So I’ve been pretty bloody happy with Intel’s QuickSync on Windows 10. I’ve had 4 simultaneous hw transcodes, 2 x 720p H264, 1 x 1080p H265 and 1 x 1080p HEVC at a time. I feel that’s pretty good.
My issue is that sometimes plex decides not to hw transcode and I’m wondering if there is a technical explanation that might help me understand why this is the case.
In my specific case, the last non-hw transcode was a 720p H264 MKV.
You can attach a zip file of the XML Information for that video.
Some files aren’t converted in HW if they have specs out of range, i.e. very high bitrate x264.
You can enable debugging, restart the PMS, try to play that video, then stop it and post the server log files. Disable debug after that.
If you use PMP rather than Plex for Windows, is there any difference in how it behaves?
In PMP, you can enter TV Mode, play the video and press I to see detailed playback info.
The website article on Hardware Accelerated Streaming is a good read. It describes how you can force hardware decoding if it can do so, by choosing a 480p output from the 720p. Does that work?
Hey nibbles!! First up, you’re a legend for your response and guidance on how I should be investigating why this might be the case. I will gather some evidence, read the articles you’ve linked, and update this post accordingly.
