Hello,
Just wanted to know why if I have a bitrate during the playback, it is showing different one in control panel:
And why is the same movie, but in different devices, showing different bitrate, even during direct play:
Kind regards
Keep in mind that’s different information.
The first screenshot is showing the average bitrate of the video (simplified: file size in bits divided by # of seconds).
The now-playing dashboard shows the current average bandwidth used to stream the video.
One of the strength of modern codecs is that they can use more information to describe an individual frame if needed (e.g. if there’s some high-speed motions or action sequences). The maximum bitrate for certain sections of your movie can be much higher.
I haven’t been checking this for some time… the actual bandwidth consumption can depend on the frequency Plex is updating this information (the avg. bitrate/bandwidth for 1:41:35-1:41:55 could be 104 Mbps while the avg. bitrate/bandwidth for 1:41:45-1:42:05 is 187 Mbps).
I don’t think it’s the current or average bandwidth in use.
I think it’s the estimated bandwidth required for smooth delivery of the stream.
I think devices may give different estimates because they report differing amounts of available buffer memory.
But I’m not confident, and I’d like to know for sure.
Me too.
The other day a friend played this one - on something he had (maybe a Smart TV App) - it reported Direct Play at 9.5Mbps
Here’s local on my Roku Ultra (same for FireTV, Android Mobile (I don’t have a way to leave local - 'cause I am local - Nearest 4G is 40 miles from here):
Have no idea what that means, but am dying to find out.
Noteworthy, I suppose, is the 9.5Mbps was being played on a device about 12 thousand miles from here, and almost certainly some of the journey was via satellite (I don’t think there’s a wire from here to there) - that may have also contributed to the difference and factored into Plex’s Kakalations.
Take a look at the values in requiredBandwidths in the Plex media info XML.
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Right. When Direct Playing on the LAN, I typically see the first requiredBandwidths value, rounded up.
When transcoding, the value shown on the dashboard seems to match the active Plex Transcoder -maxrate value.
Direct play bandwidth depends on the client type.
Try with the old Plex media player and set it’s buffer size to maximum.
The result might be a lower b/w number than with e g. a “smart tv” type of client. (Because these are typically the most stripped-down devices and so have less RAM available for buffer.)
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Yes, that works as expected with the Plex HTPC preview app. A lower bandwidth value is displayed.
Plex Web/Chrome and Plex for Mac and Roku and Infuse - Direct Playing, on the LAN - all seem to display the first value.
The first value corresponds to the smallest buffer size.
Right - and smaller buffers would require the most available bandwidth for smooth streaming.
But the clients I first mentioned do appear to have very large buffers. Plex for Mac caches hundreds of MB. OP mentioned Plex for Windows, which does the same.
Perhaps they just don’t bother reporting it - maybe only when on the LAN?
The iOS app does also report lower bandwidth.
And Plex Web/Safari shows the lowest values of all!
This is fun - 3 and 2 and 6 Mbps:
I think you’re confirming the theory: the Dashboard doesn’t display the actual used bandwidth.
It’s the bandwidth requirement for smooth streaming, based on requiredBandwidths calculations of the video stream (or fallback estimates), and the specific player’s reported buffer size.
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Mostly correct. It is also the reserved bandwidth for this client’s playback session. If you have set an upper limit for your whole server, it will diminish that bandwidth “budget”.
Settings - Server - Remote Access
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It makes no sense for me TBH. You are saying that, small buffer devices require more “dedicated” bandwidth, I guess in case an spike of speed is needed. However, for the same movie as I reported on my first screenshots, the highest dedicated bandwidth is for the Plex Windows App, however on the LG TV with a lower buffer, it requires low bandwidth.
So, I went into the theater mode in Windows and was able to increase the buffer side, and then in the dashboard, the bandwidth was lower than before, so yes, the theory of: more buffer = Less bandwidth in dashboard, seems to be true.
The only thing I am wondering is there any way I can set my plex player, outside of theater mode to increase the buffer?
Are you having playback problems?
For local/LAN playback with good connectivity, does it matter? Plex Media Server isn’t limiting the transfer to that speed.
I think some of these clients actually allocate more buffer space than they report. Plex for Mac and Plex for Windows appear to do so.
I’m guessing the TV apps report it more accurately because they are constrained platforms, and playback can fail if the buffer or bandwidth is insufficient.
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