Plex and 4K videos

General Discussions
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4k videos transcoding rather than direct playing

I’m running PLEX on an I7/16GB with Windows 10. Seagate NAS connected. All fine except 4k videos. They’re transcoding rather than playing directly which is causing lots of buffering including using the web client on the server itself. Lots to read about this out there and it’s hard to sift through if its relevant to me. The movies are standard 4k movies. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Wayne Hann

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WRT web client, make sure the browser itself supports 4K. Plex support for 4K via web browsers was only recently added (v3.69.1). Login via plex.tv, not directly to PMS IP address, to make sure you’re using latest version of Plex Web.

If on PC/Mac, try Plex Media Player instead of Plex Web. It has less limitations than a browser and will direct play more media.

Do you have subtitles enabled? If so, what happens when they are disabled? Enabling subtitles can cause video transcodes on some clients.

What clients, besides web, and make/model of attached TVs / Monitors / etc?

What is shown in Status -> Now Playing for each type of client when playing 4K media? What is transcoding, video, audio, or both?

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Thanks for your reply. Very helpful indeed

I tried the Plex Media Player on Windows 10 and now the 4k videos are delivered in Direct Play from the PMS. Success. From the web app they transcode.

My big challenge is with Fire TV. When I use Plex client on Fire TV, the video and audio is transcoding (video: HEVC to H264, audio: AAC to EAC3).The ATV is second generation. Any tips you can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks

Wayne Hann

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For Android TV devices, including FireTV, in Plex client set Display Information = On.

During playback pull up the on-screen controls (press the bottom of the ring on remote, etc).

Look in top left corner of screen. It will show if media is direct play, direct stream, or transcoding. If one of latter two it should provide a reason.

Also, check the capabilities of your FireTV against the media you’re playing. See Device Specifications for Fire TV. For example, the FireTV Stick Gen 2 does not support 4K HEVC video. The FireTV Box Gen 2 does support 4K HEVC video, but not HDR.

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When I play a 4K video on ATV and watch the PMC, the PMC status says that there is both audio and video transcoding, video from HEVC TO H.264.

I’ll see if I can set up the ‘Display Information’ to on and see what it says.

Thanks

Wayne

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There’s no equivalent to display information in the Plex for Apple TV client.
Also… an Apple TV 2 is not able to playback 4K – hence the transcoding (probably even down to 720p).

From Apple’s technical specifications for the Apple TV 2:

Video formats

  • H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
  • MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
  • Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

Only the current model (Apple TV 4K) is capable to playback 4K content (hence the name).

Edit: added link to Apple TV 4K tech specs

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Very helpful suggestion. With Display Information set to On, I see the following in top left:

Player: ExoPlayer v2

Video: Transcode

Audio: Transcode

Size:3840x1584

Transcode Reason: unable to direct play as this media is not compatible with the device

I guess it’s clear then isn’t it. I thought I had a 4K Fire TV. Maybe not.

The ‘About’ on Fire TV says:

Software version: Fire OS 5.2.6.6 (617513220)

Fire Tv Home Version 6.0.9.1-014

Checking to see the compatibility on this device.

Appreciate any further suggestions you have. Thanks for your suggestions thus far. Feel I’m getting close.

Wayne Hann

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Verify the model of your FireTV.

  • The Cube, Pendant, & Box are easily identified by their unique shapes. These support 4K HEVC media to varying degrees.
  • If you have a FireTV stick it will not support 4K HEVC media.

The only FireTV Stick that supports 4K is the new FireTV Stick 4K (2018) that does not ship until 31 October.

To help compare capabilities of clients to media:

Analyze your media using MediaInfo. Output is available in several views (XML, HTML, etc). Personally, I prefer text.

You can also use Get Info / Show XML in Plex Web / Plex Media Player clients. See Investigate Media Information and Formats.

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