# Hardware Transcoding

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-windows\
**Created:** [December 9, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381 "2020-12-09T11:22:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wuguba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f17d59/32.png) [@wuguba](https://forums.plex.tv/u/wuguba)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/1 "2020-12-09T11:22:29Z")

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Server Version#:  
Player Version#:

Hi,

I have a pc with Windows 10, the specs are i7 3770k, 1660ti, 16gb ram. With 1 transcode it is constantly buffering and unwatchable while on the network, I have tried different qualities and files but anytime it’s transcoding it won’t stop buffering while direct play is fine. Any idea why?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/2 "2020-12-09T11:25:41Z")

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Without knowing the characteristics of the actual file you are playing, it is impossible to say.  
Please copy the first ~20 lines of the [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info") of this item into here.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wuguba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f17d59/32.png) [@wuguba](https://forums.plex.tv/u/wuguba)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/3 "2020-12-09T11:41:36Z")

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Hi it happens with a number of files but here is an example of one:

```auto
<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="1" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionUUID="17d85e48-c169-417c-8981-07a5a695b1b2" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1606775432">

<Video ratingKey="3049" key="/library/metadata/3049" parentRatingKey="3048" grandparentRatingKey="3047" guid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://355567/1/1?lang=en" parentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://355567/1?lang=en" grandparentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://355567?lang=en" type="episode" title="The Name of the Game" titleSort="Name of the Game" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/3047" parentKey="/library/metadata/3048" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionID="1" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/1" grandparentTitle="The Boys" parentTitle="Season 1" contentRating="TV-MA" summary="When a Supe kills the love of his life, A/V salesman Hughie Campbell teams up with Billy Butcher, a vigilante hell-bent on punishing corrupt Supes -- and Hughie's life will never be the same again." index="1" parentIndex="1" rating="8.0" year="2019" thumb="/library/metadata/3049/thumb/1607301244" art="/library/metadata/3047/art/1607299313" parentThumb="/library/metadata/3048/thumb/1607299313" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/3047/thumb/1607299313" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/3047/art/1607299313" grandparentTheme="/library/metadata/3047/theme/1607299313" duration="3609888" originallyAvailableAt="2019-07-26" addedAt="1603764504" updatedAt="1607301244">

<Media id="2832" duration="3609888" bitrate="4989" width="3840" height="1632" aspectRatio="2.35" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="eac3" videoCodec="hevc" videoResolution="4k" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="24p" videoProfile="main 10">

<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="2832" key="/library/parts/2832/1603764504/file.mkv" duration="3609888" file="E:\TV Shows\The Boys\Season 1\The Boys - S01E01 - The Name of the Game WEBDL-2160p.mkv" size="2251184180" container="mkv" videoProfile="main 10">

<Stream id="12619" streamType="1" default="1" codec="hevc" index="0" bitrate="4989" bitDepth="10" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codedHeight="1632" codedWidth="3840" colorPrimaries="bt2020" colorRange="tv" colorSpace="bt2020nc" colorTrc="smpte2084" frameRate="23.976" height="1632" level="150" profile="main 10" refFrames="1" width="3840" displayTitle="4K (HEVC Main 10 HDR)" extendedDisplayTitle="4K (HEVC Main 10 HDR)"/>

<Stream id="12620" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="eac3" index="1" channels="6" language="English" languageCode="eng" audioChannelLayout="5.1(side)" samplingRate="48000" displayTitle="English (EAC3 5.1)" extendedDisplayTitle="English (EAC3 5.1)"/>

<Stream id="12621" streamType="3" default="1" codec="vobsub" index="2" language="English" languageCode="eng" headerCompression="1" title="English (SDH)" displayTitle="English (VOBSUB)" extendedDisplayTitle="English (SDH) (VOBSUB)"/>

<Stream id="12622" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="3" language="English" languageCode="eng" displayTitle="English (SRT)" extendedDisplayTitle="English (SRT)"/>

</Part>

</Media>

<Writer id="117" filter="writer=117" tag="Eric Kripke"/>

<Extras size="0"> </Extras>

<Related> </Related>

</Video>

</MediaContainer>

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/4 "2020-12-09T11:53:05Z")

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This is a 4K video file, encoded in HEVC with 10 bit color. Which most likely means “HDR”.  
Sorry to be blunt, but don’t even _try_ to transcode this with your system, I’d say.  
Your CPU model is over 8 years old. It has a meagre 6000 points in CPU mark [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-3770K+%40+3.50GHz&id=2](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-3770K+%40+3.50GHz&id=2)  
It hasn’t support for hardware decoding HEVC video either (Ivy Bridge) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel\_Quick\_Sync\_Video#Hardware\_decoding\_and\_encoding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video#Hardware_decoding_and_encoding)

Your GPU might be somewhat more modern, but it cannot do the HDR to SDR conversion. That must be done by the CPU, which in your case lacks the power to do that fast enough.  
You can try and **dis** able  
Settings - Server - Transcoder - ‘Show Advanced’ - “Enable HDR tone mapping”

But I strongly recommend to only play files like this on a Plex client which has native support for HEVC and HDR, so transcoding won’t be necessary.  
On a desktop computer, try Plex Player for Windows/Mac (or Kodi with the Plex plugin).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wuguba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f17d59/32.png) [@wuguba](https://forums.plex.tv/u/wuguba)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:58am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/5 "2020-12-09T11:58:47Z")

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OK thank you. I also have a i7 8770k, do you think this would be sufficient?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 12:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/6 "2020-12-09T12:01:43Z")

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> [@wuguba](#):
>
> i7 8770k

It _might_ work, as the Coffee Lake CPU’s have support for hardware transcoding 10 bit HEVC.  
You could still run into performance limits when you enable subtitles, though. But definitely worth a try.

Or simply steer clear of 4K HDR files.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wuguba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f17d59/32.png) [@wuguba](https://forums.plex.tv/u/wuguba)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 12:04pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/7 "2020-12-09T12:04:34Z")

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OK cool, thanks again.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 12:04pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/663381/8 "2021-03-09T12:04:43Z")

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