# HEVC Encoding Forum Preview **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Created:** [September 13, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127 "2024-09-13T20:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/1 "2024-09-13T20:16:06Z")
Announcing the HEVC (H.265) hardware encoding forum preview! This is a feature that has **[received a lot of votes over the years](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcode-to-hevc-x265/360421)** and we couldn’t be more excited to start getting some feedback leading up to the general release. If you are wondering what value this provides, HEVC encoding offers a better quality video at the same bit rate, allowing for a higher quality video over the same bandwidth usage for streaming from your Plex Media Server! Additionally, this encoding preserves HDR metadata, which means no tone mapping is required! This feature is being released as a forum preview for feedback prior to general release. We will be updating the download links below as new builds are issued. Finally, please provide feedback by directly replying to this thread, and exclusively about these changes, off topic posts may be silently removed by forum admins. Please note the following: HEVC encoding is limited to **[hardware encoding](https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/)** only, and thus requires a Plex Pass. It can be used for streaming transcoding, DVR recordings (if Tuner settings setup and configured to transcode, see **[here](https://support.plex.tv/articles/225877347-live-tv-dvr/)** for more info), and media optimizations. HEVC encoding is supported on macOS, Linux, Windows, and the Shield when using HW encoding with Apple, Intel, or Nvidia devices (device support for 10 bit HEVC encoding is required). ### Known Issues: - ~~HDR metadata is not properly forwarded on mac servers~~ - ~~HDR metadata is not properly forwarded on shield servers~~ - ~~Tone mapping is not applied in the case where a client supports HEVC but not HDR~~ - ~~DVR recordings result in a large bitrate/filesize~~ - ~~DOVI files do not play on android clients~~ - ~~DOVI files do not play on android devices when using automatically adjust quality~~ - Cannot play HEVC transcodes of liveTV on apple devices - Old player on apple devices cannot play HEVC transcodes - Android downloads HEVC files when not supported by the device ### How it Works: If your selected transcoding device supports HEVC encoding (see the requirements defined above) you will see these two new preferences. Please note that “Enable HEVC video Encoding” must be enabled before you will see “Enable HEVC Optimization”. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/1/d/e/1de1063a21be82e9ad04ce0f2a43c3ef60b1fd18.jpeg) Once you enable the preference you will be able to see HEVC indicated as the target codec for transcodes on your server dashboard. If your dashboard still indicates h.264 please check that your client supports HEVC playback. ` ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/a/c/b/acb5e0dd4d9a141793877f0311260dd3ca76229d.png) ## Before you proceed **The server builds listed below are pre-alpha releases and have not been fully tested so we always advise caution. Make sure you have recent database backups and preferably run these builds independently from your main media server if possible and create new libraries to test pre-release software.** With that out the way… ### Downloads (Updated 11/21/2024) ### Desktop Platforms - Windows - Ubuntu/Debian - RedHat/Fedora/CentOS - FreeBSD - macOS ### NAS Devices - Asustor - Drobo - Seagate - Synology (DSM 6) - Synology (DSM 7) - Synology (DSM 7.2) - QNAP - Unraid - Netgear - Western Digital (OS 3) - Western Digital (OS 5) - Nvidia Shield ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/2 "2024-09-16T15:22:29Z")
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**Author:** ![dklein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dklein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dklein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/3 "2024-09-16T15:36:58Z")
Hi Chris! It does not look like this release is properly passing on HDR metadata HEVC transcodes. I’m seeing a washed out picture on iOS with the 8.41 beta when transcoding UHD media to 1080p HEVC. Server is running on Mac Mini M2 Pro. Let me know if you need logs/etc. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/4 "2024-09-16T15:37:37Z")
I’ll take a look! thanks! ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/6 "2024-09-16T15:40:30Z")
@dklein is this limited to when you have HEVC encoding enabled? Also, which version of which client are you seeing this on? ---
**Author:** ![dklein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dklein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dklein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/7 "2024-09-16T15:43:14Z")
Hi Chris, This is iOS Client 8.41 (9333)… looks like it is a client side issue as disabling HEVC and reverting to H264 transcode has the same issue. Want me to log that back in the AppleTV/iOS beta thread? ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/8 "2024-09-16T15:44:51Z")
> [@dklein](#): > > This is iOS Client 8.41 (9333)… looks like it is a client side issue as disabling HEVC and reverting to H264 transcode has the same issue. Want me to log that back in the AppleTV/iOS beta thread? I would appreciate that! ---
**Author:** ![neoeinstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@neoeinstein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/neoeinstein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/9 "2024-09-16T15:50:24Z")
Found an issue with playback on Android _with_ Automatically Adjust Quality enabled. In this case, I end up getting a pretty garbled screen. When I disable “Automatically Adjust Quality”, HEVC playback works as expected, ~~though with the data stream being SDR rather than preserving HDR metadata~~. Disabled HEVC video Encoding, and x264 encoding worked with “Automatically Adjust Quality” enabled. Android client 10.22.0.1536 (f4d056a4). Example of the garbling: ![Screenshot_20240916-094332](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/0/1/3/013f17e35468acba3270d1b032f42a4e9c99f728.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/10 "2024-09-16T15:53:49Z")
@neoeinstein what OS is your server running on? ---
