Server Version#: 1.24.3.5033
Player Version#: 4.66.1 web also happens on latest android app
Server is downgrading the quality of the source file based on bitrate meaning a 1080p 1.1mb bandwidth source that looks perfectly fine on a 4k tv with direct playback gets transcoded to a 1.1mb SD frame which makes the file look like a very old 360p file which is completely unwatchable on any device that needs transcoding and most devices does if you want subs i have had this issue for awhile hoping a update would fix it instead its only gotten worse this needs to be addressed. tested this on emby and it keeps the frame size no matter what bitrate the source has and it makes the quality loss less impactful i can even choose a higher bitrate than the source so that the quality loss is even less why is this not a thing in plex please fix this or tell me how to fix this if there is a fix
I’m not exactly sure what’s causing that transcode… for that you’ve shared too little information.
Transcoding will happen for various reasons, e.g.
the client cannot deal with the media format (or the format of some of its streams)
the client is configured to request a specific video quality from the server
you’re playing from outside the subnet of your PMS which will result in a remote streaming situation – applying your server’s remote quality restrictions
The clients and the servers är both set to unrestricted banwidth maximum converted quality and it happens both outside and inside the network using wired gigabit connections. The Main problem that i am encountering here is that plex has set format rules on the bitrates for example
8-20 mb is 1080p
2-4 mb is 720p
1.5 mb is 480p
0.7 is 320p
and so on wich is fine if the file is h.264 but since h.265 uses lower bitrates. A 1080p hevc can easily be below 2 mb bitrate in my case 1.1 and because this is lower than 1.5 480p Plex then chooses 320p as the format at 1.1 mb bitrate wich is nowhere near 1080p hence the horrible quality it is essentially shrinking the picture size to 1/4 th of its original size for no reason
You did not mention what device your playing this on. 1080p is normally x.264 and most devices will not accept 1080p in x.265 hence the server transcoding the video. Check if your device supports 1080p/720p in h.265 format. You can find information on this doing a google search.
Plex web doesnt support h.265 but it does support 1080p converting to h.264 from h.265 should stil be 1080p in dimensions because that is what the player is requesting and not 320p. My android device supports all formats but im still getting 320p.
It is changing the dimensions of the playback for some reason it should not so so.
1080p h.265 transcoded to h.264 should Still be 1080p dimension wise but it isnt for som reason No other transcoder behaves this way emby doesnt handbrake doesnt only plex
