# Transcoding need to disable **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316 "2017-10-08T00:38:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![erratic12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9a140/32.png) [@erratic12](https://forums.plex.tv/u/erratic12)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/1 "2017-10-08T00:38:43Z")
Even when I play a video original quality the transcoder is running 10 - 20 percent a lot of the time, about every minute jumps up to 90 for about 5 seconds. If you take a kill-a-watt to your computer I’ve seen processors take 100 watts more than idle so over all of your users that is a huge block of electricity being burned for no reason. My i3 skylake takes around 30 watts from idle for heavy processing. So 100 watts on an older pc may be conservative. I’ve seen delete transcoder, ffmpeg which may work, but not to many users are going to do that. So be responsible and address the problem. There are posts over the years that just get blown off. There is little use for transcoding at all. I can use kodi for everything with none. Which is my solution. ---
**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/2 "2017-10-08T07:10:34Z")
You can’t disable the transcoder. If you have files that are always transcoding then that means they won’t play without it in whichever Plex player app you are using. If you have direct play enabled and the file can actually direct play in the app it will. If it can’t, (or quality settings are set lower than actual file ) it will transcode. ---
**Author:** ![John\_67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@John\_67](https://forums.plex.tv/u/John_67)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/3 "2017-12-09T00:13:25Z")
I would like to disable transcoding as well. The idea of Plex being able to play anything on anything is great. But on a Synology NAS transcoding video is simply not possible. Therefore I would like to force direct stream. Please include this option! ---
**Author:** ![kegobeer-plex](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kegobeer-plex/32/17444_2.png) [@kegobeer-plex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/kegobeer-plex)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/4 "2017-12-09T00:32:11Z")
You can’t force a client to play a format it doesn’t support. If the Plex client requests a transcode, it’s because that is necessary in order to play the media on the device. You can’t disable transcoding. If you want your files to play without transcoding, then convert them into a format that your clients can play natively. ---
**Author:** ![GrunPlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GrunPlex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/GrunPlex)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/5 "2017-12-27T23:32:14Z")
My android tablet can play my files natively, but using the PLEX app, PLEX insists on transcoding anyhow, which is frustrating since I don’t want to transcode load my server. However, if I access use VLC to play , it plays just fine natively, so for me that is my PLEX workaround. A setting option on Android to force direct play would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_W](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/peter_w/32/6556_2.png) [@Peter\_W](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Peter_W)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 7:29am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/6 "2017-12-28T07:29:17Z")
Can’t compare VLC and most Plex client like that, apples and oranges, totally different beasts with separate pros and cons. ---
**Author:** ![GrunPlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GrunPlex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/GrunPlex)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/7 "2017-12-28T18:42:30Z")
Sorry, I did not intend to compare PLEX client and VLC. (albeit both serve a media playing client function). I merely pointed out that using VLC demonstrates that my device is capable of native playback. So the limitation is in the PLEX client App, not the device. ---
**Author:** ![kegobeer-plex](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kegobeer-plex/32/17444_2.png) [@kegobeer-plex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/kegobeer-plex)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/8 "2017-12-28T21:47:32Z")
No, VLC doesn’t actually demonstrate that at all. VLC will manipulate things so that your video will play, and you’ll have no idea that it’s happening. It’s a full featured custom playback device. Plex applications use the native playback engine and if that engine doesn’t support a particular codec/container then the Plex Server will transcode to a codec/container that the player does support. ---
**Author:** ![GrunPlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GrunPlex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/GrunPlex)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/9 "2017-12-29T18:26:11Z")
You are describing a PLEX client limitation, not a hardware limitation. If VLC can play it on my hardware, that means my hardware can support the codecs. Any codec is a ‘transcode’ by nature, its a matter if hardware has the capacity to support it. If PLEX client doesn’t have the required codecs, then that is its own limitation. ---
**Author:** ![kegobeer-plex](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kegobeer-plex/32/17444_2.png) [@kegobeer-plex](https://forums.plex.tv/u/kegobeer-plex)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/10 "2017-12-29T18:40:14Z")
It’s not a matter of a codec, it’s a matter of what the built in player can handle. If you have a TV/tablet/etc and you have a Plex client on that TV/tablet/etc, Plex uses whatever built-in playback software is on that device - it does not have its own playback engine. If that playback engine does not support the codec/container, then it has to be transcoded to whatever the engine supports. VLC does not use the default player. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-need-to-disable/209316/11 "2020-01-07T23:57:15Z")
Closed on January 7, 2020, 11:57pm UTC