@BigWheel @OttoKerner as an FYI more than anything else !
I got a message from TMDB support team today saying the following …
Please note the preferred poster aspect ratio is 1:1.5. While we accept posters outside of that ratio, when a better ratio is uploaded, posters outside of the preferred ratio will most likely be deleted.
This is why so many are being deleted.
Thought I’d found the solution after a bit of reading around. Just did a test folder and indexed it. I downloaded a poster for each film and put it in the folder, same name as film, and moved “Local Media Assets” to the top in Agents settings. Great, it used the posters I put there, but it’s still downloaded about 18 posters for each movie.
Just the way the software is designed, and I guess no way around it until the devs look into it.
MovieNizer (admittedly not a server like Plex) indexing files, finds all matching titles from the source you choose (IMDB in this case), allows you to choose, click Next and then it retrieves the poster and data.
You don’t need LMA in the top slot to do that. You do not EVER need LMA in the stop slot - unless you do - and you don’t. LMA in the top slot is madness, pure and simple.
I know this drives you crazy… but it works great for me with no mp4/m4v videos and lots of local posters, extras etc.
That’s it, right there, exactly.
Every user with MP4 files loaded up with bogus embedded title fields will suffer when LMA moves to the top. Every single user and they number in THE MILLIONS!
As stated it was a test, a few films in a temporary folder. Since removed and Agents settings returned to normal. What is madness is the shoddy method Plex uses to compile its database with thousands of un-needed files, stark raving bonkers madness. It’s proven that data can be retrieved and compiled into a database in a much more efficient manner by the two programs I’ve previously mentioned. However, as said, until the devs address this it’s just how it is.
I still have tons of stuff to add, I’d estimate I’m about half way through indexing (taking a break from it til’ tomorrow now). 
I assume that’s obviously the method you use, get your own posters? Would you know if anyone has ever worked out a blocking method for all the needless poster retrieval, or is that even possible?
Edit: Never mind I see there are lots of threads about this and it was posted as a feature request years ago.
Plex provides a way to keep the database on a drive with ample space - and Plex feels that’s all they need to do - apparently.
Anyway I feel your pain as I sit here wondering how much bigger my database is from the 250GB it was when I checked it a few years ago - but feel it’s not all that important right now as the free space on the HDD the database is on has about 3TB free.
I do hear ya loud and clear, but perhaps in the brief time it’ll take Plex to address this issue - on top of the 10 years in the feature request - you might want to explore other database storage options… like the rest of us.
Would be nice if one could select the poster to be deleted just like you select one to use.
multi select would be good…
When I saw that earlier I realised it clearly isn’t an issue to the devs. IMO bad software engineering, very shoddy, and not very professional at all. As posted earlier, I would personally never pay for software in this state. Of course it’s their software and ppl have the option to not use it.
As you say, in the meantime just live with an ever increasing database storing thousands and thousands of un-needed files!
Seeing how MovieNizer did it a few post up was a joy to behold. 
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