If transcoding is disabled, but the client needs it, the the video will not play at all.
Good.
I have an issue with unnecessary transcoding in hevc matroskas without sound (jellyfish samples) with Plex server installed on a laptop with win 10 or Linux mint. When it streams files to 2 android client devices with PLEX addon on KODI 18.6 with direct play , the cpu load is 5%. When it streams the same files to another client laptop with win 10 or Linux mint and PLEX ADDON on KODI 18.6 it transcodes it to H264- with cpu at 100% . KODI in client laptops supports HW acceleration -tested with same files in usb . This only happens on hevc / mkv files, while all H264 are direct played on all WIN / LINUX / ANDROID clients with PLEX addon/kodi . On the other hand if i use web app or plex player , the server always transcodes all files. Any idea whatās going on?Is there any bug?
The Plex for Kodi add-on should be able to direct play most files. Would need more details and logs to see whats going on.
Plex Web doesnāt support HEVC so yes, this will always transcode. I donāt know which client you mean by āplex playerā.
Ī¤he Kodi addon on Linux/win10 is able but plays the transcoded hevc stream from the server. The exact file is direct streamed by the server and played by the Plex addon in Android client devices.
Plex player is the Plex app (ip address is ā¦localhostā¦)
On the other hand the address of web player is something like 192.168.133ā¦32400ā¦)
Thatās the same thing. Itās the version of Plex Web that comes with PMS. If you are on the actual machine, you can access it using ālocalhostā, ā127.0.0.1ā, or the IP. From other computers in your network you can use itās IP. You can even access this remotely if you have remote access enabled and use the public IP and correct port. All of these still are just a web page and browsers donāt support hevc. Some are starting to but right now, we canāt detect which ones so itās disabled for all. This may change in the future.
Finally I tried the Composite addon and it works great , it direct plays the supported files in WIN / LINUX / ANDROID clients.
I suggested an option to Plex that could solve your transcoding issues. Can you please vote for it to have it implemented? This way your issue gets fixed too!
Thank you!
Can some please help. IF i check ādisable transcodeā Direct play works fine. From same Local and remote streaming. But if i unchek it, it will tyranscode remote streaming but it still works on local streaming. The if i look at playing info it states that it tryied to play direct played and failed.
Why is that?
I have some avi Series that not will play if i check disable transcoding.
Can some please shine some light
Explane why it can run direct play when i check ādisable transcodingā, but it cant when i unchek it?
You dont answer my questionā¦I can play my MKV files with trancscoding disabled and direct play, but i wont play direkt play with transcoding enabled. Then i says it cant. Why?
@Ljunkis Your question doesnāt make sense. If you can direct play a file, it should direct play regardless if the setting is enabled or not. If playback doesnāt work, then I will need PMS logs showing you trying to play the file with the setting both ways.
Seemed rather obvious to me, butā¦ Iāll let you explain what the problem is.
+1 on this.
I am starting to get into the realm of 4k and truehd audio formats but plex is transcoding the sH*t out of the content and my tiny box canāt handle it.
BRING BACK DIRECT PLAY SETTING FOR LOCAL STREAMING!
Hello,
Iām having quite a similar issue here.
Iām running my Plex server on a QNAP, connected via LAN to my router. The device used for streaming is a Samsung QE55Q70R.
According to Samsungās specs, my TV can play my fileās format, but still every time I start the playback on my TV, I see that Plex server is transcoding. This results in a constant CPU overload of my NAS, so in playback errors or continuous buffering.
I followed all the previous posts and made sure about files compatibility, but to me it seems there should be no issue in Direct playing.
If someone could give an advice, Iād be very grateful.
I can leave more than two links, so Iām just putting a paste from the logs (after playback is started) and the file information.
Video file information:
Console logs:
https://pastebin.com/xBrsugdY
Recently had this issue and wanted to offer 2 suggestions:
- On a PC make sure you are using the Plex client and not the web client. Not sure why that makes a difference but found the full client was better at doing direct play than using a chrome tab to play back media (4k, HVEC, etc.). My Synology was doing a transcode in Chrome but the full client was just fine, go figure.
- Second is for TVās use a Roku. I know your TV should work but a Roku Premium or Ultra will direct play about anything you throw at it and is an easier experience for managing stream services than any built-in Smart TV UI Iāve seen.
hi I understand the concepts of client/server and interface contracts (software developer for a living)
based on what you are saying my plex client on my older LG 4K OLED TV is not capable because it will not direct play. which makes me say nasty things
why i say that is because i know the DNLA client built in does not support 4K content. ok bad LG 
but the USB client on my TV does support 4K content.
I can take the same file on my NAS and put it on a USB external hard drive and play content in 4K H265/HEVC on my TV
this suggests to me that the hardware (TV) can decode and play this content directly but the plex client canāt do it without transcoding not good
fyi version 2.20 march 17, 2020 plex client on LG tv
what are the odds of getting an update to that client? are you guys still maintaining that branch or was it LG who ported over the code?
fyi my newer cheaper (not as nice display) LG tvās DNLA client supports 4K
Most DLNA players and other media players often use software decoding, not hardware. This can provide more codec support, but at the cost of needing a fairly decent cpu in the TV. This may work for some files, but if you have files with large bitrates, 4k, or a codec that can only be software decoded by 1 core (Iām looking at your VC1), your device can come to a crawl. By using hardware, Plex avoids this issue and and shifts and cpu requirements to the server, which in most cases will be better than whatās in your TV.
