The problem with DTS isn’t server or protocol support, but rather the client support. If the support is added to the device then the profile will be modified to support the playback. This change to the app is something that can happen easily and seamlessly without affecting the users.
As for a timeline, Plex can’t release anything because it is purely a wait for the device to offer DTS support. Something like that also means that if Plex gets notified it is coming, they can’t release anything unless Microsoft does first.
So how is netflix doing it on xbox one x etc? PMS can direct stream to a windows PC. Could the device profile just be changed? Or create a separate profile for xbox one x instead of it using the one for xbox one?
I would think that the XBOX ONE X has more capability than the Xbox one … so having them use the same profile seems like a restrictive and poor design choice.
They are most likely using a custom media player and not the media player framework included in the operating system. But since their app also isn’t open source there isn’t a way to exactly tell what they are doing.
The profile could be changed to allow DTS to direct stream, but since the Xbox One’s (any of them) do not have a DTS decoder as part of the media framework you would simply get no audio. I have directly tested this, and the device will not pass-through undecoded audio, it simply outputs no audio.
This still would not change a single thing. The Media Decision Engine does actually reside in the code for the Plex for Xbox One app and does make decisions based on which version of the Xbox One it is used on. For example the original non-s version of the xbox one cannot direct stream HEVC at all, so on this Xbox One’s HEVC will always transcode where as the S and X versions will attempt to direct stream it.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite work that way. It isn’t a lack of hardware capability as any of the Xbox One’s, original through x, would be perfectly capable of decoding DTS audio, its that the media framework does not include a DTS decoder. This means that when the DTS audio gets sent to the Xbox One it doesn’t know what to do with it.
