It is possible?
Para android funciona perfectamente la aplicaciĂłn Plex de play store, porque necesitas openPHT.
openpht runs ac3, eac3, captions and etc without transcoding anything.
So does VLC. If youâre looking for local playback or to cast local files from an android device, sync your media and then use VLC to play/cast it. Plex doesnât seem to have any interest in enabling eac3 support in their exoplayer implementation, even though most devices that youâd cast to support 5.1 audio.
how i can active plex on vlc?
You canât. Itâs for local playback or casting local files.
@lepitismak said:
It is possible?
Sure, anything is possible. Someone would just need to port it to work on Android.
@bogus83 said:
So does VLC. If youâre looking for local playback or to cast local files from an android device, sync your media and then use VLC to play/cast it. Plex doesnât seem to have any interest in enabling eac3 support in their exoplayer implementation, even though most devices that youâd cast to support 5.1 audio.
EAC3 is not the same as 5.1 support. If your device supports EAC3, the Plex app will support it.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ Iâm aware that EAC3 isnât the only 5.1 surround audio codec, but it is definitely the most commonly used surround audio codec for TV shows. The Plex app will not play EAC3 audio on an Android device if that deviceâs default player wonât, but pretty much every other media player for android will. MXPlayer will. VLC will. Kodi and its variants will. And ExoPlayer is capable of playing EAC3 audio via the ffmpeg extension, which is what it uses to play AC3 audio, but that functionality is restricted in Plexâs implementation for some reason. I suspect thatâs because there are licensing issues involved, but youâre reluctant to admit that an app with a monthly payment system is restricting features due to licensing.
So yes, 5.1 playback is technically possible if you use lower quality AC3 audio, but EAC3, which is demonstrably possible to support, is not supported. And that means if you want to use Plex for local playback on an Android device, you must transcode the video locally before watching it- which is difficult or impossible to do since there are very few functional transcoding tools on that platform.
And this is why VLC is a superior option. Higher quality codecs are supported natively, as is chromecast functionality which Kodi and MXPlayer do not have. There is no charge for the app, no monthly fees, no manual codec installations, no excuses, it just supports current codecs without issue. It can also stream media from your Plex server back-end via DLNA, which means thereâs really no reason to use the Plex app at all unless you want to look at the pretty pictures. (To be fair, it does look nicer.)
On a related note, back in March you publicly stated that the Android app now has on-device transcoding. From this announcement:
âIf the video or audio format isnât supported, not a problem! Plex for Android now supports on-the-fly transcoding, which is pretty incredible for a mobile phone.â
And it would be pretty incredible, except the feature doesnât seem to actually exist. Or if it does, itâs limited in what itâs capable of transcoding and the details arenât provided anywhere.
If you have any input on these subjects Iâd be interested to hear it.
Ok, your statement wasnât very clear. Yes, the newest Plex Android app does support client side decoding of certain audio codecs including EAC3. If itâs not working for you, please provide the log from the app when playing back a file with EAC3. There is a limitation in the Plex app that we cannot downmix the audio (5.1 -> 2.0). So if you have 5.1 EAC3, then your device needs to support some sort of 5.1 audio, and the app we decode EAC3 to the supported codec. If your device doesnât support 5.1, then PMS will have to transcode the audio, otherwise you get 0 sound.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ Okay, Iâve attached my logs. For the purposes of this example, I first cleared all app data, then uninstalled and reinstalled the Plex Android app. After logging in with my Plex account, I first attempted to play a 1080p/EAC3 file using the apps default settings, and received a message that âVideo requires a Plex Media Serverâ and that âPlex for Android canât play this video directly from a device.â After that, I went into the menu â Settings â Advanced â Player, and under âOptional audio supportâ I noted that all four options (AC3, EAC3, DTS, and TrueHD) were listed as Unsupported, and it was not possible to check or uncheck the boxes next to them.
