Common Terms:
Direct Play - The entire file plays as is, nothing is changed.
Direct - The indicated stream is being directly copied by the transcoder.
Direct Stream - One or more streams are being directly copied.
Transcoding - The indicated stream needs to be converted to a compatible format.
App settings - The settings for the Xbox One app. These are located inside the app itself when you select your name from the top right.
(e)AC3 - Dolby Digital (AC3) or Dolby Digital Plus (eAC3)
Limitations:
- Image Based subtitles will cause a transcode as the subtitles need to be burned into the video stream. SRT subtitles will allow the app to display the subtitles as soft subtitles (No Transcoding)
- Audio channels are currently limited to a max of 6 channels. 7.1 Audio will trigger a transcode down to 5.1.
- Audio pass through is currently not supported. If the audio codec is not supported by the Xbox One for decoding it will trigger a transcode.
- H264 holding 4K video will cause issues. Anytime 4K HEVC needs to be transcoded it will transcode to 1080p H264.
- Using the Dolby Atmos app does not grant the Plex app access to decode Dolby Atmos streams. The audio codec still needs to be compatible with the Xbox One decoders. The only known Atmos stream that will currently direct play is (e)AC3 with Atmos position stream.
- The original Xbox One (non-S and X models) cannot direct stream HEVC. These streams will be transcoded if any other limitations is met.
- File starts direct playing and then switches to transcoding mid-stream. This is expected behavior and occurs when the app encounters an error with a file that is currently playing. Instead of rejecting the stream and displaying an error the app will first attempt to switch to a transcoded stream and continue playback.
- An Amplifier, home theater, or sound bar always displays the same format during playback. This is currently expected behavior. Because the app does not passthrough the output from the Xbox One will always be what is selected in the Xbox One system settings.
Known issues
Please note that these aren’t in any priority or meaningful order, but if they’re here we’re working on them.
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Audio Cutting Out
Symptom:
During playback all audio stops while the video continues to play. This currently occurs when display mode switching is enabled.Workarounds:
- Uncheck allow display mode switching from the video options.
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Xbox One X Forced Transcoding
Symptom:
During playback the video will initially start direct playing and then buffer and begin transcoding.There is currently no workaround for this issue. During troubleshooting transcoding is the proper action. It is still being investigated as to why the app is reporting direct play before the buffering and transcoding begin.
Possible Workaround
It is possible that a secondary audio stream is being incorrectly reported as the main audio stream. The app then attempts to play the secondary audio stream which causes the media player to crash. This will trigger the app to then fallback into transcoding. To try and workaround this verify that the 1st audio track is marked as the default audio track.
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3D Video
Symptom:
During playback the 3D HSBS (Half side-by-side) video only displays a single half of the video. This appears to be an internal function of the Xbox One and not a behavior that currently can be changed.
What Should Happen:
During playback the 3D HSBS image should display on screen with both the left and right fields. This will allow the user to switch their TV/display device into 3D mode to recreate the 3D image.There is no method for automatic TV mode switching through the Xbox One app, so manual TV mode switching is the current expected behavior.
Troubleshooting
When requesting support please follow these steps:
- Restart Server - This ensures a new clean log
- Enable logging to server from the app settings - This adds additional debugging information to server log
- Reproduce the issue
- Gather the Plex Media Server.log and attach to forum post
Enabling server logs:
