I’ve had this issue for a while, and have just given up in general, but hoping someone might be able to help me figure out what is causing my Plex Server (MacOS 1.41.6.9685) to force transcode for media that can be played back directly on my Mac (using Plex Desktop 1.108.1.307-dd5b87aa.
This also happened in the old experience client on iOS, thankfully it is working fine in the new experience client.
This specific detail from the Debug log (attached below) is somewhat puzzling, given the target client is the MacOS desktop client. I’m no expert in codecs and what is supported, however something doesn’t seem right to me.
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.326 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] TranscodeUniversalRequest: using profile Plex Desktop
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.326 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Downloading document http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/metadata/37202?includeBandwidths=1&offset=0&X-Plex-Incomplete-Segments=1&X-Plex-Session-Identifier=q3i7pz2k8zosu23tncrvqbls
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.329 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.329 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Selecting best audio stream for part ID 68418 (language: en)
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.329 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] We're going to try to auto-select a subtitle for account 1.
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.329 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Audio Stream: 188644, Subtitle Stream: -1
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.330 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: testing h264_videotoolbox (encoder)
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.350 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: testing hevc_videotoolbox (encoder)
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.366 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: testing hevc (decoder) with hwdevice videotoolbox
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.367 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API videotoolbox for device '' (Apple M1 Max)
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.367 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: Testing with profile 'Main'
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: Selected protocol http; container: mkv
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: analyzing media item 53094
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: 03.Post-Race.Analysis (2025): Direct Play is disabled
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: 03.Post-Race.Analysis (2025): no direct play video profile exists for http/mp4/hevc
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: 03.Post-Race.Analysis (2025): no direct play video profile exists for http/mp4/hevc/aac
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: 03.Post-Race.Analysis (2025): Direct Streaming is disabled, so video stream will be transcoded
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: 03.Post-Race.Analysis (2025): no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.368 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: testing h264_videotoolbox (encoder)
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.375 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] Codecs: testing hevc_videotoolbox (encoder)
Apr 14, 2025 11:34:54.384 [0x16d8fb000] DEBUG - [Req#d895/Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations
Media Information
Plex Media Server.log (74.7 KB)
