Success! The limiting factor was the Remote Access setting Limit Remote Stream Bitrate on PMS, which I had thought only applied to genuine remote access from outside my network, but does apparently apply to streaming from my PC to the Chromecast over wifi. I only have DSL so my remote upstream rate to the internet is 0.895 Mbps at best. That was preventing me from specifying more than 3.0 Bps on the Plex Android app.
I changed the Remote Stream Bitrate to Original and left the Internet Upload Speed at 0.8 and then initiated playback of my test video as analyzed above at Original bitrate on the Plex android app and itâs playing without transcoding now. And it passes the eyeball test quite nicely. I think the previous stuttering issues were likely due to transcoding limitations more than wifi bandwidth.
Iâve got a much better grasp on the whole concept now. Thank You very much!
And not only that but I started playing the unconverted second episode at Original and itâs playing with only the audio being transcoded since itâs DTS. It is stuttering a little so Iâve exceeded the max my wifi can handle by a some amount. Specs follow:
Media
Video Resolution 1080p
Duration 21:09
Bitrate 20088 kbps
Width 1920
Height 1080
Aspect Ratio 1.78
Container MKV
Video Frame Rate 24p
Audio Profile ma
Video Profile high
Part
Duration 21:09
File The Big Bang Theory - S01E02 - The Big Bran Hypothesis Bluray-1080p.mkv
Size 2.97 GB
Audio Profile ma
Container MKV
Video Profile high
Codec H264
Bitrate 18552 kbps
Language English
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Frame Rate 23.976 fps
Height 1080
Level 4.0
Profile high
Ref Frames 2
Scan Type progressive
Width 1920
Well thatâs a real knee-slapper - although I am in the dark about that whole WiFi and Remote thing. I really donât think thatâs the way itâs supposed to work. Local is local - Remote is outside the house.
Youâre on your way then. Now you can do some more tests and find out more stuff you didnât know.
Hey⊠we learn by doing - unless it involves nitro-glycerin itâs pretty safe to experiment.
Another experiment. I asked Plex to Optimize the same original video for Custom TV at 1080p 8Mbps, which is the lowest bitrate that Plex accepts for a 1080p optimization. Then I played it at Original but the interesting thing about this one is that Plex says that itâs Direct Stream, not Direct Play yet the container is mp4?? Maybe the Web Optimized flag? The file size is also about 500mb larger than the Handbrake 5Mbps version. The resulting specs:
Media
Video Resolution 1080p
Duration 22:58
Bitrate 8246 kbps
Width 1920
Height 1080
Aspect Ratio 1.78
Container MP4
Video Frame Rate 24p
Web Optimized Yes
Audio Profile lc
Has 64bit Offsets 0
Video Profile main
Part
Duration 22:58
File The Big Bang Theory - S01E01 - Pilot Bluray-1080p.mp4
Size 1.32 GB
Audio Profile lc
Container MP4
Has 64bit Offsets 0
Web Optimized Yes
Video Profile main
Codec H264
Bitrate 7815 kbps
Language English
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Frame Rate 23.976 fps
Height 1080
Level 4.0
Profile main
Ref Frames 4
Stream Identifier 1
Width 1920
Codec AAC
Channels 5.1
Bitrate 431 kbps
Language English
Audio Channel Layout 5.1
Profile lc
Sampling Rate 48000 Hz
Stream Identifier 2
while that thing is playing open Plexweb/Status/Now Playing/ and click the little âiâ when you mouse over the Now Playing Window. Does it tell you whatâs being âCopiedâ and whatâs being âConvertedâ? I canât recall how detailed that âinfoâ button is.
It would be interesting and kind of a requirement to know whatâs being transcoded (video or audio) so you can take steps to encode better to fix it.
Iâm going to guess (fairly confidently) that AAC 5.1 is being converted.
AAC 2.0 is more likely to Direct Play.
If you must have multi-channel I suggest AC3 5.1. That will be more likely to Direct Play.
