# Forced h.264 transcode for DLNA players?

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833>\
**Category:** Plex Players\
**Tags:** server-windows, server-dlna\
**Created:** [March 14, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833 "2025-03-14T00:57:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![itsamezachary](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/itsamezachary/32/122376_2.png) [@itsamezachary](https://forums.plex.tv/u/itsamezachary)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833/1 "2025-03-14T00:57:47Z")

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Server Version#: Version 1.41.5.9522  
Player Version#: DLNA

Is there a way to force DLNA playback to be transcoded for older players? Most of my video library is in HEVC or AV1 at this point, but I have some older standard definition content I’d like to watch on an older TV with a DLNA player like my Xbox 360. It’s become difficult to find a way to get my video to play on analog TV’s because I can’t find a player that will support newer codecs, and output analog video.

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**Author:** ![MovieFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@MovieFan](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MovieFan)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833/2 "2025-03-14T03:39:54Z")

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Have you tried just playing the file? If PMS detects that the DLNA player doesn’t support HEVC or AV1, it will transcode as needed.

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**Author:** ![itsamezachary](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/itsamezachary/32/122376_2.png) [@itsamezachary](https://forums.plex.tv/u/itsamezachary)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:01am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833/3 "2025-03-15T08:01:00Z")

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I spent a little more time on this today, and for some reason I can’t get my xbox 360 to open the plex server’s DLNA connection. Interestingly though I did find that the old Plex app for 360 still mostly works.

I was under the impression that Plex doesn’t transcode for DLNA players, which is why I was initially asking for an option to somehow force the transcode on DLNA playback. Does PMS actually negotiate transcoding needs for DLNA players?

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**Author:** ![MovieFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@MovieFan](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MovieFan)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833/4 "2025-03-17T19:39:38Z")

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If the dlna player cannot tell pms what it supports, pms will default to h264 and aac audio.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/forced-h-264-transcode-for-dlna-players/908833/5 "2025-06-15T19:40:17Z")

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