Extreme Pixelation when hardware transcoding (latest PMS version)

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.18.2.2041 (11/20/2019)
Player Version#: 3.108.2

I’ve been fighting with this issue since September. I’ve done an extensive amount of research and searching but it appears that my issue hasn’t been addressed in any of the recent PMS updates.
Ever since the transcoder updates in version 1.17 a couple of months ago I’ve been having this issue where I get progressive pixelation until the video basically turns into a glob that’s completely unrecognizable whenever I attempt to transcode a file to anything less than 720p 4mpbs. This happens in all players and with all videos including recordings and movies. Reverting to an older version (currently running Version 1.16.6.1592) fixes the issue so it’s definitely related to the updates. Also, If I uncheck “use hardware acceleration” the issue disappears but there are dozens of people connecting to my server so I definitely need to use hardware acceleration as transcoding is inevitable. I’ve verified that PMS is actually using the P2000 for transcoding and the igpu is disabled.
I’ve posted this issue on Reddit as well as a few Plex groups on Facebook and there are other people still having this issue.

I’m using the default transcoder settings and the server specs are:

Windows 10 (1903)
Core i7 8700K
32GB Ram
Nvidia Quadro P2000
1TB Addlink m.2 SSD
Fios Gigabit Connection

All of the files are stored on a couple of Synologys.

Photo of the heavy pixelation:

Photo of what it should look like:

1 Like
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Nobody?

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I think I have the same issue, but not with all movies. But with some of them I get this view, not only the first 60-90 seconds, but the whole movie. Not only on my Samsung TV, but also at all my Apple devices (iMac, iPads). I have converted the movie but that didn’t help either. It is only with a few movies or episodes, not with all of them.

The movie itself is not the problem, because when I play it on my iMac with VLC straight from my NAS there is no problem.

I have tried with turning the hardware transcoding off, but then I have the problem that my CPU can’t handle it.

My server is a Synology DS218+ with DSM 6.2.2-24922 Update 4 and I installed the latest version of Plex on my server 1.18.2.2058.

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4

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Actually, since some of the most recent updates this month the problem isn’t nearly as bad now. It still does it slightly whenever there’s a mostly static image but it’s at least bearable now.

When mine was at its worst, it was more of a gradual degradation until it slowly became unwatchable like in the photo i posted. It was really prominent with cartoons for some reason.

5

I disabled subtitles at the movie and it seems that the problem is gone. So probably this will help for you also?

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