Has Plex Client Development stalled?

[Everbrave]

Under which conditions does the Plex transcoding kick-in?

Thanks

settings>services>plex client - enable transcode is the first step because it's not enabled by default. Can you be more specific with your question otherwise?

I was wondering if it is only activated when, e.g., the bit rate exceeds a certain limit or, once enabled, will always be engaged.

[davilla]

Transcoding does not depend on actual bandwidth. You set the conditions in MrMC gui, and you get that. Transcoding only works going down. So if you have it set to some HD setting, SD content will not get transcoded. Only if the content is greater than what you set, will it get transcoded to what you set. Plex Server handles this behavior.

[amet]

^^^ at least we think that's how it works since there is zero(0) documentation on how Plex works

[Everbrave]

^^^ at least we think that's how it works since there is zero(0) documentation on how Plex works

Honestly, I didn't notice any difference with the transcoding on/off; might try with a high resolution, high bit date he hevc source.
Apple TV 4 (underpowered) A8 is the culprit, on iPad Pro, hevc files play flawlessly without transcoding!
What is strange, however, is that the Plex app (client) on ATV 4 Play the hevc movies with the original resolution, I.e. without transcoding, up to 1080p, 27Mbps rate without (noticeable) problems.

IMHO, Plex is the smoothest player on ATV 4 for local media and high-bandwidth (wireless ac in my case, approx. 70MB/s), compared to PlayerXtream (an excellent player, poor UI), Infuse 4.6, Squire, VLC, DS Video and MrMC.

I regard the integration of Plex in MrMC as one of its most effective features with regard of media management as well as transcoding if necessary. For me, It's a big advantage over all available players on the market; please stay strong on that as far as you can.

[davilla]

iPad Pro is a dual-core 64-bit A9X running at about 2.25GHz.
AppleTV4 is a dual-core 64-bit A8 running at about 1.5 GHz.

Conclusion, iPad Pro has about 2X the ponies of the AppleTV4.

In my tests, the AppleTV4 can handle HEVC 720p but not 1080p. But 1080p could depend on profile/level of the HEVC. I've never seen any that will play without issues. That said, there's no way that any app can do HEVC 1080p on the AppleTV4 direct.

The Plex app must be transcoding it. Check your plex server logs.

EDIT: I would not call the A8 in the AppleTV4 underpowered. It will be faster than most arm quad-cores at the same clock. The only think I know that beats it is the NVidia Shield. Now that SoC has some real ponies.

[cosmoxl]

^^^ at least we think that's how it works since there is zero(0) documentation on how Plex works

Honestly, I didn't notice any difference with the transcoding on/off; might try with a high resolution, high bit date he hevc source.
Apple TV 4 (underpowered) A8 is the culprit, on iPad Pro, hevc files play flawlessly without transcoding!
What is strange, however, is that the Plex app (client) on ATV 4 Play the hevc movies with the original resolution, I.e. without transcoding, up to 1080p, 27Mbps rate without (noticeable) problems.

IMHO, Plex is the smoothest player on ATV 4 for local media and high-bandwidth (wireless ac in my case, approx. 70MB/s), compared to PlayerXtream (an excellent player, poor UI), Infuse 4.6, Squire, VLC, DS Video and MrMC.

I regard the integration of Plex in MrMC as one of its most effective features with regard of media management as well as transcoding if necessary. For me, It's a big advantage over all available players on the market; please stay strong on that as far as you can.

original resolution does not mean there's no transcoding happening. selecting original in the settings of the plex app just means it'll TRY to play the original track. If it can't due to codec incompatibility it'll transcode to something with the same quality as the original.

this can be easily checked by looking at your server "now playing" info via the plex web app as you play on your apple tv.

[amet]

While doing this integration we have seen that all videos are "transcoded" or repackaged into h264 while using plex app... that's a default unless you do direct play.

According to very little documentation, plex app will either do direct stream or transcode, almost never will it do direct play ...

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articl ... different-

[Everbrave]

While doing this integration we have seen that all videos are "transcoded" or repackaged into h264 while using plex app... that's a default unless you do direct play.

According to very little documentation, plex app will either do direct stream or transcode, almost never will it do direct play ...

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articl ... different-

My PMS runs on a synology DS415 (intel Atom quad-core). When I set the Plex client pref. to "original", I see very low CPU load, any setting different than that, e.g. Lower resolution results in very high (95-99%) CPU usage.
EDIT: the A8 SoC is underpowered for hevc software decoding; when it comes to hevc I use either plex on ATV4 or SPMC on Minix U1 (Amlogic S905 SoC) with Hardware decoding and now Kodi 18 supports Amlogic SoC hardware decoder.
Probably, the next generation of ATV will not have this problem or Apple will give access to its hevc hardware decoding (used for FaceTime) already in use on the current ATV4.

[cosmoxl]

While doing this integration we have seen that all videos are "transcoded" or repackaged into h264 while using plex app... that's a default unless you do direct play.

According to very little documentation, plex app will either do direct stream or transcode, almost never will it do direct play ...

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articl ... different-

My PMS runs on a synology DS415 (intel Atom quad-core). When I set the Plex client pref. to "original", I see very low CPU load, any setting different than that, e.g. Lower resolution results in very high (95-99%) CPU usage.
EDIT: the A8 SoC is underpowered for hevc software decoding; when it comes to hevc I use either plex on ATV4 or SPMC on Minix U1 (Amlogic S905 SoC) with Hardware decoding and now Kodi 18 supports Amlogic SoC hardware decoder.
Probably, the next generation of ATV will not have this problem or Apple will give access to its hevc hardware decoding (used for FaceTime) already in use on the current ATV4.

I don't know what's going on with your plex server but mine certainly transcodes HEVC to h264 even when everything is set to "original" and no hard coding of subtitles.

[Everbrave]

While doing this integration we have seen that all videos are "transcoded" or repackaged into h264 while using plex app... that's a default unless you do direct play.

According to very little documentation, plex app will either do direct stream or transcode, almost never will it do direct play ...

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articl ... different-

My PMS runs on a synology DS415 (intel Atom quad-core). When I set the Plex client pref. to "original", I see very low CPU load, any setting different than that, e.g. Lower resolution results in very high (95-99%) CPU usage.
EDIT: the A8 SoC is underpowered for hevc software decoding; when it comes to hevc I use either plex on ATV4 or SPMC on Minix U1 (Amlogic S905 SoC) with Hardware decoding and now Kodi 18 supports Amlogic SoC hardware decoder.
Probably, the next generation of ATV will not have this problem or Apple will give access to its hevc hardware decoding (used for FaceTime) already in use on the current ATV4.

I don't know what's going on with your plex server but mine certainly transcodes HEVC to h264 even when everything is set to "original" and no hard coding of subtitles.

Ther have been some confusion here; I almost never play hevc using ATV4 but the Minix U1 instead (Amlogic S905 SoC)