Any news on this?
I can confirm that it’s only happening for EAC3. Normal AC3, DTS or even DTS-ES is fine with Direct Play but when EAC3 is involved, Fire TV Direct Streams it and with subtitles it transcodes the video.
See if this helps.
I finally figured out what is going on. There is an issue where the Fire TV devices do not properly report their EAC3 capabilities, so there is a bit of an issue determining the proper way to handle files with EAC3 audio. I need to discuss this with the devs and see what can be done. For now, anything with EAC3 audio on the Fire devices will not direct play so any use of subtitles will cause then to be burned in.
Any news on this?
I am facing that issue on my fireTV. And as my running PLex Server on a nas, burning subtitles forces transcode which makes the video stutter as my nas is not strong enough to transcode + subtitles for high video quality.
So for now i am stuck without subtitles.
Thanks
I don’t have any more information on this. We do not have a solution at the moment.
Hello, am bumping this thread because I don’t want to see this issue die out. I had just bought a Firestickv2 for the first time and for the past three days have been trying to figure out why I have the exact same EAC3 audio/subtitle problem as described in this thread while everything is fine (direct plays fine) using the Samsung plex app. So thank god I found this thread, and now I know it’s a bug with the Firestick Plex app and not my settings that I have been playing with for three days!
It’s pretty important to get this fixed because EAC3 is becoming more & more ubiquitous… please get this fixed 
This problem has bothered me so much that after experimenting/installing older builds on to my Firestick gen2, Plex v7.10 EAC3 is working as normal with subs and without subs. Before installing 7.10 I tried 7.11.3 first and that had same EAC3 failures as described in this thread. Didn’t bother with versions 7.11, 7.11.1 and 7.11.2 because after installing 7.10 it seems to be working pretty well. These all Direct Played fine with subs : EAC3, AC3, AAC5.1 which are the three problem children 
So ya, give 7.10 a whirl… Plex: Stream Free Movies & Watch Live TV Shows Now 7.10.0.8875 (arm-v7a) (Android 5.0+) APK Download by Plex, Inc. - APKMirror
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Still not fixed with v7.20! You guys spend all this time working on UNO but can’t fix an EAC3 subtitle video transcode problem that you have KNOWN ABOUT since April… I am very disappointed. When can we please get a fix please? I had even told you that it got broken in the v7.11’s in the post above this one…
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I’m using Plex on a fire TV stick 4K and I have the same issue. Plex is transcoding the video when the subtitles are enable and the audio format is EAC3. My NAS does not have enough power to handle the transcoding. I previously used Plex on a Xiaomi Box 3 without any issue.
My only solution right now, to avoid this bug, is to use the Plex Kodi Addon. The Plex Kodi Addon work very well on the Fire TV but I would like to use the official Plex app!!
In my opinion, the devs can easily fix this. All fire TV users have this issue but don’t take the time to report it.
Please fix this bug in the next update. Thanks
Server Version: 1.16.6.1592
Player Version: 7.21.0.12323
At FTVuser, thanks for posting. What really bugged me (pun intended) was that it took me a long time to figure out that it was a problem with the official Firestick Plex app and not my own settings. I mean c’mon, it’s PLEX for probably the MOST USED streaming device … you would think they would want it to work perfectly… ah, who am I kidding. I hope more people complain now that EAC3 is becoming much more used and subtitles are getting to be more popular.
Keywords : Plex Fire TV Stick Firestick EAC3 Dolby Digital subtitles transcode
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Wanna bump this thread cause it’s still an issue. A no good user experience.
Thanks for your solution @andybkma. I gave the 7.10 api a whirl. But no luck here. It still transcodes on my AFTT Gen2.
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same here. It still burns in my SRT subtitels
only in my Amazon Stick. Andorid itself runs fine with direct play. Cant select the same in some movies in my Amazon Stick. Seems like its related to subtitels. Even if they are turned off everywhere, in Server, in Amazon… sucks
Looks like you have some other limit being applied. Look at the overall video bitrate. That is causing the video to transcode. That causes the subtitles to also get transcoded into the video.
yeah u could think related to my screenshot but even the 4k version plays seemless.
The system is set to max quality in server (for remote streaming in general settings) as well as during the playback. It still transcodes, even if the subtitles are set to “off” in Plexserver as well as Amazon Plex app. As you can see it still lists subtitles to be played back even if its selected “no subtitles” in playback.
I also disabled the option for dynamically adjust the quality in my server. If i do the same movie with my Pixel 2XL or my LG Tv app it runs fine with direct play. And other movies with 100% same video format run without any issue on the same Amazon Stick and same app with direct play.
I just converted the same movies and removed the subtitels only while keeping a copy of video and audio tracks to do the proove on that subtitles causing the issue. Ill report later on.
Beside this whole stuff there should be an option to completely disable transcode (video) at all.
Edit: Just tested the same stream without any subtitels embedded to my mkv file
without subtitels it runs with direct stream.
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I can only go by what you provide. In the screnshot you had subtitles enabled. You also have some other setting that was limiting the playback to 879 Kbps. You need to provide the details for the specific scenario you are talking about. Under this scenario from your screen shot, it will transcode so that is expected.
I’ll need to see the logs from PMS and the app if this is happening. Right now I only see that PMS thinks subtitles are used.
So the issue is only with this 1 video?
I dont have. During the playback it was set to “off”. The second screen does not show them as i used ffmpeg to copy the movie 1:1 without the subtitle tracks.
In addition, I did not limit the bandwith. As said, on an amazon fire tv stick, the stick / the plex app on it does anything pretty weird once the subtitle is embedded to that mkv file - anything weird which leads to the fact that it always transfers the subtitle + trancodes. Same movie runs well once I remove the subtitles from that track.
nope, I currently dont have the stick with me to test it more in detail to figure out what rules need to be fit to force that behaviour. Maybe there is a flag on the subtitle tracks which forces them on the amazon plex app, no matter what you choose on playback.
Ill try to update once i found the single detail missing here yeah.
If you replay that file then provide me the logs from PMS and the Android app, I can see exactly what is going on.
as i cant access the amazon stick right now its hard to test it currently but ill try to find the logs from he day before yesterday. Gimme some time.
Edit: I downloaded the logs the time i tested
Logs_2019-10-16_11-42-48.zip (4.9 MB)
pw via message
Well, you need the device to get the logs. No rush, just get me the logs the next time you do use the device.
see post before, i downloaded the logs of the server that day.
Edit. While other devices seem to be fine with direct play in the same file i hardly guess its a issue of the fire tv stick plex app. I faced the same only on a fire TV this summer and did not get behind so the problem existes longer already.
And it only affects some movies.
Im on to prepare a small test library with the 2 versions of that movie + an other working and then we will see. I can easily share it as well.
