Jellyfin tries to direct stream when it should re-encode?

[theguymadmax]

That's a great question. I’ve probably tested it on other external players, but I don’t remember the results clearly. I just tried VLC and MX Player—both are not based on Media3 (ExoPlayer)—and encountered the same issues. I’ll need to revise my explanation and mention that it’s likely a device-specific issue. Unless the player has implemented workarounds like Kodi, all players will likely exhibit the same behavior.