Hello Everyone,
I have several users that have 2022-2023 Models of Sony TVs, with Google TV, that all seem to have Movies that get transcoded for some reason. It’s always the Video that’s transcoded and not just the container. And, it’s random as most times it does not transcode.
Here is an example from Tautulli showing the transcoding:
They all have more then enough bandwidth so why the transcoding? Can the logs tell me the reason?
TIA
Insufficient bandwidth or the device doesn’t natively support the format/codec your file is in
I do see 2Mbps 720p. That is the default quality a lot of players get set to by default.
You can instruct them to increase that to Original or Maximum in their settings and see if that helps
Thanks for your reply.
Already set to Max/Original.
Are the TVs local or remote to the Plex server?
Monitor playback via Plex Dashboard or Tautulli when transcoding. Is the connection shown as local, remote, or indirect?
@JaysPlex is right. This looks like a bandwidth limit. Some Plex clients default to 2 Mbps for remote connections. That is also the bandwidth when using Plex Relay with a Plex Pass.
I forgot to mention a relay or indirect connection. Verify that your remote access is configured correctly by looking in the dashboard while something plays.
Does it say remote here or indirect?
Never mind, thanks Fordguy LOL
Thanks for the replies.
The PMS is remotely hosted.
Connection is shown as remote (always).
Do you know what your upload speed is? Their download speed?
What type of client they use?
Speed is 50/20.
Client is the Plex Client that I downloaded from the Play Store. TV is running Google TV OS.
Here is another from last night:
Is auto adjust quality enabled on the clients?
It can cause a video transcode.
Reddit would indicate that Chromecast with Google TV cannot direct play EAC3. That may be part of your issue
Same TV as my previous post. Note the audio format and Bitrate.
I would need to check that.
EDIT: Just checked and it is disabled. Seems that’s the default.
When you get a chance, please upload a set of debug server logs that capture the problem.
Configure PMS for debug, not verbose, logging
Settings → Server_Name → General + Show Advanced
Restart PMS, wait 2 - 3 minutes for it to fully boot.
With no other users on the system, re-create the problem.
Let the video play for ~30 seconds then stop playback.
Wait one minute for the server to log everything.
Pull logs, Settings → Troubleshooting, and upload the zip file to the thread.
@FordGuy61 - Thanks for your reply and instructions, however it is going to be difficult to get just one person using the PMS and also have the issue present itself. Especially as it does not always happen.
I’ll see what I can organise and post back the logs.
Once again, thank you for your input.
Don’t worry about waiting for just one person to stream. If you can catch the problem early there should be enough info in the logs.
The important part is for the logs to capture when the problem stream starts. That has the information on why Plex decided to transcode the media.
Transcoding adds a lot of information to the log files. If there are several simultaneous transcodes, the log files can quickly wrap and the desired information is lost.
Having fewer simultaneous streams also makes it easier to read the log files.
Check that the server is configured for debug logs. If it is set for verbose, you’ll need to restart PMS for the setting to take effect (lowering the log level requires a PMS restart).
If you happen to catch an unexpected transcode and it has only been streaming a few minutes (~10 or less), go ahead and pull the log files. When you upload the logs, also mention what movie/show was being streamed. It will help to sort through the data.
Is the upload speed from the server 50 Mbps?
Is that configured in Settings → Remote Access → Internet upload speed?
Also, what is set for Limit remote stream bitrate?
The problem occurs only when there are multiple streams, correct?
Any chance you’re running into the upstream limit? That will cause Plex to transcode media.
You cannot stream right up to the limit. Plex holds ~10% in reserve in case a stream needs to burst for a few seconds (I don’t know the exact amount, but 10% is close).
Example: There are existing streams using 40 Mbps of bandwidth. Another person requests to stream a 10 Mbps file. It will be transcoded because it will push Plex over the total bandwidth limit (50 Mbps less the reserve amount).
@FordGuy61 - Thanks for the reply and all the information. Much appreciated.
Sorry to take so long to get back to you but I needed to travel to my friends place to double check settings and to install a speed test app on the Sony TV (Google TV OS).
The settings had Quality Suggestions enabled, so I disabled it as they were getting the suggestions. Quality is set to Max and Auto Adjust Quality is also disabled, which does not work if Max/Original Quality is selected, if my memory serves me correct.
I installed a Speedtest App and tested it as 56/20 Mbps Down/Up… While I was there I was unable to make the issue happen so I left with instructions to let me know of problems and to test the internet speed using the app if they have issues. Strange it would not play up when I was there during the day, Hmmmmm.
No, upload speed from Server is 3000Mbps, confirmed with speedtest-cli. Which is also set to 3000 in “Limit remote stream bitrate” on the PMS.
I don’t think so, there should be more then enough available.
Well, the problem of lots of buffering happened last night at 12PM (noon) GMT on 6th June while playing a TV Show (First Lady S01E04) and a Movie (Sisu). User name is Liz_Tulip.
Hope this gives you enough information. Logs attached.
Greg
PMS Logs_2023-06-06_21-16-14.zip (2.7 MB)
EDIT: Speedtest was done when the issue occurred last night and was still 56/20.
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