If you have Plex work on that file tell it to do so in the âMobileâ profile. Iâm pretty sure thatâll do an AAC 2.0 audio track.
Thatâs where I got the information that it was Direct Streaming both the video and audio. I just installed the latest PMS this morning and the little âiâ isnât there anymore. You just mouse over the video block and it assumes that is what you want to know. As the Plex guide points out, Direct Streaming takes almost no effort beyond Direct Play as far as the PMS server is concerned and I have verified that by looking at the CPU expediture by the Plex processes with Process Explorer.
I tried playing my unconverted version of 2001, which is 1080p 10Mbps and I get Video: Direct Streaming and audio transcoding AC3 to AAC. That is in an mkv container. Using âoriginalâ as the bitrate seems to have taken care of a lot of the issues.
Yea, that info is bogus at times. A direct stream is copying one and converting another. It can be either one. I think I read about that bug.
An audio transcode takes very little CPU resources. Video takes it all. If you have to live with an audio conversion thatâs not the worst thing that can happen. If Plex has to transcode the video bad things can happen.
Windows 7 PC using PMS, Android phone using Plex App, to a Chromecast on my LG TV. I will probably still work on using Handbrake to convert my library gradually. For example that 2001 video is over 11GB at a bit rate of 10MB/s. If I use Handbrake as I did on the TV show to drop it to 5MB/s, the size reduction should be considerable.
Play an item (any), touch the screen, touch the âgearâ, enable Information Overlay.
Now when you play an item and touch the screen some onscreen info will tell you exactly whatâs happening with the stream. Direct Play or Transcoding and if Transcoding why.
@JuiceWSA . I have a number of x265 10bit 4k HDR manufacturer demos (Sony, Samsung, LG, etc.) that Plex plays perfectly. But when I Handbrake my movies, in what appears to be the same format, they play, but are transcoded and donât pass the HDR metadata. VLC player works perfect. Driving me nuts.
@Rschmetzer . where are you seeing those Remote Access settings? Iâm on Windows PMS v1.4.3.3433 and the Remote Access menu I have doesât give me those options.
Plex doesnât deal with 10 bit HEVC files and through some dysfunction with client or server if the client canât digest the file Plex has to transcode and that happens as a 1080p 264. HEVC and especially 4K create all sorts of suffering and since it takes a whole lot of CPU to deal with either Plex goes the easiest way possible - so it will work for the biggest hunk of the user base on most of the equipment in use. A reasonable stance I think.
Youâre going to have to find out exactly what your devices need - and create it.
I have no need for 265 or 4K so Iâm afraid youâll have to blaze your own trail, but if you start with my guide and go up I believe youâll be OK. I hope you know, or are willing to learn, much more about HEVC and 4K - because youâre going to need those skills. Right now, they are âtroublesomeâ.
VLC is designed to play anything you throw at it. It has all the codecs it needs on board. Plex Players are not as well heeled, but PMP and OpenPHT are more capable players and youâll have much more luck with them than you will with almost anything else.
Hmmmm. I donât have that version on my Android Phone, but itâs pretty old. Itâs very similar to the AFTV app. Are you using TV or Mobile layout? What is your Android Phone?
Yea, Iâm on my current version too. Theyâre quite different. Oh well, looks like you can see whatâs going on. I would think the Droid app and Chromecast would handle AC3 5.1, but maybe not. Are those audio formats checked to function in the Droid app? Maybe the Chromecast is complaining. Hard to say.
At any rate if an audio transcode is happening thatâs not too bad and easily done. You really donât have to worry about it. Just concentrate on the Video transcodes and try at least to get them to direct play so youâll be seeing exactly what youâre encoding.
I donât really have an option under the audio drop down. I need to try recoding 2001 with Handbrake using the same parameters I used on BBT and see if I get a Direct Play with a huge size reduction. But, yeah, the audio isnât a big deal and even Direct Streaming Video doesnât put a load on my PC at all so I would be happy with that.
