It seams that my rasplex/PMS does not automatically transcode unsupported (by rasplex) video encoders (i have some RMVB files - codec RV40). What I get is only sound with a progress bar and a poster. On raspelx Preferences-Network-Quality there is no option except DirectPlay (for Local as well as for Remote)
Is this normal ? If yes, it doesn't really make sense...
(rasplex ver 9.9.20, PMS 0.9.9.0.308-7e8496a on OSX)
No it's not normal :)
We need to gather the list of file formats that should be transcoded to Rpi. or maybe a list of the supported formats so that we can clean up the supported list.
Would you have a sample of files which should be transcoded and which is not working ?
I wold use it to have the transcoding setup put straight and then we can use the same principle for other formats.
Thanks.
Not meaning to hijack the thread, but a couple of formats which spring to mind are MPEG2 and VC1. I believe both of these currently work only if the codecs have been purchased for that Pi.
It would be great if the Pi just asked the server to handle the transcoding (to H.264) if the codecs haven't been purchased for the Pi.
No it's not normal :)
We need to gather the list of file formats that should be transcoded to Rpi. or maybe a list of the supported formats so that we can clean up the supported list.
Would you have a sample of files which should be transcoded and which is not working ?
I wold use it to have the transcoding setup put straight and then we can use the same principle for other formats.
Thanks.
I see. So currently, Rpi tells the server "send me anything" regardless of if it can handle or not. As of now I only noticed a few files having "sound only". I'll run through my library and do some tests.
How do you want the samples ? I can copy the codec info from PMS. Would that be ok ? Or you need the actual files. ?
This is a list of all the combinations in my library (892 video files).
Now I just need to try to play one of each and see which one doesn't play
Update: added "Plays" column. X means doesn't play on rasplex, W doesn't play on web player, I doesn't play on iphone, OK all good.
(i don't have any rasplex codec licenses, but i doubt those would help :P)
* I only had one file like this, so I removed it. don't care about M$ codec anymore...
File Container VideoCodec AudioCodec Plays .avi asf wmv3 wmav2 XWI* .avi avi h264 ac3 OK .avi avi h264 mp3 OK .avi avi mpeg4 ac3 OK .avi avi mpeg4 mp2 OK .avi avi mpeg4 mp3 OK .avi avi msmpeg4 ac3 OK .avi avi msmpeg4 mp3 X .divx avi mpeg4 mp3 OK .mkv mkv h264 aac OK .mkv mkv h264 ac3 OK .mkv mkv h264 dca OK .mkv mkv h264 mp3 OK .mkv mkv h264 vorbis OK .mp4 mp4 h264 aac OK .mp4 mp4 mpeg4 aac OK .vob mpeg mpeg2video ac3 X .m2ts mpegts h264 dca OK .rm rm rv40 cook X .rmvb rm rv40 aac X .rmvb rm rv40 cook X
I can confirm very similar findings!
Thanks for taking the time to gather this information, this is much appreciated :)
I am currently actively working on the transcoding part so that :
- The not natively supported formats on RPi ask server for transcoding
- The supported formats but having a too big bitrate / framerate ask server to reencode so that we get a smooth playback.
This is an ongoing work for which we have a few issues
- with PMS transcoder in certain situations (but plex guys are working on it)
- with ffmpeg embedded in openelec which seems to have some issues with the transcoded streams that PMS sends.
Keep on updating such a list it will definitely help me to adjust the transcoding decisions to make in Plex Media Decision Engine :)
Cheers
Another unsupported video CODEC is the one that "MediaInfo" describes as "DivX 3 Low".
Surprisingly enough that variant of DivX is not handled by the RasPlex DivX/XviD CODEC, or at least not handled correctly.
I have of course bought the MPEG-2 license for my RPi and installed it in my "config.txt", and all normal DivX and XviD files play fine.
But the AVI files I have which use "DivX 3 Low" for video and MP3 for audio all play with audio only.
My only way to watch these shows with RasPlex is to forbid "Direct Play", so that everything is transcoded.
Best regards: dlanor
Another unsupported video CODEC is the one that "MediaInfo" describes as "DivX 3 Low".
