Add a database that contains the media type compatibility information for all playback devices that have a native Plex app available. I believe that you are already aware of what capabilities are native to each platform, and probably already have some type of database put together. I know that PMS keeps track of the devices that we use to stream from it, as you can see them all in your account.
What I am suggesting is to make a manual “Scan for compatibility issues” feature that would compare the stored media info from your library against the compatibility information database for each device that you use to stream content from the server. If certain media is found to be incompatible with direct play on a certain device, it would pop a “transcoding required” notification that would inform the user of the specific files, which connected devices are not compatible with the current format, and the reason that they will require transcoding (i.e. bitrate too high, profile to high, incompatible audio type, etc…)
I think this would be a great tool to help users better manage their library of content. Nobody, given the option, would prefer transcoding over direct play. It is very demanding of system resources and produces a sub-optimal viewing experience.
As it currently is, we are able to tell that a particular file IS transcoding, but not WHY it’s transcoding. And we aren’t given this information until we are already relaxed and ready to watch something. So if we want to watch the file via direct play in all of it’s original glory, we either have to put off watching it until later after we’ve had time to dig around and find the incompatibility, or jump up and do it right away, stopping us from just enjoying a movie like we wanted to.
Such a feature would allow us to be proactive and address the issue while we’re already working in plex, before we’re actually ready to sit down and enjoy it. It could also be triggered to run on individual files when they are first scanned into the library, further automating the process, thereby making it more user friendly. I am not a plex plass holder (although i probably will be soon), so i’m not sure the extent of PMS’s “optimized version” functionality, but if it has significant encoding capabilities, you could use it to offer to correct the incompatibility right then and there. That would be an easy upsell for you right there. Otherwise, users will have to use other software to correct the issues, and encoding software can be quite complicated to new users.
It seems like a feature that would be a win for both users, helping us proactively manage our content library, and plex, increasing sales of plex pass from users that wish to take advantage of easy and automated encoding to correct compatibility issues.
Please consider it. Thank you.
