I’m curious if there is a way to restrict content to users by resolution. I have somewhat recently been adding a bunch of 4K/UHD content, and I just keep them in the same libraries but with different versions. I know I could create a separate library for this content, and just not give other people access to said library, but for my own personal usage, I would rather keep it together so I don’t have to go specifically searching for 4K content, and instead just click play on whatever I want to play, having it automatically play the highest resolution.
This wouldn’t be an issue, other than most of the people on my server don’t have the ability to stream this content, and so the server automatically chooses the 4K version, and transcodes, instead of defaulting to the 1080p version I have to go along with it and Direct Playing.
Plex is supposed to automatically choose the best version, so I don’t know why it defaults to the 4K version 100% of the time, even when people are using Fire Sticks on 1080p televisions, neither of which would support 4K, obviously.
Appreciate those links. For some reason, I couldn’t find much when I was searching! So it looks like I am not the only one, thankfully. Hopefully this is a feature they include somewhat soon!
Technically, I could. But considering there is also a 1080p version merged with the 4K version, they would then lose access to said 1080p version also. And obviously, if it is good enough to be in 4K, then odds are it’s one of the better movies or shows out there… Wouldn’t want to restrict them from it all together!
#1 If it is a show, it will then pop up on my “On Deck” twice, once for each folder it is in. #2 When I go to play a movie, I have to either remember, or manually check if there is a 4K version, instead of it being automatic #3 Every device I have supports 4K Direct Play. My phone, my PMP, Girlfriends PMP, everything.
So it’s not about me accidentally playing it, it’s about other people doing so. So I built it around my usage, and am trying to figure out a way to help them without screwing up how I use my own server.
I have had this issue and found the best way was to setup a Plex home account for everyone in the household with access to the “movies” library, all movies up to 1080p, then another account called “Home Theatre” for my only 4K tv, created a second “Films” library that has access to the same movies as the other library but with my 4K folder included, set a pin on the 4K account and no one else can view it on a iPads or iPhones etc. I never use the main Plex account for anything other than server/media administration.
In my mind what should/could be implemented are two features:
Enlighten the streaming brain with better/smarter resolution picking. When looking at two movies (a 1080p and 4k) it should look at the Target device and playback the most compatible version, not just blindly choose the highest quality version and then have to transcode it back down.
The system should allow per user and group restrictions based on rating, resolution, etc. in addition to or in place of the current tagging system.
I can see action item 1 being a good thing to an extent,… cause this would suck in a scenario where the 4K includes extra footage such as the directors cut or extended version BUT you won’t be able to view if it had this restriction.
Yeah, I suppose so. So, I guess a better approach would be to (1) automatically play the better version for lower CPU usage, while still giving you the option to manually select a version, or (2) have a toggle in settings that switches between play highest quality or minimize transcoding, or (3) automatically play based on your choice in settings while still surfacing the option to manually switch versions.
Correct! But, then that requires extra thinking on my part, to know which content I have in 4K and which I don’t, requiring me to surf back and forth, defeating the purpose of having the server to simplify my life.
Absolutely yes! I only wish…
I just wish there was a simple way to do it. Clicking “play version” makes sense to me, and seems simple enough. But apparently I have retarded friends/family, who don’t understand how to do that, and therefore I have to go through this whole process of trying to appease the retards.
Yeah, searches make life easy. But half the time, I don’t go in knowing what I want to watch. I instead surf my stupidly large library.
Currently sitting at 129.5TB of used storage space.
10,500 movies (This includes stand-ups also)
60,000 TV episodes over 1,300 shows (That includes the Anime)
Most of it, I don’t even know I add. I just go through and add EVERY single thing I can find, whether I know what it is or not. So it’s hard to search, knowing what I want to watch, when I don’t even know what I have half of the time! Haha.
Hi there, have an idea, how about creating a new library that has only 1080p content to share? , so you share this new library and you don’t have to mess with the library you already use only skip folders containing 4k content
