Why can't I Play Original Quality?

General Discussions
1

Hi everyone,

I just started ripping some of my Blu-ray library so I don’t have to reach for the discs anymore. My files are full mkv’s around 30 to 40 gb in size. Everything is playing from a USB 3.0 external off of my fast gaming rig. Core i7 6700k 4 GHz.

I just purchased an Nvidia shield tv and this thing rocks but the main issue im having is I cannot play my rips at full using the PLAY ORIGINAL QUALITY. Its always on CONVERT AUTOMATICALLY. Everything is plugged in via Ethernet. I notice the info at the top left of the screen says Size 1920 x 1080 and Direct play. So I’m not sure if I’m getting the full experience or not. Can someone explain

Thanks everyone!

2

If it is direct play, then no transcoding is happening and you are getting the original quality movie.

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250387-Streaming-Media-Direct-Play-and-Direct-Stream

3

@kegobeer-plex said:
If it is direct play, then no transcoding is happening and you are getting the original quality movie.

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250387-Streaming-Media-Direct-Play-and-Direct-Stream

Hey thanks for your reply. I understand for the most part from the article you sent me, but not sure what the point of having the option in the settings wheel to choose play original while it automatically reverting back to convert automatically.

I just logged in to the dedicated Plex media player on the PC itself and it’s playing original in the menu right now. There’s no hint of the words convert automatically in the PC version of the software inside the settings wheel.

What I’m guessing is that the andriod tv software and maybe apple versions of the apps are a little different.

4

PMS must usually perform a ‘container conversion’ to talk to the AppleTV’s native player (which PMS leverages for now). No transcoding of the bits is performed unless needed . AppleTV doesn’t support MKV format. This is why the container conversion is needed. It doesn’t use much CPU and, imo, makes up for the ease of management using MKV files over MP4 files.

PMP can read MKV format directly. This is you won’t see it converting file formats.

Each client does have different capabilities. The client tells PMS its capabilities and requested playback settings at the start of each Playback. PMS and the client then negotiate (exchange) what’s possible. PMS then makes the final selection and playback begins.