RasPlex 1.6.1 HEVC Direct Play does not work

Dev Community Apps & Creations
1

Hi! Have some h265 720p videos with low bitrates.
The RP2 transcode HEVC anyway as on 1.0.3 and i can’t find any HEVC specific setting in the menu.

_[21:55:00] + container: MPEG-4 (libavformat)
[21:55:00] * video track
[21:55:00] + decoder: hevc
[21:55:00] + bitrate 325 kbps
[21:55:00] + filters
[21:55:00] + Framerate Shaper (1:27000000:1080000)
[21:55:00] + frame rate: 25.000 fps -> constant 25.000 fps
[21:55:00] + Crop and Scale (1280:720:0:0:0:0)
[21:55:00] + source: 1280 * 720, crop (0/0/0/0): 1280 * 720, scale: 1280 * 720
[21:55:00] + dimensions: 1280 * 720, mod 0
[21:55:00] + encoder: H.265 (libx265)
[21:55:00] + preset: medium
[21:55:00] + profile: auto
[21:55:00] + quality: 23.00 (RF)
_

any idea?
btw. I have updated to 1.6.1. No fresh install

2

The Raspberry Pi cannot play HEVC. It has a smart “phone class” cpu and is only able to play video because it has dedicated hardware for video decoding. But this dedicated hardware decoder only works up to AVC (h.264) and not HEVC (h.265) which is way more demanding to decode.

Therefore transcoding HEVC content on the server to h.264 is the only option.

3

@OttoKerner said:
The Raspberry Pi cannot play HEVC. It has a smart “phone class” cpu and is only able to play video because it has dedicated hardware for video decoding. But this dedicated hardware decoder only works up to AVC (h.264) and not HEVC (h.265) which is way more demanding to decode.

Therefore transcoding HEVC content on the server to h.264 is the only option.

Wrong again.

RPi2/3 supports HEVC up to 720p

Regards

4

@Becki

Please log an issue on GitHub, including a link to a debug file.

Regards

5

Ah ok. Then change
“- Direct play of HEVC up to 720p”
to
“- Direct play of HEVC up to 720p on RPi3”

6

LOL i interchanged my RPis. Forgot a RPi1 is connected to the TV :slight_smile:
I make 2nd try with a RPi2 and HEVC@720p works perfect! 1080p not.

Where is the settings file with the limitation for resolution and Direct Play?
Want to make a try with 1080p cause i use low bitrates

7

btw :slight_smile:

again:
Where is the settings file with the limitation for resolution and Direct Play?
Want to make a try with 1080p cause i use low bitrates

8

Will not play 1080p HEVC, hardware limitation

Regards

9

Im not the guy who accept everything :wink: furthermore you said HEVC@720p only works on RPi3.
That was wrong. sry dude

does anybody know how can i force a Pi to Direct Play HEVC@1080p?
i think it could work with adding the advancedsettings.xml, but i don’t know the right content

10

Perhaps this link has the answer you need

11

wrong again :wink:
github.com/RasPlex/RasPlex/issues/501

…need a RPi3

12

1.6.1 Conclusion:

  • Direct Play HEVC@720p works out of the box with a RPi2 (own test)

  • Direct Play HEVC@1080p works out of the box with a RPi3 (according to github user OttoKerner)

13

Did you read the link I just gave you?

 the RPi (all models) does not have support for hardware acceleration of H.265 video sources. As such, the RPi just doesn't have the raw horsepower needed to decode higher resolution videos on the fly.
14

@Becki said:

  • Direct Play HEVC@1080p works out of the box with a RPi3 (according to github user OttoKerner)

I don’t remember making this statement. I am convinced it is not true.

15

then without hardware acceleration. maybe software decoding is enough.
people say the RPi2 can’t direct play hevc content but it can.
in my case RPi2 without OC on 1A USB Port can play HEVC 720p content without transcoding.
whats the problem to try 1080p with a overclocked raspberry and more power? but i need to know how to disable the resolution limit for direct play HEVC@1080p.
am i too stubborn?

@OttoKerner
Is this not your sentence?
“I have this 1080p video in my test library, and it Direct Played it.”

16

@OttoKerner
Is this not your sentence?
“I have this 1080p video in my test library, and it Direct Played it.”

You have stopped reading there.
You must not leave out the second sentence.

17

My apologies for my first post, I have edited it to state ‘RPi2/3’, hope you are happy with that post.

As I said earlier Rasplex on the RPi2/3 only supports hardware acceleration of HEVC to 720p,

The GitHub issue you refer to has a line after the one you quoted from @OttoKerner :

‘Well, at least it tried to. ;-)’, meaning it didn’t.

There is no setting to ‘disable the resolution limit for direct play HEVC@1080p’. If you try to play any 1080p HEVC file then PMS will transcode it.

18

thank you. finally accept :slight_smile:

still doesn’t understand why this resolution limit. a 720p video with a very high bitrate can stress the pi more the an 1080p video with decent bitrates. i give up

19

If a video is Direct Playing then little work is done by the RPi, so no stress on the RPi at all, check the info overlay when playing a movie and look at the CPU usage.

Regards

20

Is there a way to tell RasPlex to always force a transcode when an H265 comes around,
or do I have to check if it’s 720 or 1080 to determine if I have to force a transcode or not?