Server Version: LATEST
Player Version: LATEST
Hi,
I’ve always had the issues I’m about to present, and I’ve always mitigated them within my local media center just by using DLNA and it has been a true blessing and a miracle, pure direct stream has always been phenomenal to me and would only break at THE ACTUAL compatibility limitations of the device I was trying to stream media to.
All of this had to die, because I decided to let my friends join my plex server, so I got plex pass and I had to move everything to a remote server, because my home internet doesn’t have enough bandwidth to upload but it does in download, so it made sense.
And here the issues start: I knew I had to go through this eventually and it is extremely frustrating. I appreciate Plex’s work on making DirectStream easier even on remote servers, but the varying amounts of incompatibility issues across all different PLEX APPs and not DEVICES is making it impossible to have a smooth experience and some of the decisions that Plex developers either HAVE TO make or ARBITRARILY make just by sheer disconnect from the userbase are making this even more frustrating.
Now, I am a sysadmin, but this isn’t really something I usually focus on and so while I do have technical information and understanding, it is limited.
I have tried to figure out ways to fix this and honestly I don’t feel like making a VPN on my server and make it able to broadcast DLNA services on the clients so that my friends can use the DLNA server instead of the Plex app, that is not a fix, it’s a band-aid on a broken dam’s crack.
The issue at hand is that all of the Plex apps have different kinds of compatibilities for each codec, file format and so on so fort, for example:
The Plex Media Player on Windows supports almost anything, but sometimes, somehow, it has artifact issues with HVEC (H265) codecs, not always tho and this does not make sense (I should note that I have codecs installed already). They play but have weird green decoder artifacts that I have never seen myself.
The Plex Web App obviously has the limitation of web browsers, so it does not support HVEC at all, and it does not support image format subtitles. And so I get the “this server doesn’t have enough power to convert this blabla”. First time I seen this btw.
In the case of my LG WebOS TV, which DOES support HVEC AND image format subtitles (I have sifted through the ENTIRE technical documentation of my specific television) the Plex app REFUSES to play these files, that otherwise work perfectly on DLNA.
For these reason I have tried just going the most basic of basics and I have prepared files on bare x264 Main 4.1 - AAC 2.1 and no subtitles files and STILL for the Android and iOS apps, I have literally no clue because I still get compatibility issues and I am literally incapable of playing any file remotely. They simply do NOT play at all.
THEN, there is the issue of syncing, with my purchase of plex pass I thought I would be able to just sync files and be done with it, since I’m almost always not at home, syncing on my iPad would make it fine to play on a train ride to work, but no, for some reason “syncing” doesn’t mean “download your file”, and I understand that iOS has that idiotic “every app is a different filesystem” mechanic thing so every synced file would be exclusive to the Plex App, but what is the reasoning behind my iPad Pro not being able to play H264 L4.1 AAC files when VLC for example plays HVEC 4K DTS SUP untouched 40GB blu-rays without even batting an eye?
I have done research upon research and all I can find is “move to this move to that, don’t use Plex” or do some sommersault triple backflip on a mountain bike strapped to a rocket to bypass everything that Plex forces me to do and just use a VPN and basically use A DLNA server mounted upon a useless system that doesn’t allow me to stream basic files made with codecs that are 16 years old.
I apologize profusely for my frustration, but I have been a Plex user for YEARS and the only time where I didn’t have issues is when you could remove the transcoder from the Plex folders and it would be FORCED to just stream whatever the heck I requested and not ask any questions.
Can anyone please just give me a direct answer as to why I have invisible walls in front of me when logically and practically and technically everything should work perfectly, is it my fault? is it just the varying Plex apps limitations that are not up to date with current standards? is it a political or legal issue?
I have no clue. I could be just very dumb and missing a very obvious point that would make everything work. But so far it just seems like I either have to jump through impossible hoops to just press a play button and not have issues, pay 100€ a month for a Ryzen or last gen Xeon server to transcode a 4Mbps x264 anime with srt subtitles to my iPad or just give up on Plex completely and move to honestly ugly looking other media servers.