**Author:** ![Menel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/menel/32/21732_2.png) [@Menel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Menel)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/11 "2024-09-16T15:55:15Z")
Is there a tag for the plexinc docker image? ---
**Author:** ![dklein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dklein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dklein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/12 "2024-09-16T15:55:37Z")
Interestingly, my Dolby Vision test file (found at [Downloads Page - Demolandia](https://www.demolandia.net/downloads.html?id=1039472921) ) does appear to safely tone map to SDR. It is profile 4 in TS container. ---
**Author:** ![neoeinstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@neoeinstein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/neoeinstein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/13 "2024-09-16T15:58:07Z")
> [@chris\_decker08](#): > > @neoeinstein what OS is your server running on? Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS, kernel 6.8.0-44, x86-64 ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/14 "2024-09-16T15:59:33Z")
> [@neoeinstein](#): > > Found an issue with playback on Android _with_ Automatically Adjust Quality enabled. In this case, I end up getting a pretty garbled screen. When I disable “Automatically Adjust Quality”, HEVC playback works as expected, though with the data stream being SDR rather than preserving HDR metadata. @neoeinstein why do you say its transcoding to SDR instead of preserving HDR? ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/15 "2024-09-16T16:02:06Z")
@dklein can you send me your [server logs](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/) of it not preserving the metadata? ---
**Author:** ![neoeinstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@neoeinstein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/neoeinstein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/16 "2024-09-16T16:08:28Z")
> [@chris\_decker08](#): > > @neoeinstein why do you say its transcoding to SDR instead of preserving HDR? Turns out I was wrong about that, and it’s probably an issue with the reporting tool (Tautulli) reporting SDR. When I went in and manually ran `ffprobe` on the transcode session, I see Main 10, bt2020, and DOVI side data. Example command with output: ```auto $ cat "/tmp/plexmediaserver/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-55406e9250c6872c-com-plexapp-android-ee9bf900-b76e-41b3-b663-56d283583cc4/header" "/tmp/plexmediaserver/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-55406e9250c6872c-com-plexapp-android-ee9bf900-b76e-41b3-b663-56d2835 83cc4/media-00000.ts" | ffprobe - ffprobe version 6.1.1-3ubuntu5+esm2 Copyright (c) 2007-2023 the FFmpeg developers built with gcc 13 (Ubuntu 13.2.0-23ubuntu4) configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=3ubuntu5+esm2 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --disable-omx --enable-gnutls --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libdav1d --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libglslang --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --disable-sndio --enable-libvpl --disable-libmfx --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-ladspa --enable-libbluray --enable-libjack --enable-libpulse --enable-librabbitmq --enable-librist --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libx264 --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-sdl2 --enable-libplacebo --enable-librav1e --enable-pocketsphinx --enable-librsvg --enable-libjxl --enable-shared libavutil 58. 29.100 / 58. 29.100 libavcodec 60. 31.102 / 60. 31.102 libavformat 60. 16.100 / 60. 16.100 libavdevice 60. 3.100 / 60. 3.100 libavfilter 9. 12.100 / 9. 12.100 libswscale 7. 5.100 / 7. 5.100 libswresample 4. 12.100 / 4. 12.100 libpostproc 57. 3.100 / 57. 3.100 Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'fd:': Metadata: ENCODER : Lavf59.20.101 Duration: N/A, start: 9.986000, bitrate: N/A Stream #0:0: Video: hevc (Main 10), yuv420p10le(tv, bt2020nc/bt2020/smpte2084, progressive), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn Metadata: ENCODER : Lavc59.25.100 hevc_vaapi Side data: DOVI configuration record: version: 1.0, profile: 8, level: 6, rpu flag: 1, el flag: 0, bl flag: 1, compatibility id: 1 Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: opus, 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp Metadata: ENCODER : Lavc59.25.100 libopus ``` The garbling issue for Android automatic quality still stands, but otherwise ignore me on the HDR side; that looks fine! ---
**Author:** ![chris\_decker08](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chris_decker08/32/316799_2.png) [@chris\_decker08](https://forums.plex.tv/u/chris_decker08)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/17 "2024-09-16T16:09:25Z")
Already filed an issue with the android team about “Automatically Adjust Quality” ---
**Author:** ![dklein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dklein](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dklein)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/18 "2024-09-16T16:13:33Z")
Hi Chris, here are the logs. Playback clients were iOS and macOS Plex HTPC [Plex Server Logs](https://criticalcontent.cimediacloud.com/r/hhpxsrTJCl8i) ---
**Author:** ![Benoitvinc](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/benoitvinc/32/311579_2.png) [@Benoitvinc](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Benoitvinc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/19 "2024-09-16T16:15:28Z")
Same here, is there a docker tag available for such release ? ---
**Author:** ![doubye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@doubye](https://forums.plex.tv/u/doubye)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/20 "2024-09-16T16:16:42Z")
@Benoitvinc @Menel As far as I know we only get docker tags when it makes it to a beta build. ---
**Author:** ![Benoitvinc](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/benoitvinc/32/311579_2.png) [@Benoitvinc](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Benoitvinc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127/21 "2024-09-16T16:30:11Z")
Got it ! I really wanted to test this feature out , but it looks like I’ll have to wait ! Thank you [Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hevc-encoding-forum-preview/888127.md?page=2)