Plex/AppleTV Direct Play in 2022

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Hello,

We’ve been using AppleTV 4K (latest version box) for the last 18 months or so to stream via Plex. We’ve had varying issues with forced transcoding.

I’m trying to figure out what’s compatible for direct play with Plex/AppleTV in 2022. I saw that previously, ATV could not direct play any MKV containers and therefore transcoded. Has this changed? It appears to be direct playing now but I can’t find any info supporting that.

I’m trying to confirm whether it’s actually direct playing. It appears to be in the info section on AppleTV and the Now Playing on Plex web. Granted, it doesn’t show the container as direct play but I assume if it had to transcode the container, it would give that info?

What, if any, containers is Plex/AppleTV not able to Direct Play in 2022? Thanks in advance!

Server Version#: 1.28.2.6151
Player Version#: AppleTV App version 8.7 (3452)

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If it were converting the container, it should show as Direct Stream rather than Direct Play. Most of my videos are MKVs, and my Apple TV has been Direct Playing for as long as I’ve had it. I think once they switched to a different iOS player in the app a few years back is when that improvement occurred.

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Thanks for the info. I double checked and found it definitely said direct play vs direct streaming.

I don’t understand it. I know it used to transcode everything and researching it more everything I found says all MKV will transcode when playing back on an AppleTV. It’s so confusing. I really want to learn more and understand which is correct.

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