I have a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 tablet that I use for streaming some of my server content, and anytime I try to play a file encoded in H.265 I get the audio but the video comes through in single still frames every few seconds. Server says it is direct streaming the video but clearly it’s not working properly. Anything to try before I’m stuck optimizing 500GB of tv shows?
If the video is direct streaming that means the server is sending the video as is to your tablet. If your server is able to transcode HEVC on the fly you could try disabling direct streaming on that device which would force the video transcode as well. If that is the only device having trouble with HEVC then only needing to transcode when that device selects to play an item would save a lot more time then trying to optimize each video independently.
I have a five year old Samsung tablet and it too tries to direct play h.265 video. I get good audio but very choppy video. My “fix” is to hit the quality icon and force a trancode down from 1080 to 720. Not ideal but it works.
What does the on-screen information overlay say when you’re playing the video?
Tap the screen while the video is playing to pull up the playback controls (stop, pause, etc). In the upper left corner you should see “Player: ExoPlayer v2”, the video size, and Direct Play, Direct Stream, or Transcode. If Direct Stream or Transcode, it should also display a reason.
If you do not see the info overlay, tap the screen while the video is playing, then tap the gear icon to pull up Playback Settings. There is a checkbox for “Display Information Overlay.”
Direct Stream implies a container incompatibility (mp4/mkv/etc) between the media and the device. The server has to remux the media before streaming it to the device. Remuxing doesn’t use much CPU on the server, but direct play is always preferable.
Reference: How are Direct Play, Direct Stream, and Transcoding different?
@jmckee said:
If the video is direct streaming that means the server is sending the video as is to your tablet. If your server is able to transcode HEVC on the fly you could try disabling direct streaming on that device which would force the video transcode as well. If that is the only device having trouble with HEVC then only needing to transcode when that device selects to play an item would save a lot more time then trying to optimize each video independently.
Is there any way to disable direct streaming on a single device? I can’t find any setting on the Plex application for my tablet that enables or disables direct stream.
@tollgate said:
I have a five year old Samsung tablet and it too tries to direct play h.265 video. I get good audio but very choppy video. My “fix” is to hit the quality icon and force a trancode down from 1080 to 720. Not ideal but it works.
Did not work for me setting to 720p. It worked when I knocked it down to 480, but that just sucked.
@FordGuy61 said:
What does the on-screen information overlay say when you’re playing the video?Tap the screen while the video is playing to pull up the playback controls (stop, pause, etc). In the upper left corner you should see “Player: ExoPlayer v2”, the video size, and Direct Play, Direct Stream, or Transcode. If Direct Stream or Transcode, it should also display a reason.
If you do not see the info overlay, tap the screen while the video is playing, then tap the gear icon to pull up Playback Settings. There is a checkbox for “Display Information Overlay.”
Direct Stream implies a container incompatibility (mp4/mkv/etc) between the media and the device. The server has to remux the media before streaming it to the device. Remuxing doesn’t use much CPU on the server, but direct play is always preferable.
Reference: How are Direct Play, Direct Stream, and Transcoding different?
It says
ExoPlayer v2
Video - Direct
Audio - transcode (server shows AAC to AC3)
1920x1080
reason - exceeds maximum allowable bitrate
So it seems the video is fine, but the audio is the problem.
I’ve never seen an AAC -> AC3 transcode. Usually things are transcoded to AAC.
Can you post the output of MediaInfo or Plex XML for the video?
Also check the Plex client Quality settings to make sure nothing is limiting the speed.
Check Plex Client -> Advanced -> Player. Any chance AAC is listed under Optional Audio Support?
I’ve an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet. It direct plays H265 1080p30 video w/ 320kbps AAC audio. Looking for something that is different in your setup / media to cause things to transcode.
@“bsc4579usc@aol.com” said:
@jmckee said:
If the video is direct streaming that means the server is sending the video as is to your tablet. If your server is able to transcode HEVC on the fly you could try disabling direct streaming on that device which would force the video transcode as well. If that is the only device having trouble with HEVC then only needing to transcode when that device selects to play an item would save a lot more time then trying to optimize each video independently.Is there any way to disable direct streaming on a single device? I can’t find any setting on the Plex application for my tablet that enables or disables direct stream.
Sorry, I guess I haven’t ran Plex on my tablet in quite a bit of time, after updating it the options appear to have changed quite a bit since the last time I used it. The other option would be as tollgate said where you select a quality level below the current level to force a video transcode. The problem with HEVC is that the compression rate is high enough that to guarantee a tarnscode you almost always have to drop a resolution level (IE 1080p to 720p) otherwise that bitrate limit will never get hit.
