Server Version#: 4.71.0
Player Version#: 8.26.2.29389
Device: Amazon Fire HD 10 (2021)
The new Downloads feature doesn’t seem to play well with HEVC Main 10 x265. H.264 seems to work fine, but if the file utilizes 10-bit HEVC I will simply get an error stating “An error occurred attempting to play this video. Please check your connection and try again.” whether I’m offline or online. If I attempt to play one of these files without having it downloaded, it transcodes to H.264. The only way the file will play is if I force transcode by lowering the resolution in my Download Settings, but this takes forever and causes the file to balloon in size. I could take all these files and manually re-encode them to H.264 but that would require having two copies of these files (thus taking up more space on my server) and I would have to do it file-by-file.
The Fire HD 10 is supposed to be compatible with HEVC x265 playback, so I’m not sure why this is happening. But it’s made Downloads completely useless on my device, and considering how terrible sync has always been I’m not sure what solution is available here. Sync is unreliable and transcoding every file to H.264 takes up way more space than the x265 file would have. Is this just a bug that will be fixed in future updates, or is Plex just simply not compatible with playing HEVC x265 on Android devices? If so, why, and will it ever be fixed?
Update: I ran a quick test using my FireHD 10 (2017) and the JellyFish test files.
HEVC Main 10 video direct plays, but there are limits, and a file that did not direct play when streaming did not play when downloaded.
You’ll need to find out why the file did not direct play when streamed from the server.
Set your server for debug level logging: Settings → Server_Name → General (Show Advanced). Check the box for debug level logging. Do not check the box for verbose logging.
With no other streaming, scanning, etc on the server, play the file on your tablet. Do this on your local WiFi, so bandwidth limits do not come into play.
Let the movie play for 10 - 20 seconds then stop playback.
Wait a minute for the server to settle & log everything.
Go to Settings → Troubleshooting and download the log files.
Attach the ZIP to the thread.
If Plex has to transcode the file to stream it, then the Plex app on the tablet cannot play the file in its native format. Downloading the file to the tablet does not change that.
The tablet specifications list support for H.265 Main Profile L4 1080p@30FPS. Main 10 is not listed.
Yep, this is the problem. 8-bit HEVC played back fine. I guess the only solution here is to encode everything or just get a new device to watch on. Thanks for the help, all.
If you can swing it, my wife has had excellent luck with one of the newer $300ish iPads. Its just the basic iPad but it both looks and sounds great while never taxing my server with any transcoding. She plays everything from high bitrate 4K HDR content to 480p television shows and that little iPad chews through all of it. It hurts me to admit that as I’m not an Apple person at all lol
As a person who also doesn’t typically use Apple products, I can also confirm that I finally gave up on inexpensive Android tablets, which not only used a CPU old enough chip that it didn’t handle 10-bit HEVC, but that (for non-Amazon models) also stopped getting updates within 18 months. And they often packed in junk apps to supplement the price.
A few months ago, I simply got the cheap $300 9th-gen iPad, and now I don’t think about the codecs anymore.
Obviously not useful for someone who wants to save a bunch of downloads to a MicroSD card, though.
OTOH, for the TV, Wal-Mart’s cheap house-brand Android TV device is outstanding and plays everything. You just never know.
