I use PMS v1.23.4 on Qnap TS-230 and Plex client 5.29.1 WebGL Panasonic 49FX780.
When I switch on in Transcoding menu “Disable video stream transcoding” the following message occurs on the screen Playback error …unexpected playback problem. If I switch off in Transcoding menu “Disable video stream transcoding” my video file will start transcoding with periodic buffering. Why Direct streaming dosnt work in my case?
Plex needs to transcode the video for some reason. If you disable video transcoding, Plex cannot play the video and you receive the error message.
The TS-230 has a RealTek 1296 ARM CPU. It has limited transcoding capability. If it cannot transcode the video in real time, you will experience buffering, since the Plex client must wait for the Plex server to catch up.
You can monitor playback via Plex Dashboard → Now Playing. It will show you if the video or audio streams are transcoding. Toggle the button on the top-right to expand or collapse the playback information. This can include stream details such as codec or language, whether or not the streams are being transcoded, resolution, and more.
If you have subtitles enabled, try playing the video with them turned off. Plex SmartTV apps have limited subtitle support. Enabling them can result in a video transcode.
Also avoid audio transcoding when possible. For movies with TrueHD audio, choose Dolby Digital (AC-3) instead (movies released on Blu-ray with TrueHD also have a Dolby Digital version of the audio track).
If the TV is remote from the server, check the bandwidth settings on both the server and the TV app. If they are set too low, the Plex server will transcode the video to fit under the bandwidth limit.
The PMS installed on the Qnap TS-230, one Plex client is in the smart tv (Panasonic 49FX780), another Plex client is in android tv stick (connected via hdmi to the same tv 49FX780. When is playing the same one video file the android plex client plays it as direct stream but plex client of panasonic tv plays it only via transcoding. Why? And what are the reasons that streaming can not be played directly from server to the client?
Plex Documentation → Smart TV → What media formats are supported?
There are several, such as the ones I previously mentioned.
The capabilities of Plex clients vary widely, so what direct plays or direct streams on one client may require transcoding on another.
For example, enabling PGS subtitles in the Plex LG app results in a video transcode, but the Plex Android TV app direct plays them.
You can use the Plex Dashboard help find what video/audio/subtitle formats play without requiring transcoding. Given the limitations of most Plex SmartTV apps, start with subtitles turned off and an audio format that should direct play, such as AC3 5.1 or AAC 2.0.
You can also look in the Plex server log files (set your server for debug level logging). Look in Plex Media Server.log (wraps to .1.log, etc) for entries with MDE: (Media Decision Engine). There will be entries specifying why the media is transcoding - unsupported bit depth, resolution, audio format, etc.
You can also attach the server logs and XML info for a specific file to the thread so people on the forum can assist. For the logs, attach the entire zip file. Save the XML info as a .txt or zip it before attaching. The forum software does not support .xml attachments.
I don’t know if my story will help: I bought 49fx780 in 2018 and then as I remember there was a 5.18.xx plex client and the playback always was as direct stream. After updating the plex client to 5.22.xx and now version 5.29.1, the video is always transcoded. Here on the forum I have already met this problem, but I have not found a solution.
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