Plex H264 Maximum Level?

[caputo00]

Server Version#: 1.18.2.2029
Player Version#: 3.104.2
Windows 10

i can’t seem to find this setting, is it available in the desktop player (3.104.2)?

also, is this setting just for transcoding or does it effect direct play as well?

speaking of which, what about the setting “use hardware acceleration when available”, does that only effect transcoding or does it also effect direct play?

thanks!

[darcilicious]

Are you accessing Settings from TV Mode?

You can read a little more about H.264 levels here:

H.264 Maximum Level for various TVs

I’m finding a lot of conflicting information on what the H.264 Maximum Level should be set to for smart TVs running Plex natively. Hardware details are below. I’m mostly playing ripped/compressed BR movies and live TV Comcast feed through a SiliconDust HDHomeRun. I just recently found the settings to allow the clients to play a higher quality. My server can easily transcode, but I want the highest quality that will work. The Plex client on all my devices indicates 4.1 is the recommended setting …

and here:

Maximum H.264 Level > (Help Text)

Server Version#: 1.16.3.1402 Player Version#: 3.1.13.5830 Settings > Video > Maximum H.264 Level > (Help Text) Choose the maximum H.264 level to be considered when deciding if the media will Direct Play, Direct Stream, or Transcode. This has to be the most confusing tooltip ever written. How does this setting influence one outcome over another?

@caputo00

what about the setting “use hardware acceleration when available”, does that only effect transcoding or does it also effect direct play?

It only effects transcoding since that’s done on the server side; direct play means the client is doing all the work and the server is sending the file “as-is”; it’s not actually much “work” for the client since direct play implies the client can just play the file.

[caputo00]

@darcilicious

thanks very much for your replies… yes, i did see those links and quite a few more but still can’t quite figure it out, nor can i locate the settings… to answer your question tho, yes i’ve looked in both tv mode and non-tv mode, in fact i wasn’t even aware of this setting until i saw this info when streaming a movie in tv mode… when i saw that the maximum level in the info pane was -1 i decided to google “plex maximum h264 level” but didn’t find anything that found very helpful… is a -1 normal?

[caputo00]

@darcilicious

also, as i mentioned earlier, i don’t seem to have the “h264 maximum level” setting on my build… my build on the left (tv mode), another build i pulled from the net on the right:

[OttoKerner]

This setting is irrelevant for Plex Media Player, because it supports them all.

You can find it only on more limited hardware platforms like Android or Roku.

[caputo00]

ok, sounds great to me, but what about the “-1” that shows for maximum h264 level in the info page when a movie is streaming, what’s that all about? thanks!

[OttoKerner]

It means there is no upper limit for the Level value.

[caputo00]

thank you @Ottokerner !

[OttoKerner]

You might want to reduce the size of your network buffer. 500MB will make the server and your network connection work more than necessary in many/most cases. And it can lead to belated playback start and sluggishness.

[caputo00]

switched to 150 and definitely noticed quicker playback start, thanks!