Surprisingly enough that variant of DivX is not handled by the RasPlex DivX/XviD CODEC, or at least not handled correctly.
I have of course bought the MPEG-2 license for my RPi and installed it in my "config.txt", and all normal DivX and XviD files play fine.
But the AVI files I have which use "DivX 3 Low" for video and MP3 for audio all play with audio only.
My only way to watch these shows with RasPlex is to forbid "Direct Play", so that everything is transcoded.
Best regards: dlanor
how do you forbid DirectPlay ?
how do you forbid DirectPlay ?
There's no direct option to forbid it, but it's an implied effect of choosing any other quality setting than "Direct Play".
There are two such settings, one for local access and one for remote access.
You find both of them in the PHT submenu "Preferences For Network" / "Quality"
Changing these from "Direct Play" to the max setting of "20 Mbps" will force everything to be transcoded, with most things retaining almost full quality.
A slight deterioration is inevitable in all transcoding, but with the max rate set so high there will not be any additional reduction of quality to fit the rate, except for extremely high bitrate bluray movies (normal TV rips or DVD rips can never exceed 20 Mbps as their base media don't support so high rates). And in any case an RPi would not be able to handle higher bitrates than 20 Mbps (even with USB3 and overclock methods).
Best regards: dlanor
There's no direct option to forbid it, but it's an implied effect of choosing any other quality setting than "Direct Play".
There are two such settings, one for local access and one for remote access.
You find both of them in the PHT submenu "Preferences For Network" / "Quality"
Changing these from "Direct Play" to the max setting of "20 Mbps" will force everything to be transcoded, with most things retaining almost full quality.
A slight deterioration is inevitable in all transcoding, but with the max rate set so high there will not be any additional reduction of quality to fit the rate, except for extremely high bitrate bluray movies (normal TV rips or DVD rips can never exceed 20 Mbps as their base media don't support so high rates). And in any case an RPi would not be able to handle higher bitrates than 20 Mbps (even with USB3 and overclock methods).
Best regards: dlanor
I swear when I checked it only showed "Direct Play". Thats why I asked the question. Not it shows all the options. Strange!!
Thanks.
Ok, between a couple PRs that we have ongoing with Plex Inc to merge our patches upstream i have some time that i want to spend on a proper transcoding profile for RPi in order to extend its video support and make the most of the Plex specificities :)
@MoonShineSG : Do you have an updated list of your tests which shows the formats that w should leave with DirectPlay ?
Transcoding principles are as follow :
I'd like everyone's feedback so that i can build an as much complete transcoding profile.
I will create a Pinned Topic in the Rasplex Section which will gather the information on the first post.
Thanks for you feedback. :)
Edit : Feedback is welcome here : https://forums.plex.tv/topic/100345-rpi-transcoding/ :)
Ok, between a couple PRs that we have ongoing with Plex Inc to merge our patches upstream i have some time that i want to spend on a proper transcoding profile for RPi in order to extend its video support and make the most of the Plex specificities :)
@MoonShineSG : Do you have an updated list of your tests which shows the formats that w should leave with DirectPlay ?
Transcoding principles are as follow :
- You can specify a default transcoding format. For RPI i guess it should be H264 /aac as it seems to be the legacy supported one.
- You can specify limitations for a lot of parameters. Should any of these limitations be reached, transcoding will be triggered. I was thinking of the following limitations
- Bitrate : maybe we should cap it to something like 20Mbits/sec. I think this is quite the limit on LAN. Of course this could be lowered by the specifics settings in advancedsettings.xml
- fps ? RPi specifications are 1920x1080 @ 30fps. Not sure yet if we can cap for a specific resolution or if capping to 30fps would be also capping 720p movies. I need to investigate.
I'd like everyone's feedback so that i can build an as much complete transcoding profile.
I will create a Pinned Topic in the Rasplex Section which will gather the information on the first post.
Thanks for you feedback. :)
Edit : Feedback is welcome here : https://forums.plex.tv/topic/100345-rpi-transcoding/ :)
Updated in what sense ? I haven't run any other tests after posting the findings above.
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