Server Version#: 1.32.3.7192
Player Version#: 1.70.2.3845-31e96af6
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>
So recently I have noticed a massive degradation in performance on my PR2100.
There are quite a few odd things going on. First of all CPU usage now transcoding any files uses 100% CPU and causes constant pausing and reloading. CPU usage uses to be 20-30%. Secondly it does not buffer anything now you can see it is not buffering anything ahead of it. In addition to that if I disable video transcoding, even if the video format is playable and just the audio needs to be transcoded on the device like the ROKU, it will not play the file at all, which should not be the case as just the audio should be transcoded.
In addition to that I have some uncompressed blu ray rips which no longer play on my 13700k, rtx 3080 TUF OC WIN 11 PC using the plex app or web app. They stutter all the damn time it does not even manage to do a second of playback. If I disable video transcoding I get a not enough CPU error, which makes 0 sense as it should be using my local hardware on my PC to play it. So I have to revert to using VLC to play the damn file.
Overall Plex has become completely unuseable and has become an absolute dumpster fire on the pr2100.
I suggest you try the beta Plex Server release 1.32.4.7195. Version 1.32.3 had some issues with transcoding that was causing similar issues for others.
No Luck here unfortunatley. Still can not play my blu rays without it bloody stopping every second. Still won’t play with video transcode disabled either, even though my PC is more than capable.
Rokus still having the same issues. At this point I might aswell renegate my NAS to a file drive and just play everything via VLC… They play better…
What’s funny is the CPU usage is still way higher than usual, but via my phone it actually plays fine… MEANWHILE ON MY GAMING PC
I’m don’t run Plex on a NAS, but since no one else is helping here I’ll take a shot. From what you have posted it sounds like previously you were able to either direct play or direct stream your video, but now it is transcoding for some reason. I don’t think your NAS has a GPU, so that means your CPU is (trying to) software transcode but is getting overwhelmed and can’t keep up.
Let’s first try to verify. Let’s start with either a Roku client or Plex for Win on your laptop (assuming it is Win?) trying to play one of your problem videos. In Plex Web go to the dashboard and look under “Now Playing”. Make sure “Show Details” () is clicked. You are looking for something like the following:
What are you seeing? In particular, is it reporting “Local” or “Remote”, and is the video showing direct play, direct stream, or transcoding? (A screen shot could be useful.)
Hey man thanks for the input that is exactly what I think is going on. I missed the show details part in the dashboard somehow.
So here is what it says, the android phone plays direct, the PC is indeed transcoding. I have not had a chance to try the roku yet but given the ROKU is experiencing the same issues the PC is I would have to say it is a given it is the exact same issue as the PC. It is detected local.
Thank you, this is great! As you say, this does appear to confirm that the problem is happening when video is transcoding, and also that your Plex server is software/CPU transcoding (it doesn’t have ‘(hw)’ after transcoding, which would mean a GPU is being used.)
Now we need to figure out why it is doing video transcoding. It is interesting that the 1080p Simpsons in HEVC/h.265 is direct playing, but the 1080p show in h.264 to your game PC is transcoding. Are these mp4 or mkv containers? One thing I notice is that the Simpsons is only requiring 2Mbps, but the h.264 example needs 35 Mbps to direct play.
When it transcodes it is showing that it goes from 1080p h.264 → 1080p h.264. In the past one reason I’ve seen this due to subtitles, but your dashboard isn’t showing you using subtitles. Another reason that could cause this is that there is some bandwidth limitation or restriction to your gaming PC.
Is your gaming PC on wifi, and is the wifi connection strong so that we are sure that we are getting at least 35 Mbps capability through your wifi? (Or can you try your gaming PC on wired ethernet to hopefully remove the possibility of wifi speed limitations?)
Also, on your gaming PC in Plex for Win go to “Settings” () and then on the left under “Plex for Windows” click on “Quality”. Under “Home Streaming” is it set with “Use recommended settings” checked? If not, then is the video quality dropdown set to “Maximum”?
If none of that helps then would you make sure that your have your Plex Server set at “Debug” level logging on, and “Verbose” off. Then recreate the transcoding problem scenario, and then download your Plex Server logs. If you can let me know the date/time of the attempted transcode play it can help find it faster in the logs. If you can post the logs here or DM them to me I’ll take a look. The logs have information on the play decisioning that may be useful to understand why it chose to transcode. The logs can be a bit cryptic but I hope they will be helpful.
Hi I believe the files are containers. The nemophila video was a makemkv rip of the blu ray directly completely uncompressed. They are no subtitles.
Streaming setting is set to maximum. The gaming PC is cabled in and pulls around 75mbps down which is my current connection speed from my pc. Doing a bit of ticking and unticking yesterday i actually got the blu ray to hardware transcode again. I am confused why it even needs to transcode as the hardware can play it directly. My phone does not need to transcode.
I am going to do a bit of playing around with roku later if I get a chance.
Update: i just tried playing the blu ray from my win11 work laptop and it direct plays. Which makes my windows 11 gaming PC having to transcode even more confusing
For the Plex Roku client, in settings under video verify that “Local Quality” is set to “Original”, “Direct Play” is set to “Auto”, and that “Allow Direct Stream” is checked.
Since you have the same Plex client behaving differently on two different Win11 devices, it may be worth verifying that you have your Plex Server logs set at Debug Level (and verbose off.) Then play using the Win computer that works properly, stop the play, and then play using the Win computer that doesn’t work properly. Then export your Plex Server logs and check the logs for the playback decision process for each. This may indicate why one is transcoding when the other is not.
) is clicked. You are looking for something like the following:
) and then on the left under “Plex for Windows” click on “Quality”. Under “Home Streaming” is it set with “Use recommended settings” checked? If not, then is the video quality dropdown set to “Maximum”?