# Why Does Plex keep transoding this?

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-windows\
**Created:** [May 17, 2021, 9:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301 "2021-05-17T09:20:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hazza9286](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@Hazza9286](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Hazza9286)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 9:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/1 "2021-05-17T09:20:01Z")

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Hi

I have a 4k video, it plays fine using the pc client (no transcoding)  
But for some reason when playing the same film on the LG client, it always forces transcoding.  
Can anyone tell me why its doing that?  
Or what format I would have to convert the film to in order to not have it transcode?

Also, Sorry if ive posted this in the wrong group.

\<If providing [server logs](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/) plea

 ![20210507_160531](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/b/e/be8ccc5287acb2f5d41dffc5e10d4d9f6703ea7e.jpeg)  
se do NOT turn on verbose logging\>

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 10:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/2 "2021-05-17T10:23:11Z")

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Please post the first ~20 lines from the [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info")

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**Author:** ![Hazza9286](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@Hazza9286](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Hazza9286)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/4 "2021-05-21T15:00:08Z")

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[plex.txt](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/3xgwsfgOG2Th5CrGfG3b8OHHRpD.txt) (8.2 KB)  
Hi

Sorry for the delay, ive attached the first load of lines for the media i was trying to play.

Regards

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**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/5 "2021-05-22T11:10:12Z")

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`<Stream id="14608" streamType="1" default="1" codec="h264" index="0" bitrate="67460" language="English" languageCode="eng" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codedHeight="2160" codedWidth="3840" frameRate="23.976" hasScalingMatrix="0" height="2160" level="51" profile="main" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="165069,122171,110506,99846,90761,81675,77673,76285" streamIdentifier="1" width="3840" displayTitle="4K (H.264)" extendedDisplayTitle="4K (H.264)"> </Stream>`

4K in H.264 doesn’t work on many clients. It exceeds a bandwidth of 100mbps which alone is a reason why many devices cannot play it, since their Ethernet port supports only 100mbps max.

If you want to watch this movie in 4K, get a version which is encoded in HEVC.  
Otherwise you’ll have to “Play Version” and pick the 1080p version of the movie.

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**Author:** ![Hazza9286](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@Hazza9286](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Hazza9286)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 7:54am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/6 "2021-05-24T07:54:30Z")

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Hi

Thanks for your reply, the 4k version is in HEVC. I have two versions of the film and think the XML info was showing the 1080p which is H.264

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/9/3/93956c0dea6deea1ab84845614e6b15ed5933942.png)

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**Author:** ![FordGuy61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@FordGuy61](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FordGuy61)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 8:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/7 "2021-05-24T08:23:32Z")

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Play both versions. Monitor playback in [Plex Dashboard](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/#toc-1) → Now Playing. Expand to show details.

What is shown for each version?

Attach screenshots if possible.

* * *

The picture attached to your first post is for 4K H.264 video. Also, it is not transcoding. Notice both the video and the audio are being copied. Plex is direct streaming the media, repackaging it from a mp4 container to a mpegts container. On some clients this shows up as transcoding the container.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2021, 8:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-keep-transoding-this/716301/8 "2021-08-22T08:23:38Z")

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