Can only transcode H265 and no H264 files

[Jeremy Loh]

Hi,

I have a Dell mini with a i3-8100T and a 8gb ram with an internal 256gb NVME, 500gb HDD (5400rpm) and an external 5TB HDD (5400rpm).

When I try to transcode H265 files by setting the quality when playing back (both on the android app and the web browser), it works well without any issues. However, when I try to transcode H264 files by setting the quality as well (on the android and web browser), it sticks to direct playing regardless of whichever quality I select (original file is at 1080p).

This is what I see in the logs:

[2024-03-07 15:13:51.710 +08:00] [INF] User policy for "...". EnablePlaybackRemuxing: True EnableVideoPlaybackTranscoding: True EnableAudioPlaybackTranscoding: True
[2024-03-07 15:13:51.710 +08:00] [INF] StreamBuilder.BuildVideoItem( Profile="Anonymous Profile", Path="/hdd1/movies/...", AudioStreamIndex=2, SubtitleStreamIndex=0 ) => ( PlayMethod=DirectPlay, TranscodeReason=0 ) "mediavideos/9eb56bc7-d7ac-bf3c-0e6b-1b9bc2862633/stream.mp4?MediaSourceId=9eb56bc7d7acbf3c0e6b1b9bc2862633&Static=true&VideoCodec=h264&AudioCodec=aac&AudioStreamIndex=2&api_key=<token>&Tag=de9c5e5697f96b56257eeea5c0dfc4e5"

Was wondering if anyone can help me out?

Thanks.

[TheDreadPirate]

The only part of the "quality" selector on the client is the bit rate. If the bit rate in the "quality" you chose is higher than the video's native bit rate it won't transcode.

Is there a reason you are trying to force transcoding? The goal is to direct play as much as possible.

[Jeremy Loh]

Because I had a bad connection where I was. So was trying to downgrade a 1080p media file to a 720p or 480p media file. If it's an HEVC /h265 file it downgrades the quality accordingly based on my selection. If it's a h264 file, doesn't downgrade no matter the quality I select.