Where is it located then ?
Because in my directory “C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server” are all binary files (a.k.a not source code)
“%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins”
Most of everything goes on there. BACKUP before modifying!!
There you will find most of the source to do just about anything you want.
I’ve played around with the code here and there, never saving… Mostly f*ing around and doing stupid stuff, changing default posters, posters sizes, wording on PlexWeb, disabling/enabling features, etc.
The only thing I did end up saving was a fix to the dumb DC Comic/Director’s Cut bug.
I figure if Plex won’t, I will.
Be warned & best of luck!
Not sure what you are trying to say here, but we have a team that still manages the transcode engine used by Plex.
Some could make the same argument concerning iTunes’s music management software. Aesthetically speaking, it may look old, but functionality wise, it is up-to-date.
This thread has compelled me to interject some understanding. please don’t be offended if I’m repeating something that’s already been mentioned in this thread.
Firstly I would like to say that option to be able to turn off the transcoder may not be an issue if you truly understand what the alternatives are.
I will try to explain it as best I can
The audio and video media files usually compressed. Algorithmically compressed to be later decompressed. There are many different methods to do this and we refer to them as codecs (COmpression / DECompression)
The problem in the early days (1999ish) whatever media you wanted to play you had to have the correct CODEC installed on your player.
So now you wish to turn off transcoding and send your file over to your player. if saif player cannot play that media it will just tell you it can’t play.
So the next step you take is to insure that all your media is encoded with a CODEC that will be suitable for your players…
And this will guarantee you can get direct play from Plex.
So I’m sure this has been mentioned in this thread why don’t you just do that?! Turning off the transcoder does nothing more than give you a nice notice that says “this content will not play because there is no available / compatible decompression method”
Also I must add this means that you are truly tailoring your media to your player. I use Apple TV4’s and I get direct play on nearly everything I’m play in house.(random media sources) That’s because this player has a formidable capability stack. Also, behind the scenes some of this compatibility is due to the codec licensing on the player itself.
So to recap on a long story…
Turn off the transcoder normalize all of your media to certain codec to get direct play get the added benefit of getting a cannot play message
Don’t turn off the transcoder and you still normalize all of your media to certain codec to get direct play.
So in this recap any sensible person can understand that Plex is leaning towards being able to play instead of telling someone they cannot play it’s that simple.
In addition to that if you put a turn-off transcoder switch in Plex, this one thread will become about 15 different threads about “can’t play media”
“When do I need to turn off the transcoder”
“What does the transcoder do and do I need it”
“My transcoder is not gender-specific”
it’s going to be like let’s go back to 1999 again
my recommendation for normalizing to a certain codec to obtain direct play on all your media is to set up handbrake with a watch folder… and allow content to drop into your libraries ready to go.
Or maybe even use the built-in optimized versions feature and Plex.
Or maybe even lobby for a feature request to automatically create optimized versions.
And by the way thank you Plex for a very competitive product.
back in 1998 I was looking for something to enjoy my entertainment on I set my ambitions high all I could find was a product called Kaleidoscope that cost nearly $20,000… when I first heard about transcoding to a player in 2000ish I really thought it was disgusting… I wanted to play my content raw as best quality as I received it… but I soon realized the convenience of not having to chase down codec I quickly changed my mind.
Also I’m just going to say like this… so many people are using underpowered hardware expecting it to transcode. It’s not all about quality… but rather the capability to decode the media. I say this because people are here saying I should have the ability to “restrict quality” I remember the day when playing/ decompressing 1 MP3 would cause a CPU to hit 80%…
When you play a movie on a raspberry pi nearly any slightly compressed movie will cause the CPU to peg. Hence it’s nice to put a Plex server on a raspberry pi but seriously… you can’t be serious.
I can say for the longest time I wish Plex would implement a 'fake it until you make it buffer when playing" and maybe even throttle transcoding to comfortably perform on even the weakest systems. But I think that time has passed I see now the mobile app has the ability to adjust quality on the fly but the infamous YouTube buffering bar still non-existent… what that bar did was it actually set expectations.
But you should never expect to transcode on a weak CPU and if you turn off the transcoding but then Plex isn’t for you… just burn DVDs and mail them to friends and family.
