By User Login…
If a person does not have 4K capability do not allow access to your 4K library…
ahh, ok so filter it that way. I was looking for an option to hide certain bitrate etc from certain users. ok then, looks like all the 4k content has to go live in its own special folder
so lets say i have a 4k and a 1080p version of the same film. They can live in different folders but would plex be happy about that?
@SOSAGES said:
so lets say i have a 4k and a 1080p version of the same film. They can live in different folders but would plex be happy about that?
Plex handles multiple versions OK. It subtly allows you to select whichever version you want. However I think it’s more straightforward to have a separate 4K library.
yes, its a shame perhaps that i can not nominate clients that can and can not see 4k content. Doing it by the user means the user has the know and understand they need to think about what they watch on what device. For example, if i am on an ipad i would be silly to select the 4k file and it should just show/serve up the 1080p option. If i am my shield i want to see the 4k file and play it back.
I suspect transcoding 4k is not something we thought would happen a lot but it all depends on the client.
If the decision engine/transcoder was smarter we could have just one entry for a movie but have two versions (4K, 1080) and it would choose which one to direct stream based on the client. This sort of works now EXCEPT when you further need to transcode such as a bitrate limit or mobile user. At that point it will select the original file (4K likely) as the source so it’s back to transcoding issues.
Maybe down the road this type of logic could be programmed in the server but at present the choice is often client sided so this would be hard to do without some extensive changes.
For now the best way to handle it is separate libraries and to only share the 4K library with people who can always direct play it. That means talking to them and making sure they have the bandwidth and proper player.
That’s what I do. If I see a person playing a 4K file and it’s transcoding I unshare the 4K lib with them and wait to see if they contact me to ask about it. 
Carlo
Agree with the posters above that suggest direct play or don’t play at all. With the quality losses from transcoding, you won’t be much better off than with 1080p.
I suggest ripping both the Blu-ray AND the UHD Blu-ray versions, and as mentioned above, put 1080p file in the “Movies” library, the 4K in a separate “UHD Movies” library. That makes it easy to give access to just the appropriate files so they don’t kill your PMS trying to play something they can’t play.
