Why is video being transcoded by Web Player when I turn on VOBSUB subtitles?

Plex Players Desktop Players
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Server Version#: 1.15.3.876 (MyCloud PR4100 NAS)
Player Version#: 3.83.1

From searches, it would seem this is by design – I’ve read plenty of posts that say Plex always transcodes when ‘image’ subtitles like vobsub are on. But when I use the Plex App on my Android TV and play the same films with vobsub subtitles, it doesn’t transcode, so it would seem Plex can Direct Stream videos with subtitles.

So why does the Plex Web Player have to transcode video when I turn subtitles on?

This is on macOS 10.13.6 tested with Safari, Firefox and Chrome.

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Use the real ‘Plex Media Player’, not the web app.
Separate download, available for free below.

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Thanks, I’ve downloaded the app and given that a try and as you say it Direct Streams just fine.

I’m somewhat surprised I didn’t find this by Googling (I did try!), so hopefully this will be useful and visible for others who might have the question.

Still, I wish the web player supported this so I didn’t have to install yet another app that I’ll rarely use.

5

There is nothing Plex can do about that.
The web browser manufacturers of this world don’t really see a use case for pixel-based subtitles in a web browser. (when these only dwell on DVDs and BluRays)

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