Xbox One S - remote playback with 4K content

Plex Players Gaming Consoles
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Server Version#: 1.23.6.4881
Player Version#: 5.20.1

Hi all,

So, I have a Plex Server setup with 4k content on it. Within my house I have no issues with playing it on my Apple 4K TV nor on my Xbox One S.

However when a friend streams the 4k content from me; it triggers a transcode on the server. I’m not 100% sure what is causing this. They have the Xbox One S as well.

I thought it was the 4K media; perhaps it has 7.1 audio or some other limitation that would cause the Plex app to trigger a transcode. But then I would see it on my Xbox, right?

Where else should I focus my investigation as to what is causing the transcoding?

Thanks all.

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Monitor playback via Plex Dashboard → Now Playing. It will show if the video or audio is transcoding.

Make sure the connection is listed as Remote, not Indirect. Indirect connections are via Plex Relay and limited to 2 Mbps (1 Mbps w/o a Plex Pass).

Check the bandwidth settings on the remote Xbox. Plex clients typically default to 2 Mbps for remote streaming. Change it to Original/Unlimited.

Check the bandwidth settings on the Plex Server remote access page (Settings → Remote Access).

If you want to dig into the details, pull the Plex server log files and look for lines containing MDE:.

1 Like
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Thank you for this; much appreciated. It gives me a direction to investigate. Will report back once I find the issue. Can only test this next week again, sadly.

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I managed to find some time to dig into this more. Heres what the dashboard says.
Screenshot 2021-08-04 at 15.08.23

Logs are showing this:

[> Transcode] MDE: Selected protocol dash; container: mp4

Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.400 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: analyzing media item 1595
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.400 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E1 - Offred: Direct Play is disabled
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.400 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E1 - Offred: media must be transcoded in order to use the dash protocol
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.413 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E1 - Offred: no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.413 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E1 - Offred: no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/eac3
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.413 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Offred - video.width limitation applies: 3840 > 1280
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.413 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E1 - Offred: Direct Streaming is disabled, so video stream will be transcoded
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.413 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E1 - Offred: no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.414 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing h264_nvenc (encoder)
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.414 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API nvenc
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.414 [0x7f11a4605b38] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Cannot load libcuda.so.1
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.414 [0x7f11a4605b38] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Could not dynamically load CUDA
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.414 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred
Aug 04, 2021 13:06:01.414 [0x7f11a4605b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations

I have mate sure the remote client has “Allow Direct Play” checked in their settings.

Interesting enough; the exact same file plays perfectly fine on my Xbox One S.

I have asked the remote user to set logging to server on, in their app. Will see why their Xbox is trying to transcode the video.

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Plex Documentation → Xbox → Settings: Xbox

Notice the Plex server is transcoding to 4 Mbps (per Dashboard) and to 720p (per log file).

4 Mbps/720p is one of the choices for streaming limits in Plex clients and servers.

Remote Plex Client:

Check the remote video quality setttings on the xbox, Settings → Video → Remote Quality

Your friend must change the setting in the Plex app on the xbox.

It cannot be changed using the web interface.

You cannot change it remotely, from the server.

Plex Server:

Check:
Settings → Remote Access → Internet upload speed
Settings → Remote Access → Limit remote stream bitrate.

Make sure neither is limiting bandwidth to 4 Mbps.

1 Like
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That indeed appears to be the solution. His console was set to 4MB/s with that setting. He did report that it buffers / micro-stutters for a little bit then clears up. We will do more testing later on and check logs in real time on the server.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!

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