At this point I attempted opening the file with the deviceâs default media player (itâs a Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, so the player is simply called âVideo Playerâ). As anticipated, it opened the video, but could not play the audio, and displayed an error about an unsupported codec. Next, I used Video Player to open a second file, a 720p/AC3 file, and got the same result- the video played, but the audio did not, and I received the same error message.
Next, I went back to the Plex app and opened that 720p/AC3 file. The app displayed a popup saying âUpdating Player Supportâ, and it then opened the file and played both the video AND audio. I need to reiterate this point to be as clear as possible: The Plex app added functionality that was not available to the device previously. This can be confirmed in the log file, in this section:
Request for audioCodec/ac3
05-11 14:48:33.517 i: [UserAction] Click âplayâ button in preplay activity.
05-11 14:48:33.521 i: [PlaybackManager] Preparing for [filename redacted]
05-11 14:48:33.522 i: [PlaybackManager] Audio codec required: ac3
05-11 14:48:33.523 i: [LocalPlaybackManager] No selected subtitle.
05-11 14:48:33.524 i: [CodecManager] Attempting to download: ac3
05-11 14:48:33.524 i: Fetching [method:POST] http://127.0.0.1:32500/services/codecs/decoder/ac3
05-11 14:48:33.534 i: [pms] /127.0.0.1:59822 - POST /services/codecs/decoder/ac3
05-11 14:48:34.492 i: [CodecManager] Codec downloaded.
05-11 14:48:34.520 i: [LocalPlaybackManager] Codecs downloaded successfullly
Not only did it add functionality that wasnât there before, it acquired it from a source local to the device! Which indicates to me that the Plex app has the codec support provided by ffmpeg, but that it is disabled by default.
After stopping the video I went back into the settings and noted that AC3 was no longer grayed out or listed as Unsupported in the Optional audio support setting. However, even after this, the 1080p/EAC3 file refused to play at all, which indicates that audio transcoding is not working, even when downmixing is not required.
Finally, I went back to the Advanced Player settings and enabled External Player. After doing that, the 1080p/EAC3 file opened and began playing the video, but with no audio.
So now I have a few questions:
If AC3 and EAC3 are both unsupported by the deviceâs native video player, and if Plex relies on the deviceâs native capabilities, how was Plex able to update itself and enable AC3 playback?
Why canât it do the same thing for the EAC3 codec? I suspect that the resolution to this issue is as simple as allowing the app to update itself in exactly the way that it already does for AC3. The ffmpeg extension that provides codec support for both formats is already there, and it clearly works to enable AC3.
Also, if I understand your previous post correctly, since the Plex app is able to play 5.1 AC3 audio, it should be able to decode or transcode EAC3 to that format. Why doesnât this happen?
I made a mistake. I double checked the app, and we do not support local decoding of EAC3 or other Dolby Digital codecs, except AC3.
So what you saw with AC3 was expected. If an audio or video codec isnât supported by the device, the app will download the needed codec to allow for client side decoding, except for EAC3 and Dolby mentioned above.
To play an unsupportable codec, PMS has to transcode it. It sounds like you were trying to play a locally saved file and not streamed from PMS. When playing local files, there is no transcoder, so it is not possible to play an unsupportable codec.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ Come on now man, only one of the following statements can possibly be true. Which is it?
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
When playing local files, there is no transcoder, so it is not possible to play an unsupportable codec.
or
@âPlexBlogâ said:
âIf the video or audio format isnât supported, not a problem! Plex for Android now supports on-the-fly transcoding, which is pretty incredible for a mobile phone.â Source link
Youâre not being entirely forthcoming with your answer here. Even if there is no transcoder and that public announcement was a lie, that doesnât address the fact that ExoPlayer already has the ffmpeg extension which supports EAC3, DTS, DTS-HD, and TrueHD. Theyâre not âunsupportableâ, as evidenced by ExoPlayerâs own documentation, and the fact that several other media players use ffmpeg to support these formats on the same device.
