More and more formats don't play unless transcoded

[dansity]

Hello,
I have this issue where some movies refuse to play. Same happening on the web as well on my android TV (MiBOX S). Said movies play perfectly on desktop in VLC and Haruna. I tested with jellyfin on the same devices and it also plays there without transcoding.
Looking at the video stream data I dont see anything spectacular, it is a standard h264 stream.

Here are some FFMPEG probes:

[STREAM]
index=0
codec_name=h264
codec_long_name=H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10
profile=High
codec_type=video
codec_tag_string=[0][0][0][0]
codec_tag=0x0000
width=1920
height=1080
coded_width=1920
coded_height=1080
closed_captions=0
film_grain=0
has_b_frames=1
sample_aspect_ratio=1:1
display_aspect_ratio=16:9
pix_fmt=yuv420p
level=41
color_range=unknown
color_space=unknown
color_transfer=unknown
color_primaries=unknown
chroma_location=unspecified
field_order=progressive
refs=1
id=N/A
r_frame_rate=24000/1001
avg_frame_rate=24000/1001
time_base=1/1000
start_pts=0
start_time=0.000000
duration_ts=N/A
duration=N/A
bit_rate=N/A
max_bit_rate=N/A
bits_per_raw_sample=N/A
nb_frames=N/A
nb_read_frames=N/A
nb_read_packets=N/A
extradata_size=64
DISPOSITION:default=0
DISPOSITION:dub=0
DISPOSITION:original=0
DISPOSITION:comment=0
DISPOSITION:lyrics=0
DISPOSITION:karaoke=0
DISPOSITION:forced=0
DISPOSITION:hearing_impaired=0
DISPOSITION:visual_impaired=0
DISPOSITION:clean_effects=0
DISPOSITION:attached_pic=0
DISPOSITION:timed_thumbnails=0
DISPOSITION:non_diegetic=0
DISPOSITION:captions=0
DISPOSITION:descriptions=0
DISPOSITION:metadata=0
DISPOSITION:dependent=0
DISPOSITION:still_image=0
DISPOSITION:multilayer=0
TAG:language=eng
TAG:title=
[/STREAM]
[STREAM]
index=1
codec_name=truehd
codec_long_name=TrueHD
profile=Dolby TrueHD + Dolby Atmos
codec_type=audio
codec_tag_string=[0][0][0][0]
codec_tag=0x0000
sample_fmt=s32
sample_rate=48000
channels=8
channel_layout=7.1
bits_per_sample=0
initial_padding=0
id=N/A
r_frame_rate=0/0
avg_frame_rate=0/0
time_base=1/1000
start_pts=0
start_time=0.000000
duration_ts=N/A
duration=N/A
bit_rate=N/A
max_bit_rate=N/A
bits_per_raw_sample=24
nb_frames=N/A
nb_read_frames=N/A
nb_read_packets=N/A
DISPOSITION:default=1
DISPOSITION:dub=0
DISPOSITION:original=0
DISPOSITION:comment=0
DISPOSITION:lyrics=0
DISPOSITION:karaoke=0
DISPOSITION:forced=0
DISPOSITION:hearing_impaired=0
DISPOSITION:visual_impaired=0
DISPOSITION:clean_effects=0
DISPOSITION:attached_pic=0
DISPOSITION:timed_thumbnails=0
DISPOSITION:non_diegetic=0
DISPOSITION:captions=0
DISPOSITION:descriptions=0
DISPOSITION:metadata=0
DISPOSITION:dependent=0
DISPOSITION:still_image=0
DISPOSITION:multilayer=0
TAG:language=eng
TAG:title=
[/STREAM]
[STREAM]
index=2
codec_name=ac3
codec_long_name=ATSC A/52A (AC-3)
profile=unknown
codec_type=audio
codec_tag_string=[0][0][0][0]
codec_tag=0x0000
sample_fmt=fltp
sample_rate=48000
channels=6
channel_layout=5.1(side)
bits_per_sample=0
initial_padding=0
id=N/A
r_frame_rate=0/0
avg_frame_rate=0/0
time_base=1/1000
start_pts=0
start_time=0.000000
duration_ts=N/A
duration=N/A
bit_rate=640000
max_bit_rate=N/A
bits_per_raw_sample=N/A
nb_frames=N/A
nb_read_frames=N/A
nb_read_packets=N/A
DISPOSITION:default=0
DISPOSITION:dub=0
DISPOSITION:original=0
DISPOSITION:comment=0
DISPOSITION:lyrics=0
DISPOSITION:karaoke=0
DISPOSITION:forced=0
DISPOSITION:hearing_impaired=0
DISPOSITION:visual_impaired=0
DISPOSITION:clean_effects=0
DISPOSITION:attached_pic=0
DISPOSITION:timed_thumbnails=0
DISPOSITION:non_diegetic=0
DISPOSITION:captions=0
DISPOSITION:descriptions=0
DISPOSITION:metadata=0
DISPOSITION:dependent=0
DISPOSITION:still_image=0
DISPOSITION:multilayer=0
TAG:language=eng
TAG:title=Surround 5.1
[/STREAM]

On the web when the movie starts it defaults to 720p with transcoding with no option to change it to play original or have higher quality encode:

Log files attached:
Plex Media Server Logs_2025-05-26_13-11-39.zip (4.2 MB)

[tom80H]

Sounds like there might be some arbitrary restriction, as if the connection is considered to be remote / indirect?

What information is showing in the “now playing” tile for that playback on the Plex server dashboard?

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/

[dansity]

I’m on local network, PC is connected via gigabit switch to the same network where plex server is running
This is what I see, the movie is forcefully transcoded:

This is the better case as at least it starts to play. Some other movie just triest to start and never starts

Remote access is disabled:

Web player quality settings:

Network settings, the 192.168.1.1 subnet is configured as local:

I have changed the remote stream quality under remote access and now the movie refuses to start:

[ChristianKent]

It says right there in your screenshot that you have a limit of 720p and the file you’re playing is 1080p

[dansity]

That is for remote playback. Remote is turned off as well under network the subnet for local play is configured to be 192.168.1.1. Both my PC and plex server are on the same subnet, see previous screenshots.
Anyway i have changed that to 1080p and the movie no longer plays, see screenshot above

[TheLivingBubba]

What happens when you turn off auto adjust quality (beta) on web player ?
Also, what does your debug screen say? Maybe try resetting it at the bottom.

[dansity]

disabling auto adjust quality resolved the issue in the web player