PMS Transcodes everything to 127.0.0.1

General Discussions
1

I asked this in the Windows section and figured I would ask here too.

I noticed PMS transcoding everything (web player or Windows10 player) to the 127.0.0.1 address.

Everywhere else on my network shows Direct Play.

is this a bug or normal behavior?

3

@trumpy81 said:
127.0.0.1 is the ‘loopback’ address. Don’t worry, everything ends up at the correct address. This is normal behaviour for Plex.

My question is not “why is it using the loopback address” my question is… “why is PMS transcoding a movie when played locally on the PMS server but is Direct Play when played remotely”.

I fully understand what the loopback address is for and why it is being used on the PMS server… But what I do not understand is why PMS is direct play in one scenario and transcodes in the other.

PMS should be Direct Play on loopback 127.0.0.1 as well… this seems like a bug.

5

@trumpy81 said:
It depends on the client you are using. For example, if you are using the Plex/Web app for playback there is a strong possibility that transcoding is needed. Web Browsers do not support many formats.

If you are playing to a mobile device with Plex app for example, you may well be able to Direct Play that same media.

If you can supply the files ‘Info XML’ file and let me know what device/app you are using for playback, I could probably give you a better idea why Plex is transcoding.

To find the Info XML file, move the mouse over the files poster and click on … then select ‘Get Info’. From the dialogue that opens click on the View XML link at the bottom of the dialogue. Capture the resultant XML file that is displayed in you browser and post it here as a text file.

FYI: Transcoding is the process of changing one set of codecs and file parameters to another set of codecs and file parameters on the fly or in real time. That process requires a lot of CPU processing power and is required when a file cannot be Direct Played by the client. Without transcoding, the file would simply not play until you corrected the problem between your file and your client (playback device).

I understand what transcoding is and does. but I appreciate your thorough explanation.

The scenario is this.

I picked an mkv movie and used the Plex optimize feature which optimized the content to the Plex standard.

with me so far?

I play it on my windows 10 laptop both the web player and the windows 10 plex player and in NOW PLAYING screen via web browser locally on the PMS server it shows DIRECT PLAY in both scenarios.

I play the same optimized file on my daughters SAMSUNG TV… same scenario… DIRECT PLAY

I play the same optimized file locally on the PMS server both in the web player via browser and the Windows 10 Plex Player application installed locally and I get TRANSCODING in the NOW PLAYING screen via the web UI on my laptop.

I also notice Transcoder running in task manager consuming CPU in this scenario where as the DIRECT PLAY I do not.

I find it difficult to believe in this scenario of testing that there is a localized variable with media format/codecs mismatch forcing transcoding only on PMS host as all platforms are playing the same optimized file… which has been optimized according to plex standards by the Plex optimization feature.

and so I must assume this eliminates the “Codec mismatch is forcing Transcoding” Theory.

  • I am an Application Analyst for a software company as my full time profession and can assure you my testing of this scenario has been very thorough.

So with media format variable eliminated I guess its plausible I have a setting mismatch between environments. But that presents the question; why is the Web Player in browser DIRECT PLAY on my laptop but TRANSCODED when Web Player is used on the PMS server locally?

  • Shouldn’t the settings be the same for both machines if I am using the same version of Chrome on both machines?
  • I don’t think its possible to have different settings for the Browser Player based on machine.
  • they are both Windows 10

so that eliminates the mismatch settings variable…

which leaves the COMM method to be questioned… as it is the only variable left to question… does the PMS source code treat a loopback adapter as a remote subnet?

so I attempted adding the loopback address to the local subnet field in server settings, still same outcome.

I am stumped… it is definitely possible I am missing something here and I appreciate you weighing in on this… but I am still convinced something is forcing PMS to transcode when content is played locally from the PMS server.

6

Just to clarify.
When played from Laptop

When played from PMS Server

7

You will need to share

a) the XML information for what you are streaming

and, most importantly,

b) What are your playback settings in Settings - Web - Player. You might have overlooked enabling what you need to permit it to DirectPlay

8

@xxNoxiouSxx said:
When played from PMS Server

If both the video and the audio stream show ‘Direct Stream’ then it is not really transcoding.
It is merely re-muxing, which is very light on the cpu.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201566396-How-are-Direct-Play-Direct-Stream-and-Transcoding-different-

Without the info @ChuckPa has requested, it is not possible to determine the reason why it is remuxing instead of Direct Playing (even though the difference in this case is negligible and this discussion purely academical).