Hereâs the FFMpeg configuration that Plex is using:
14:46:11.090 i: [FF] FFmpeg Configuration: `âdisable-static --enable-shared --disable-libx264 --disable-hwaccels --disable-protocol=concat --external-decoder=h264 --enable-debug --enable-muxers --disable-gmp --disable-avdevice --disable-bzlib --disable-sdl2 --disable-decoders --disable-devices --disable-encoders --disable-ffprobe --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --disable-vda --disable-doc --disable-iconv --disable-lzma --disable-schannel --arch=aarch64 --target-os=android
In case it needs to be spelled out further, youâre disabling the encoders and decoders from the config line. Which aligns with your statement:
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
âŠwe do not support local decoding of EAC3 or other Dolby Digital codecs, except AC3.
Thatâs a lot different from claiming that theyâre âunsupportableâ, which they arenât. Itâs clear that Plex is choosing not to support something that it easily can. All Iâm looking for is a solution or a straight answer as to why that is. Why wouldnât you support something that you already have the built-in capability to support?
Ah I see what you are saying. Let me clarify a few things.
There are certain codecs that we are unable to support on Android, EAC3 being one of them. When streaming from PMS, EAC3 is supported so the transcoder can convert it to another format if needed. On the Android client, we canât do anything with an unsupported codec. If the device supports it natively, you get sound. Otherwise, you get nothing. Playing locally, there is no need to transcode. Either the codec is supported natively and it works, we support it in the client and decode it, or if itâs not supported (like EAC3) thereâs nothing we can do.
The transcoder thing mentioned in the blog is when you are flinging local content from the Android app to another Plex client. But the limitation of codecs still exists. If the app supports that codec, we can transcode it to something else so the target device can play it. If itâs not supported, like EAC3, then we can only pass it along as is. The blog is a little light on this detail. I will bring this up with the team responsible for the blog to clarify that statement. The Android app does not use the full FFMPEG, which is why there are limitations. If you ran PMS on Android with the full FFMPEG, then there are no limitations and we could transcode EAC3.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ Okay, thanks for the explanation. Although it does seem like weâve taken the roundabout way to confirm what was already stated.
@bogus83 said on May 7th:
Plex doesnât seem to have any interest in enabling eac3 support in their exoplayer implementation
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said on May 12th:
There are certain codecs that we are unable to support on Android, EAC3 being one of them.
.
@bogus83 said:
Itâs clear that Plex is choosing not to support something that it can.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
The Android app does not use the full FFMPEG, which is why there are limitations.
Now that weâve established that, can you answer why those features are being excluded? You stated:
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
Either the codec is supported natively and it works, we support it in the client and decode it, or if itâs not supported (like EAC3) thereâs nothing we can do.
But that is a false statement. EAC3 is fully supported by the FFMPEG extension for ExoPlayer, as Iâve pointed out in their official documentation multiple times now, and you just admitted to voluntarily not supporting it. So there absolutely IS something you can do.
Since there is no technical or platform limitation that would prevent it, the most obvious reason that itâs being excluded is that it would cost a few cents to a dollar per client for the license to distribute them. Putting aside the fact that youâre already charging users money for the client, youâre currently disabling all encoders and decoders by default and selectively enabling them (as seen with the AC3 added feature). And that means that if the cost of licensing EAC3 (and/or DTS and TrueHD) would take too much away from your profits, you could offer an additional in-app purchase to enable them. I would be annoyed but willing to spend another dollar or two to enable Plex to work as well as the various free solutions that currently have more features, just so I could play all of my media in a single app. And I suspect Iâm not alone.
Edit: On a side note regarding the transcoding feature, Google Cast supports AAC, MP3, FLAC, and WAV, which Plex also supports. And even after Plex for Android updates its support for AC3, youâve stated that itâs incapable of downmixing 5.1 to stereo. So youâre either playing a format that the Cast receiver can already play natively, or youâre playing a format that canât be transcoded. There is no audio use case that will ever trigger transcoding.
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@bogus83 said:
Since there is no technical or platform limitation that would prevent it
I donât know the details. We do support EAC3 in the full PMS setup so I donât think itâs a license issue. My best knowledge is that it is a technical issue in the mobile app.