Not possible. Well, it is… but defeats the point completely because optimizing transcodes the file. Something the people don’t want.
Not on this thread their not. They don’t care if the hardware can/can’t. They just want a setting to turn it OFF.
Kudos to the people that refine their collections to a very specific format/quality/codec/container/etc… That takes some time to do.
I’m not going get into the yes/no/why/because discussion again.
I’ve gave my 2cents awhile back. And quite frankly, I don’t care if there is a setting to toggle transcoding ON/OFF. I won’t be mad if I see the option one day. I will never use said option(assuming default state is ON).
But people still seem to want it and we got no information from the PlexTeam on a toggle setting feature… So, with that said, what are people gonna do?
I say if you still desperately want/need it then do what @anon18523487 or myself stated as alternates to achieving your goal of not transcoding. It’s not official but it ain’t gonna void your warranty, lol.
Best of luck.
How is defaulting to 2Mbps the same as defaulting to direct play or direct stream? At this point I am not sure if Plex doesn’t understand the issue, or just doesn’t care…
I raised the exact same issue a few months ago, see: my post from 01/31/2019 , and I was met with a “What you could do that? But that doesn’t matter, you’re offtopic.” by MovieFanPlex (paraphrasing, of course 
)
So yeah, they 100% just don’t care. So sure that’d I’d even put $1k on it. Mainly since you used to have more server-sided control over quality than you do now. Even if it was a mysterious black magic trick that even plex Team Members were unaware of.
. Also, does any other media streaming service in existence follow this method? Honestly I’d be interested in an example of one or two that handle quality settings the same way Plex does, not dynamically but sets the default playback quality to 480p. Thats right, 2mbps is .5 mbps higher than the average 480p, but still 480p. This is 2019 right?
TL;DR: So… about that "auto quality" “feature” which detects a user’s bandwidth and has been in "beta" for 2-3 years…Sup?
Streaming services are not the same. They have a set file with a predetermined bitrate so they don’t need to worry the same. Netflix’s basic plan only streams in SD at about 1-2 Mbps. You need their higher plans to get HD, which bumps it up to 2-4 Mbps. In this case, the user knows exactly what they are getting since they signed up for a specific plan.
Plex users don’t have plans. They stream from a server and it just plays. Without a sensible default they could end up playing a 40 Mbps file and not even know it. Even you as the admin may not know what the specific bitrate for a file is without looking it up. You could easily blow past a mobile data plan with 1 movie.
Again, this is just the default when you install the client for the first time. You can change this default at any time.
Not sure what you are asking, but this feature is working and just needs to be enabled in the clients.
Again, defaults are fine (though I’d argue 2 Mbps is too low and it should be either 3 or 4 Mbps, though my point would almost make that moot) but as most users probably don’t go in and look for/change the quality setting, put a first time wizard explaining that so people are aware. Yes, I can tell them as the server admin, but usually when I end up talking to someone and decide to share my server with them, it’s at a point where if I give them that information they’ll most likely forget about it by the time they set it up.
-Shark2k
Workaround to stop transcoding for 4K content (it can be used to stop transcoding for specific user too)
https://dailysysadmin.com/KB/Article/2894/stop-or-disable-plex-from-transcoding-4k-content-using-tautulli-scripts/
Looks interesting. Have you used it yet? How well does it work?
Yes. I’ve tried it with changing the 4K condition to Username condition. The transcoding starts but after 2-3 seconds the playback stops with the text you define. (e.g. “Transcoding is not allowed.” )
proper client defaults of ‘auto adjust quality’ would go a long way to fixing the issues, where auto adjust quality = try to direct play, unless bw/buffering problem, and only then reduce quality/transcode.
a default of letting the server control the client quality/bitrate would be even better
With the exception of user limits(though shares, managed users, content ratings exists for a reason) I say the 2 other ways to disable are better because they never start the transcode to begin with and require no 3rd party program.
But nevertheless, very cool.
What other 2 ways? Is it on the server side?
Yes.
Ok. These solutions are no good for me. I want to disable just for specific users.
The Tautulli solution is good for that.
