Server Version#: 1.29.2.6364
Player Version#: 4.87.2
Been through a lot of threads about this but can’t find an answer.
I get the subject error on the Web Player only. I can play the same video that gives the error on any of my streaming devices, just not with a browser (Chrome).
Is there any settings I can change just for the web player?
Keep in mind that a browser is among the most limited playback situations you can find.
Native players tend to be much more capable in playing different formats. The browser might require your server to provide a transcoded version of the file – which could be too much for some devices (e.g. depending on how powerful your server is or what type of media you want to stream).
Edit:
so… let’s maybe start having a look at what you’re trying to stream.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201998867-investigate-media-information-and-formats/
Also… on what type of device is your server running (e.g. NAS, RPi, dedicated machine; what OS, what CPU…)?
Server runs on a Qnap TVS-672XT with an Intel Core i3-8100T 3100 MHz 4 core, 4 threads and 32 GB RAM.
It happens on all different video files but here is one of them:
<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionUUID="659b8ebf-5329-40fc-bd23-0bd2c3e2ade0" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1667296136">
<Video ratingKey="31185" key="/library/metadata/31185" parentRatingKey="31182" grandparentRatingKey="31181" guid="plex://episode/62ab3a03402e23db54de2c9c" parentGuid="plex://season/623def01f8aeb8075b72ccf0" grandparentGuid="plex://show/623def01f8aeb8075b72cce6" type="episode" title="Bad.Sisters.S01E02.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/31181" parentKey="/library/metadata/31182" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/2" grandparentTitle="Bad Sisters" parentTitle="Season 1" contentRating="TV-MA" summary="As Thomas and Matt grasp at straws in the present, a sinister plot takes shape in the past." index="2" parentIndex="1" audienceRating="4.5" thumb="/library/metadata/31185/thumb/1666256018" art="/library/metadata/31181/art/1665782796" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/31181/thumb/1665782796" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/31181/art/1665782796" duration="3202409" originallyAvailableAt="2022-08-19" addedAt="1665782810" updatedAt="1666256018" audienceRatingImage="themoviedb://image.rating">
<Media id="37705" duration="3202409" bitrate="2228" width="1920" height="960" aspectRatio="1.85" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="hevc" videoResolution="1080" container="mp4" videoFrameRate="24p" optimizedForStreaming="0" audioProfile="lc" has64bitOffsets="0" videoProfile="main 10">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="37797" key="/library/parts/37797/1665781031/file.mp4" duration="3202409" file="/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Recorded TV/Bad Sisters/Season 1/Bad Sisters S01E02.mp4" size="893913743" audioProfile="lc" container="mp4" deepAnalysisVersion="6" has64bitOffsets="0" optimizedForStreaming="0" requiredBandwidths="7798,6354,3250,3250,3250,3250,3250,3250" videoProfile="main 10">
<Stream id="186656" streamType="1" default="1" codec="hevc" index="0" bitrate="2004" bitDepth="10" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codecID="hev1" codedHeight="960" codedWidth="1920" colorRange="tv" frameRate="23.976" height="960" level="120" profile="main 10" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="7574,6130,3053,3053,3053,3053,3053,3053" streamIdentifier="1" width="1920" displayTitle="1080p (HEVC Main 10)" extendedDisplayTitle="1080p (HEVC Main 10)"> </Stream>
<Stream id="186657" streamType="2" selected="1" default="1" codec="aac" index="1" channels="6" bitrate="224" language="English" languageTag="en" languageCode="eng" audioChannelLayout="5.1" profile="lc" requiredBandwidths="224,224,224,224,224,224,224,224" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="2" displayTitle="English (AAC 5.1)" extendedDisplayTitle="English (AAC 5.1)"> </Stream>
</Part>
</Media>
<Guid id="imdb://tt16463728"/>
<Guid id="tmdb://3786310"/>
<Guid id="tvdb://9216950"/>
<Rating image="themoviedb://image.rating" value="4.5" type="audience"/>
<Extras size="0"> </Extras>
<Related> </Related>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>
I also have video stream transcoding disabled but have tried with it enabled also.
Many browsers still have very limited playback capabilities when it comes to HEVC content (even if the browser might support the codec, there could be restrictions as for the avg/max bitrate, color space, bit depth…). I’m not aware of any browser playing 6-channel AAC.
So that’s most likely why your Plex app asks the server to offer a transcoded / compatible version instead.
Based on what I can find, the NAS might not be up to the job of transcoding the HEVC video using its CPU alone (hw-accelerated transcoding might work) – that’s probably why you get that error message.
Edit:
If you disable transcoding but the client cannot deal with the video as-is, it’ll perceive the servers “inability” to deliver a transcoded video (because it’s disabled) as the server not being powerful enough to handle that.
Use the hosted version of Plex Web, https://app.plex.tv/desktop/. The bundled version does not support HEVC video.
Use the current version of Chrome, v108. Chrome only recently added support for HEVC video.
As Tom mentions, if you have video transcoding disabled and Plex cannot direct play the video, you will receive the “server not powerful enough” message.
Plex Desktop is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. Use it instead of Plex Web for playback. It will direct play HEVC video.
A Plex Pass will let you use hardware accelerated transcoding. You could try the $4.99 USD/month subscription to see if it would help your situation. Then cancel/renew/etc once you know if it will help or not.
Yup, that worked. Didn’t even know about it.
Never even thought of that! Installed it and it works too.
Thanks!
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