Edit: On a side note regarding the transcoding feature, Google Cast supports AAC, MP3, FLAC, and WAV, which Plex also supports. And even after Plex for Android updates its support for AC3, youâve stated that itâs incapable of downmixing 5.1 to stereo. So youâre either playing a format that the Cast receiver can already play natively, or youâre playing a format that canât be transcoded. There is no audio use case that will ever trigger transcoding.
DTS. Also, the transcoder is used for all flinging, not just to a Chromecast. You can fling to the Plex iOS app, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, and Smart TVs. The capabilities of these are all different and some are more limited in their capabilities than the Chromecast.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
My best knowledge is that it is a technical issue in the mobile app.
Look, I know youâre just first-level support, and Iâm not trying to give you personally a hard time. But thatâs been disproven already. Just take a look at the ExoPlayer documentation link that Iâve provided in every post so far. If youâre unwilling to do that, can you please just ask someone who actually works on the product? Itâs a very straightforward question- why isnât EAC3 enabled- and Iâm certain it has a straightforward answer.
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
DTS. Also, the transcoder is used for all flinging, not just to a Chromecast. You can fling to the Plex iOS app, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, and Smart TVs. The capabilities of these are all different and some are more limited in their capabilities than the Chromecast.
DTS?? Plex for Android cannot play DTS, so as you stated it can never transcode that format to anything else. As for the rest of the players you mentioned, they all support at least as much as the Android app, and in most cases, they support much more. Since the app canât downmix from AC3 to stereo, and it canât play EAC3, there isnât a single device out of the list that you mentioned that will ever use the appâs transcoding.
iOS natively supports AC3 and EAC3.
Apple TV supports: AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, WAV; AC-3, and E-AC-3 (source)
Roku supports: AAC, MP3 , WMA , WAV (PCM) , AIFF , FLAC , ALAC , AC3 , E-AC3. (source)
Fire TV supports: Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, AMR-NB, AMR-WB (source)
And your own support article says that Plex for Smart TV can Direct Play AAC.
Heck, even the PS4 supports AAC and AC3, with or without the Plex app.
@bogus83 said:
@âMovieFan.Plexâ said:
My best knowledge is that it is a technical issue in the mobile app.Look, I know youâre just first-level support, and Iâm not trying to give you personally a hard time. But thatâs been disproven already. Just take a look at the ExoPlayer documentation link that Iâve provided in every post so far. If youâre unwilling to do that, can you please just ask someone who actually works on the product? Itâs a very straightforward question- why isnât EAC3 enabled- and Iâm certain it has a straightforward answer.
I did ask the team and it is not possible to support EAC3 in the mobile app at this time. I cannot go into the details, but there is a limitation. This is similar to other audio codecs. The full PMS supports Dolby True-HD, but the mobile version doesnât. This might change in the future, but for now, it is not possible.
DTS?? Plex for Android cannot play DTS, so as you stated it can never transcode that format to anything else.
Yes it can. The app can decode regular 5.1 DTS. The advanced versions are not supported like DTS-HD MA. The app can extract the DTS core and decode that or transcode it to another 5.1 format if needed.
Well, as long as you refuse to provide any details Iâm going to have to assume you didnât actually ask anyone, because the documentation for the player that youâre using not only states that it IS supported, but shows how to enable it. You are using the " --disable-decoders --disable-devices --disable-encoders" flags in your config to turn those features off. Thatâs not a platform limitation. Thatâs an intentional limitation which you refuse to give an honest explanation for.
As for DTS⊠huh, look at that. **Even though itâs listed as unsupported in the app, when I attempted to play a test file Plex updated itself and now supports the format. **
Just like it did for AC3, which wasnât supported natively but was added to Plex afterwards. But unlike EAC3, which is also supported by exactly the same extension that enables DTS and AC3. I guess we really canât believe anything Plex says.
Seeing as how this thread has been hijacked and driven off-topic by one spewing ignorance and vitriol, itâs usefulness to the community has long since passed. Closing.
