# Playback Bitrate double File metadata Bitrate?

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/playback-bitrate-double-file-metadata-bitrate/197945>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [July 4, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/playback-bitrate-double-file-metadata-bitrate/197945 "2017-07-04T01:10:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![antigravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c37758/32.png) [@antigravity](https://forums.plex.tv/u/antigravity)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/playback-bitrate-double-file-metadata-bitrate/197945/1 "2017-07-04T01:10:49Z")

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Hi everyone,

Due to limited bandwidth, - I’ve made a conscious effort to add files to my Plex Library with a total bitrate of at most 5000kbps

However, when playing back files, the reported bitrate is double what is specified in the File metadata.

Now I know that bitrate varies- but double?

Here are some screenshots, 1. of the File Metadata on the Plex Server

 ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/c/6/c61619e48c51d8325d63c9ecdf950483401c10a4.png)

and then the message I receive when attempting to Direct Play the same file on an Android Device (with a server transcode limit of 4000kbps)

What is the cause of this issue?

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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:** [July 4, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/playback-bitrate-double-file-metadata-bitrate/197945/3 "2017-07-04T20:25:09Z")

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Plex determines the real bitrate of video files very carefully.  
All transcoding decisions are based on this ‘extensive analysis’.  
The thing is: if the extensive analysis is not performed, Plex uses an estimation based on the average bitrate+“safety margin”, which might sometimes be a bit too cautious.

So make sure you let your Plex server perform the ‘extensive media analysis’ during the [server maintenance](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/202197488-Scheduled-Server-Maintenance "server maintenance").

You can view the results of this analysis, btw.  
Call up the [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info") of the video.  
Then edit the URL in the browser window. where it says `includeExtras` change it to `includeBandwidths`, then presss Enter.  
The results are in the `requiredBandwidths=` numbers.

They are determined for different network buffer sizes.  
Which means, a playback device with a bigger network buffer may get less often a transcoded video from your server than a device with a small network buffer.

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**Author:** ![antigravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c37758/32.png) [@antigravity](https://forums.plex.tv/u/antigravity)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/playback-bitrate-double-file-metadata-bitrate/197945/4 "2017-07-05T02:26:16Z")

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Ok great thanks for the answer guys- will check out my settings.

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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:** [January 7, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/playback-bitrate-double-file-metadata-bitrate/197945/5 "2020-01-07T23:29:21Z")

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