2023-09-29, 03:33 PM
I think there is a lack of interest in this feature relative to the intended purpose of the server. This is a feature only appealing to people trying to run the server on underpowered hardware that isn't recommended to begin with, and there already exist hls streaming solutions that can deliver a compatible stream from multiple pre-encoded options. This is, in fact, how commercial streaming services work.
Jellyfin's entire objective is to be the exact opposite of this. The goal is to format shift whatever existing files you have to be compatible with clients, because this is what generally works best for consumer grade solutions. This is accomplished by using hardware capable of transcoding content in real time, rather than selecting from multiple pre-encoded options.
All of this being said, such a feature probably wouldn't be out of scope if someone wanted to sit down and add it. I just don't think anyone has expressed any interest in putting something like this together. If you're confident that it's easy, you can always start this project yourself--or simply find someone who is interested in helping you. But the fact that it's sat so long suggests that no present contributor has been interested in taking it on.
I would also say that it's a terrible idea, in general, to make assumptions about what's involved in adding any feature to any code base--jellyfin or otherwise--with which you are not familiar. Such assumptions are rarely accurate.
Jellyfin's entire objective is to be the exact opposite of this. The goal is to format shift whatever existing files you have to be compatible with clients, because this is what generally works best for consumer grade solutions. This is accomplished by using hardware capable of transcoding content in real time, rather than selecting from multiple pre-encoded options.
All of this being said, such a feature probably wouldn't be out of scope if someone wanted to sit down and add it. I just don't think anyone has expressed any interest in putting something like this together. If you're confident that it's easy, you can always start this project yourself--or simply find someone who is interested in helping you. But the fact that it's sat so long suggests that no present contributor has been interested in taking it on.
I would also say that it's a terrible idea, in general, to make assumptions about what's involved in adding any feature to any code base--jellyfin or otherwise--with which you are not familiar. Such assumptions are rarely accurate.