# Option "Auto" for hardware transcoding device

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Tags:** plex-web\
**Created:** [January 7, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371 "2025-01-07T15:53:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SartBimpson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/sartbimpson/32/177961_2.png) [@SartBimpson](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SartBimpson)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371/1 "2025-01-07T15:53:50Z")

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Hey guys,

I just wanted to know what the option “Auto” in the PMS transcoder settings actually does? Does it pick 1 card that performs better and stays with it or is it like a dynamic decision depending which card has more capacities left?

As I have an iGPU and a dGPU currently I’m wondering as for which criteria it decides which card to pick and if it’s a ‘static’ decision or not.

I’d be glad if anybody knows this exactly.

Best wishes!

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**Author:** ![SartBimpson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/sartbimpson/32/177961_2.png) [@SartBimpson](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SartBimpson)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2025, 7:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371/2 "2025-01-19T07:38:16Z")

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Anybody?

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371/3 "2025-01-19T16:14:06Z")

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The GPU to use is selected at startup time of the server.

The rest is explained in the “Tech Specs” section here: [https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SartBimpson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/sartbimpson/32/177961_2.png) [@SartBimpson](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SartBimpson)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371/4 "2025-01-19T16:27:30Z")

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Thank you so much! Perfect answer, didn’t find this article earlier, thank youuuu ☺

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/option-auto-for-hardware-transcoding-device/901371/5 "2025-04-19T16:27:41Z")

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