were aligned⊠Today, they or not!!)
What would be the point of plex. I would s**tcan plex if that happened. That be like VLC playing 50% of your movies. The ONLY reason I use VLC is because it supports everything I throw at it. Not that itâs a awesome program or it has a Santa hat in December. Quite frankly, the GUI sucks and the file integration is terrible.
I just donât get why people want to not play their media. I thought that was the reason you got plex
Oh, so he can shut off his computer at that point?
yes, exactly
Why do you think that is?
Because I specifically only use h264 with a profile level I know is supported by all.
Files that can be direct played any day of the week may still need to transcode due to other issues outside the file format.
Iâm assuming you mean outside the video encoding/format. Usually the fileformat is not an issue as plex will seamlessly directstream the video/audio using a supported container, which isnât a problem for even the weakest servers.
Please name some of these magical reasons outside the video encoding that would mean that the video will absolutely have to be transcoded.
Can you imagine, half your stuff wonât play. That would be absolutely crazy! Coming home from a hard day at work only to sit in your nice comfy chair/sofa and load plex so you can watch a movie then BAM!!
Yes that is exactly the issue we are having whenever plex decides to transcode a video that played perfectly fine for the first 10 minutes. Only itâs a lot more frustrating because itâs hard to entirely avoid.
What would be the point of plex. I would s**tcan plex if that happened.
That makes zero sense. No one is asking them to scrap the transcoder entirely, only a setting to turn it off when the server is known not to be capable. You would just, you know, keep it on.
Not have to, but is(or does/did). Case in point my friend(playing the above movie). I cannot give you the specifics on it other to state that the file did transcode the first half and direct played the second half. Same file(I know cause thatâs the only copy of that movie I got). Why it needed to transcode, idk. Maybe I/he was downloading a crap ton of stuff and plex wasnât able to direct play. Or his resolution was set incorrectly the 1st half. I simply do not know. But IF plex decided to transcode then it was because direct play failed in some way.
I ended up disabling transcoding and as I expected. Much of my files donât play.
Well are you surprised? You already stated that you donât concern yourself with the codecs and media type in your library, obviously some are not gonna be supported. The point is that for some of us, weâd rather make sure the format is fitting beforehand and then save money on the server and electricity by not having a high-powered server running 24/7.
Also how? The option to disable isnât there, which is what this is about.
Case in point my friend(playing the above movie). I cannot give you the specifics on it other to state that the file did transcode the first half and direct played the second half.
You are kinda making my point here. That file didnât have to be transcoded but plex decided that something else wasnât optimal and maybe that could be helped by transcoding i.e. the network was a bit slow, and it transcodes to a lower bitrate. Which is fine if the server can handle it, but if it canât, suddenly you go from having to wait maybe 1 min. of buffering to 30-45 minutes of buffering because you have to wait for a server that canât handle it, while the internet connection is just slightly below the required. This is exactly why the option should be available.
The framework is even already in place, as plex can deny transcoding just fine if someone else is using it and the limit is set to 1 concurrent transcode. That option just needs to go to zero. It shouldnât be this hard to implement.
It could of been anything I just chose to copy/paste \Users\NewPlaza\AppData\Local\Temp\Transcode\Sessions like 8 times. Could of done in 4. but what ever. The idea is to exceed about 260 characters.
Thatâs funny you say that. I did read only the folder initially but since I have a custom install path. I guess plex saw this âread onlyâ as an issue and decided to use my system TEMP folder instead. And cause I use Faronics Deep Freeze I did not want to go through the hassle.
