I have created a PLEX Share for two “Friends”. With “Friend - 1” the video quality is superb, but for “Friend-2” the video quality is quite poor. Under “Plex Web” in “Quality” under “Internet Streaming” under “Video Quality” I have my video quality set a “20 mbps, 1080p” (should I select “Maximum” instead?)
Anyway, my system is set (or so I think) to provide superior video quality to both “Friends”. Why would “Friend-1” get 1080 resolution and “Friend-2” be getting something less, perhaps as low as 480?
Are there settings elsewhere in my Plex Media Server that I need to attend to? Are there settings in my “Friends” Plex Players that they need to adjust?
The Plex Web video quality is a client/player configuration and applies to your playback – this does not apply to the players of your friends (unless they configure it for themselves in their client app / browser). Have your friends check if they have configured some quality restriction in the client they’re using (same for “automatic quality”).
On the server side you can verify if you apply any remote access restrictions (Settings > [Server Name] > Remote Access > Internet upload speed and Limit remote stream bitrate).
If their streaming involves your server transcoding the media, this could also impact their quality. If your server cannot transcode the media in the requested quality in real-time, Plex will attempt to lower the playback quality.
