Web Player transcode both MPEG4 and MP3 to H264 and AAC

Plex Players Desktop Players
1

Server Version#: 1.20.3.3437
Player Version#: 1.20.3.3437

The web player (Chromium Edge, Firefox) keeps transcoding MPEG4 and MP3 to H264 and AAC. On first playing the video, it shows direct-play then switched to transcoding and stay there no matter how many times I refresh the page.

image

<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="4" librarySectionTitle="Children (Series)" librarySectionUUID="32d420ee-c046-4730-acec-d94c176fea89" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1602676305">
<Video ratingKey="14544" key="/library/metadata/14544" parentRatingKey="8568" grandparentRatingKey="302" guid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://74808/4/6?lang=en" parentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://74808/4?lang=en" grandparentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://74808?lang=en" type="episode" title="Robot Rampage" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/302" parentKey="/library/metadata/8568" librarySectionTitle="Children (Series)" librarySectionID="4" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/4" grandparentTitle="The Backyardigans" parentTitle="Season 4" contentRating="TV-Y7" summary="Robot Repairman Austin has an unexpectedly busy day in futuristic Mega City when all the robots go on a rampage set to roller disco! When the evil Professor Bug (Pablo) starts making all the robots malfunction, it's up to Repairman Austin to save the day in this double length adventure!" index="6" parentIndex="4" rating="7.0" viewOffset="1813000" lastViewedAt="1603332559" year="2010" thumb="/library/metadata/14544/thumb/1601390174" art="/library/metadata/302/art/1601390178" parentThumb="/library/metadata/8568/thumb/1601390177" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/302/thumb/1601390178" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/302/art/1601390178" duration="2607360" originallyAvailableAt="2010-01-10" addedAt="1531972964" updatedAt="1601390174">
<Media id="19200" duration="2607360" bitrate="1487" width="640" height="480" aspectRatio="1.33" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="mp3" videoCodec="mpeg4" videoResolution="480" container="avi" videoFrameRate="24p" videoProfile="advanced simple">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="41246" key="/library/parts/41246/1408563456/file.avi" duration="2607360" file="/volume1/video/Children/Series/Backyardigans/S04 - Robot Repairman/S04E06E07 - Robot Rampage.avi" size="488798208" container="avi" deepAnalysisVersion="4" requiredBandwidths="2270,1866,1504,1504,1504,1504,1504,1504" videoProfile="advanced simple">
<Stream id="110805" streamType="1" codec="mpeg4" index="0" bitrate="1312" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codedHeight="480" codedWidth="640" frameRate="23.976" height="480" level="5" profile="advanced simple" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="2100,1693,1329,1329,1329,1329,1329,1329" width="640" displayTitle="480p (MPEG4)" extendedDisplayTitle="480p (MPEG4)"/>
<Stream id="110806" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="mp3" index="1" channels="2" bitrate="175" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="176,176,176,176,176,176,176,176" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="1" displayTitle="Unknown (MP3 Stereo)" extendedDisplayTitle="Unknown (MP3 Stereo)"/>
<Stream id="110810" key="/library/streams/110810" streamType="3" codec="srt" language="äø­ę–‡" languageCode="chi" displayTitle="äø­ę–‡ (SRT External)" extendedDisplayTitle="äø­ę–‡ (SRT External)"/>
<Stream id="110809" key="/library/streams/110809" streamType="3" codec="srt" language="English" languageCode="eng" displayTitle="English (SRT External)" extendedDisplayTitle="English (SRT External)"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Extras size="0"> </Extras>
<Related> </Related>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

Below are the logs.
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-10-22_10-28-38.zip (2.4 MB)
webplayerdebug.txt (34.5 KB)

2

ā€œmessageā€: ā€œ[MDE] Direct play failed; unsupported container: aviā€,

From your log.

3

Ok, why would a web player unable to support ā€˜aviā€™ container?

4

AVI is an old format.

5

ā€¦ok avi is an old format and very widely usedā€¦ and just because itā€™s ā€œoldā€, Plex Web Player doesnā€™t support it is a little troubling. Also, itā€™s just the container that is not supported, not the video and audio contents. Why need to transcode the video and audio contents?

Anyway isnā€™t AVI included in https://support.plex.tv/articles/203824396-what-media-formats-are-supported?

1 Like
6

I tried converting the .avi file to .mkv using MKVToolNix 50.0.0 (64-bit) and it still transcode. Now the message in web player log is as follow,

  {
    "type": "log:message",
    "level": 2,
    "message": "[MDE] Starting analysis of 480 (mkv, mpeg4, mp3, 5, advanced simple)",
    "time": "2020-10-26T08:54:11.961Z"
  },
  {
    "type": "log:message",
    "level": 4,
    "message": "[MDE] Analyzing direct play",
    "time": "2020-10-26T08:54:11.961Z"
  },
  {
    "type": "log:message",
    "level": 4,
    "message": "[MDE] Cannot direct play: noCodecInProfile:mpeg4",
    "time": "2020-10-26T08:54:11.962Z"
  },

Anyway, does no direct player means must transcode?

Attached is the full web player log.
webplayerdebugv2.txt (46.3 KB)

1 Like
7

Keep in mind that avi is just a container. It looks like all you did was change the container from avi to mkv, keeping the actual video and audio codecs the same. The error now is that the mpeg4 codec used for the video isnā€™t supported. mpeg4 is a generic name used for multiple actual codecs, the 2 common at the time avi was popular are divx and xvid. These are not supported by browsers.

Please note that if something is compatible for direct play is also up to the browser itself. As a test, drag the file into a blank browser tab. If the browser supports it, the video will play. If it doesnā€™t support it, it will download the file instead. This can also very depending on the browser (i.e. Chrome vs FireFox vs Safari, etc).

8

Ok. Understand.

Now I have another problem with MP3 files. If I access Plex Web App using the direct URL to my server (https://[hostname].ddns.net:32400), it is able to play MP3 files with direct play. However if I access Plex Web App using https://app.plex.tv/desktop, then it will transcode to AAC.

Both shows the server as ā€œnearbyā€.

Iā€™m using Firefox 82.0.2 (64 bit). I dropped the MP3 file on it and it is able to playback the file. I tried disabling all add-ons (extensions) and I get the same result. I also tried Microsoft Edge (chromium) and it is able to play with direct play for both URLs.

Below are the logs from both (with Firefox).
direct_url.txt (120.9 KB) via_plex_tv.txt (534.1 KB)

9

Something is off.

ā€œmessageā€: ā€œ[MDE] Direct play failed; unsupported container: mp3ā€,

Can you get me your PMS logs too?

10

I did the following with song title ā€œSunday Bloody Sundayā€

  1. Play song via plex.tv (transcoded)
  2. Play song via direct url (direct play)
  3. Play song via plex tv (transcoded)

Attached below is the PMS log.
(File removed)

11

Oh, you do not have debug logging enabled for your server, so there isnā€™t enough info in the logs. Please turn that setting on, reproduce the playback and send me new logs.

Edit - You said that it worked fine with Edge, so I am leaning towards FF being picky.

12

Repeated the same steps using the song title ā€œThere for Meā€.

Debug enabled and log below.
(File removed)

13

Thanks for the info. Iā€™m not sure whatā€™s going on but I was able to reproduce. Iā€™ll let the team know.

1 Like
14

Just found out that the devs were aware and a fix just went out. Reload the page and it should be working.

15

Ok. Itā€™s Direct Play now when using plex.tv.

16

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