I freed up a ton of space by encoding everything using x.265. Now if only plex could do it automagically instead of me having to do it all by hand…and my Roku which is only 5 years old (antique in this industry) handles it great! Heck my 2 year old smart tv handles HEVC/h.265 natively…the time for it uhm…has already passed?!? Time for plex to catch up.
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I think there’s some confusion here. The primary benefit of encoding any video to h.265 IS to save space. UHD 4K movies are encoded in h.265 because they are still delivered on the same BluRay discs as 1080 films. The storage capacity doesn’t change.
That being said, the visual quality of h.265 is typically on par with h.264 but with half the bandwidth. So, all other factors being the same, if you have a video encoded in h.264 that takes up 10 gigabytes of space (just an arbitrary number), you can typically get the same visual quality from the same video encoded with h.265 but it will only take up half the space.
Also, as previously mentioned, x265 is a tool not a codec. I think the distinction is important.
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It would be great if Plex at least transcodes media which is already in HEVC format to HEVC. When my parents watch some movies in my library it needs to transcode, which is fine, but then it sends them a H264 version while the original was HEVC.
My GPU can encode and decode HEVC, FFMpeg can do it, so why doesn’t it already work?
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+1
When I play back a 4K documentary (60+Mbps) on the local network using my (latest) phone/tablets via WIFI (connected @ 400-866Mbps - enterprise WIFI) it will transcode the video from HEVC xh265 to H264 using HW transcoding or no HW transcoding (i7 quadcore) and still take ages to load and then constant stutter.
Tested using Ipad pro 10.5 gen 2 / Samsung Tab s6 8gb ram / Note 9 - same result with all.
Direct play using Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 and Plex app works fine.
As comparison I also have Emby Server situated on the same server as the plex and that can playback the same 4K documentary fine. Its uses direct play instead of transcode playback using the same devices and uses “LibMpv player” for Emby.
Thanks
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And that right there is a big advantage emby has over plex. Until plex direct plays x265/hevc files then it is just a very nice file viewer for me.
Plex does have the ability to direct play x265/HEVC.
If you are having issues doing so, please open a new thread so we can investigate. There is most likely something else going on that could be preventing you from direct playing x265 
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I have HW support for H265 encoding in the cpu, and Would very much like to see options for limiting bitrate with h265 to h265 encoding like we have with h264 1080p. All though my TV supports 4k and h265 including 10 bit support, it does not have unlimited bitrate support. So if I have some content with a very high bitrate, say 80Mbit, the TV starts to stutter. My BEST transcode option in this case is h264 1080p 20Mbit. That is a HUGE loss of quality, while all I needed was a “4k HDR 50Mbit” option where plex transcode 4k to 4k h265 with a bitrate limit of 50Mbit.
Some playback devices may not support HDR (10 bit), also presents best transcode option to be 1080p h254 20Mbit, huge loss of quality. An “4k noHRD” option should be available to transcode from 10 to 8 bit while preserving 4k resolution in this case.
I have the hardware to support this, and I like many others want it and think it’s 2020 and about time we get it!
Please take this seriously into consideration for improving the 4k experience!!!
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I totally agree with the hvec x265. Option. I started using x265 on a lot of my files late last year. It is outstanding with what you can do with it. If you are going to build a big library it is a huge benefit when wanting to save space.
I do think this transcoding format should be added as an option. This format is getting more widely used everyday. Most of my users use the newer Fire Sticks and Roku boxes, all compatible with hvec. Someone mentioned avi users, unfortunately avi is going to get pushed out. Plex is suppose to be for the future. We don’t want to get behind. the curve.
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I would like to add to this threat the desire for HVEC / H265 HW / SW transcoding support.
I am currently working on my Plex library again, and I just upgraded to an RX 5700 XT. The H265 capabilities in the Navi VCE are incredible. Not just from researching the capabilities, but compressing some of my library leveraging in in Handbrake shows off near identical qualtiy with drastically decreased file size on the slow preset. It still manages a few hundred fps when running. However, it is plagued with the same medicore to terrible H264 capabilities due to AMD pretty much abandoning development for VCE and H264.
I am big on preserving all of my content 1:1 with no compression for watching on my LAN, but sharing content on my Plex remotely, I try to be more bandwidth conscious and max out my external streams to 8mbps / 1080P (I currently have 200/35 internet, so I’d rather not saturate my upload if it isn’t necessary to).
Though I have an overclocked Ryzen 7 1700 running at 3.9ghz in this system, I would prefer to be able to leverage the H265 capabilities of my GPU to greatly improve my Plex experience. There is zero reason to not support it at this point, as any 4K video capable device supports it. I honestly can’t think of any modern piece of electronics that doesn’t support it natively at this point with the exception of the PS4 / XBONE.
Please bring this feature to Plex!
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its time, x266 is coming out this year.
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I would second a transcoding of anything recorded using the DVR feature. The TS format is space consuming so moving it to anything else would be much appreciated.
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I agree too, time to upgrade plex to H265 transcoding.
nVidia has released the possibility last summer on their cards and most devices support H265.
It will increase the quality off the streams, half the bitrate, half storage space and if the source is H265 it will take less CPU/GPU resources.
Time to start transcoding from H265 -> H265.
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I want my files to be stored in HEVC x265 too. 500mb per file vs 2gb… do the math. Streaming and storage wise its time to make the move.
All my video cards and devices suport it allready. It will free up SO MUCH storage space.
Make it a plex pass feature if you have to, that alone will make buying a plex pass worth it.
AND
Since you’re already using up my CPU time to transcode my existing files why not go the extra mile and OFFER THE OPTION TO REPLACE THE ORIGNALS Instead of storing them in a temp folder…
Thank you.
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It won’t free up any storage space. It will free up upload network bandwidth used and/or video quality increase in the cases when transcoding is required. You can also chose to keep your media in HEVC today, plex’s inability to transcode into HEVC doesn’t impact that.
Also, the transcoded stream is not useful as a new master as it doesn’t include everything in the source (multiple audio streams, subtitles, etc.) nor is it an ideal quality for your new master. transcode priority is completing to avoid buffering, not top quality or smallest size.
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It does free up storage space.
It allows us to store content in H265 and allow us to feed that content natively and exclusively transcode in that format when we want to maximize on our bandwidth.
So there are benefits on both sides.
Most modern GPUs and I believe even the last couple of generations of Intel QuickSync can handle H265, so it would be a huge benefit to everyone IMO.
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You can already store content in HEVC for the space savings etc. We have always been able to transcode FROM HEVC. This topic is on transcoding TO HEVC. Plex transcoded files are very temporary, existing only long enough for that viewing. Unless you are one of those that has plex pre transcode a variety of extra formats sitting there in addition to your master copy, there is zero storage benefit, only quality per megabit/second of upload.
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That makes more sense!
So Plex will stream in HEVC/H265 as long as the endpoint can understand it, it just won’t transcode to it if you set bandwidth limitations on your server.
Plex will transcode from anything to h264 now. One day, we hope it will transcode to HEVC when it makes sense (client native support And server capability) for the better picture quality per megabit/ second of network
Current and future will have to follow the limits you place on network equally
Ps there is some evidence (screenshots) that the future is here now, at least in some cases. Others have reported cases where plex transcoded TO HEVC, but with no docs or devs to support it, it might just be a hoax.
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I suspect it is ‘work in progress’ that either accidentally or intentionally snuck into some of the recent pms releases.
Seems to be quicksync only, and under specific configurations and clients, so far. Baby steps.
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That makes sense, hoax has implications I didn’t mean and should not have used. Thanks for that.
