# Improved Multi-Version Movies and TV Support **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Suggestions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2021, 6:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071 "2021-05-05T06:41:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![derekakelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/derekakelly/32/188053_2.png) [@derekakelly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/derekakelly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 6:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/1 "2021-05-05T06:41:28Z")
**TL;DR** Plex shouldn’t play 4k content on a 1080p screen when there’s a 1080p version available, even if it’s in another directory. This feature as is, works about half the time for me. I’ve tested this with a fire stick, the windows desktop client and the webui in chrome. Each of which is configured to play **Maximum** quality. I tried to **Use recommended settings** and that didn’t affect my results. For testing purposes, I have several TV Series in my library with both 4k and 1080p versions. I also have several Movies with both 4k and 1080p versions. 4k and 1080p versions of each are in separate directories within their respective libraries. I have read the following article. > **[Multi-Version Movies | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200381043-multi-version-movies/)** > > The scanners and metadata agents used by Plex will work best when your major types of content are separated from... Although I know my setup does not conform to that 100% because the article says both versions need to be in the same directory. However, Plex still does combine the two versions from different directories into one listing, automatically. But it does not always play the correct version when playing on a 1080p screen. Quite often i find it’s playing a 4k version, or even worse transcoding from the 4k version to 1080p, when there’s a perfectly good 1080p copy already associated with that listing. At first I thought it might just be for TV shows, but then i started testing it and found Movies behaved similarly. Expecting my clients to know how to go in and play the correct version is unreasonable, this should be automatic. I shouldn’t have to seperate my 4k content if i also keep a 1080p copy along side it in the library. Even if it’s in a separate directory. Thank you all in advance for your time and I hope this is an easily accomplished feature request. ---
**Author:** ![Volts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a5b964/32.png) [@Volts](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Volts)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/2 "2021-05-05T07:11:19Z")
It might be worth sharing logs from your server & client showing the start of a playback. If Plex is allowed to Direct Play, it will usually try to choose an appropriate version. But if it has to transcode for any reason, it will usually take the highest-quality version as source. Sharing logs might help confirm what’s going on / why the 4k version is being selected. ---
**Author:** ![derekakelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/derekakelly/32/188053_2.png) [@derekakelly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/derekakelly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:31am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/3 "2021-05-05T07:31:49Z")
TV Log > **[TV Logs - Pastebin.com](https://pastebin.com/Z4JCiHP9)** > > Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time. Movie Log > **[Movie Log - Pastebin.com](https://pastebin.com/vLUTtaJC)** > > Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time. ---
**Author:** ![derekakelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/derekakelly/32/188053_2.png) [@derekakelly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/derekakelly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:39am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/4 "2021-05-05T07:39:06Z")
Windows Client Logs > **[Windows Client Logs - Pastebin.com](https://pastebin.com/yEid1YT6)** > > Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time. ---
**Author:** ![derekakelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/derekakelly/32/188053_2.png) [@derekakelly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/derekakelly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/5 "2021-05-05T07:42:26Z")
It’s probably worth mentioning on my Windows PC, I do have a 4k tv physically connected, but it is **disconnected** in windows display settings for these tests. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/6 "2021-05-05T13:56:01Z")
There’s an existing feature suggestion covering this topic. I suggest you vote/comment in this thread instead to avoid distracting/dispersing votes by too many duplicates > [@Better automatic Movie Version Selection in Plex Apps](https://forums.plex.tv/t/better-automatic-movie-version-selection-in-plex-apps/389737): > > According to the support article for Multi-Version Movies, “When a Plex app goes to play the collapsed item, it will automatically request and play the most suitable item by default” for items that contain multiple versions. I have not seen any documentation beyond this, but whatever the apps are doing to select the version to play does not seem immediately logical. This is most obvious for my movies that have both 4k and 1080p versions of (I maintain the 1080p versions to keep a version with th… Therefore closing this thread. ---
**Author:** ![derekakelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/derekakelly/32/188053_2.png) [@derekakelly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/derekakelly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/7 "2021-05-05T19:16:07Z")
I read their post prior to creating my post. They’re certainly experiencing a similar issue, however I came here mainly because of TV Series episodes having issues. **There is no reference in any documentation that i have found to Multi-Version TV Support.** I only used Movies as a testing method to reproduce my issue. I was able to produce logs in order to help facilitate the process. Their post is over 2 years old without a single reply… ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/8 "2021-05-05T20:25:11Z")
Please correct me if I’m getting your suggestion wrong. The way I’ve been reading it, you’re asking for Plex to improve which quality/version of an item (movie/tv-episode/…) is selected when playing it on a device – e.g. not to pick a 4K version on your 1080p TV if there is a 1080p version of the same video. While the post I linked will also specifically mention this for movies… the underlying story is the same – picking the right / best available version for that client to get the best possible quality with the minimum amount of transcoding (or no transcoding at all). # > [@derekakelly](#): > > Their post is over 2 years old without a single reply… That’s how feature suggestions work. They’re getting even less attention if the same keeps getting requested in new threads (hence the [rules](https://forums.plex.tv/t/please-read-before-submitting-a-feature-suggestion/273976) for the feature suggestion category). ---
**Author:** ![Volts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a5b964/32.png) [@Volts](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Volts)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/9 "2021-05-05T20:33:02Z")
Sorry I added confusion earlier; I was skimming and didn’t notice this was in Feature Suggestions. I believe that the current multiple version support is similar-or-identical for Movies & TV Shows. In both cases you can manually `Play Version ...`, or Plex will choose one to play. So to agree with Tom, maybe this is better as an extension to the other request. * * * I haven’t looked at the logs, but out of curiosity - did you provide all of the versions, or were any created by using the Plex `Optimize` feature? I wonder if the behavior is different. (Also, maybe that’s a better question for the other thread … I’ll go read it …) ---
**Author:** ![derekakelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/derekakelly/32/188053_2.png) [@derekakelly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/derekakelly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/10 "2021-05-05T20:56:07Z")
I’ve copied my information over to the other thread, please close this. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/11 "2021-05-05T22:09:22Z")
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**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/improved-multi-version-movies-and-tv-support/714071/12 "2021-06-10T14:15:34Z")