Safari Plex Web HEVC Direct Play Not Working Correctly

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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1

Server Version#:1.23.2.4625
Player Version#:4.57.4

Hey, I’m having the an issue in Safari when playing HEVC content from Plex Web. The videos will direct play fine for a few minutes and then freeze and resume play transcoded. I am using a 2017 Macbook Pro. Safari 14.1.1, MacOS Big Sur 11.4. Plex server is version 1.23.2.4625, Plex Web version 4.57.4. I have plex setup in Truenas 12.4, iocage jail (12.2-RELEASE-p6)

The Plex web 4.47.3 release notes state ‘Safari supports direct stream HEVC and direct play’ so I believe HEVC direct play should be supported in Safari.

Attached are the logs of me direct playing a HEVC video for about 4 minutes and then the issue popping up and playback resuming transcoded.

plex.log (76.7 KB)

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Media Info:

Media
Duration 20:47
Bitrate 2343 kbps
Width 1920
Height 1080
Aspect Ratio 1.78
Video Resolution 1080p
Container MKV
Video Frame Rate 24p
Audio Profile lc
Video Profile main

Part
Duration 20:47
File show - S03E17 - title.mkv
Size 348.42 MB
Audio Profile lc
Container MKV
Video Profile main
Codec HEVC
Bitrate 2343 kbps
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Coded Height 1080
Coded Width 1920
Color Range tv
Frame Rate 23.97599983215332 fps
Height 1080
Level 4.0
Profile main
Ref Frames 1
Width 1920
Display Title 1080p (HEVC Main)
Extended Display Title 1080p (HEVC Main)
Codec AAC
Channels 2
Audio Channel Layout stereo
Profile lc
Sampling Rate 48000 Hz
Display Title Unknown (AAC Stereo)
Extended Display Title Unknown (AAC Stereo)
Codec ASS
Display Title Unknown (ASS)
Extended Display Title Unknown (ASS)

2

Safari might be able to direct play H.265/HEVC – but not within a MKV container… with that you should however be able to direct stream (Plex re-packaging the H.265/HEVC and AAC streams into a supported container like mp4).

In your particular streaming situation it seems the ASS subtitles might be the culprit , preventing that file from being direct streamed.

3

Thanks for the info. I will have to try repackaging the video and see what happens.

I find that if plex cant direct play a file it will transcode it right from the start of playback. The odd thing is that plex does direct play the HEVC mkv file fine for a few minutes before it drops out to transcode it.

I have confirmed in the dashboard that it is 1080p (HVECMain) > Direct Streaming, and then switching the stream to 1080p (HEVC Main) > 1080p (H264) - Transcode for some reason at around the same spot on repeated play backs.

4

Is that when the subtitle kicks in?

5

I’m not asking the player to show subtitles. They are set to off.

6

I’m seeing the same issue here. Plays fine for a few seconds (subtitles off) and then it stops and switches to “Convert”.

7

Same issue here on M1 MacBook Air. It starts with direct play and switches to transcode for no apparent reason. My device is capable of playing direct HEVC, I know that for sure.

8

Your device can be perfectly capable to play the HEVC video… that doesn’t mean your browser can deal with it. While Safari can play HEVC, there’s limits to that capability (e.g. w/ peak bitrates exceeding certain thresholds…).

General rule: don’t expect your browser to play native/high-quality HEVC

9

Yup, thanks.
Apple gives their specification for HTTP Live Streaming: Apple Developer Documentation

And there exists a tool to check if safari can stream them:
https://developer.apple.com/download/all/?q=HLS

I guess I will have to test it out on my library when I have some time. And identify why some videos might play while others might not

10

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