frustration

[dhewton]

**Title: Help Request: 4K HEVC Transcoding Failure - Cannot achieve Direct Play on Windows Client**

Hello,

I need help configuring a client to Direct Play a 4K HEVC file. My current setup forces a transcode that crashes after about 10 minutes.

**My Goal:**
Use a Jellyfin interface (Web or Desktop) to select a movie and have it play smoothly on my media client.

**Server ("Asgard-Lite"):**
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Jellyfin Server Version: [Please add your Jellyfin server version here]

**Client ("The Client"):**
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8400T
- GPU: Integrated Intel UHD 630 (Driver is the latest version, confirmed with Intel Support Assistant)

**The File:**
- Container: MKV
- Video Codec: HEVC (H.265) Main 10
- Audio/Subtitles: Multiple formats

**Problem Analysis:**

1.  **Using Chrome Browser:**
    - Jellyfin forces a transcode.
    - **Reason:** "The container is not supported, The audio codec is not supported, The subtitle codec is not supported."
    - The resulting HLS stream plays for ~10 minutes, then freezes.
    - Installing the official HEVC extensions from the Microsoft Store did **not** solve this.

2.  **Using Jellyfin Media Player App:**
    - The player attempts to Direct Play, but fails to engage hardware decoding.
    - **Result:** 100% usage of the GPU's **3D engine**, resulting in unwatchable, choppy playback.
    - Manually configuring hwdec=d3d11 or hwdec=auto-copy (via GUI box or mpv.conf file) does **not** fix the issue.

3.  **Using VLC Media Player (The Control Test):**
    - When playing the exact same file from the same network location, VLC works **perfectly**.
    - Task Manager confirms VLC is correctly using the **Video Decode** engine (~7-10% usage), with low 3D engine usage.

**Conclusion:**
The server, network, file, client hardware, and client drivers are all working correctly. The problem lies exclusively with the Jellyfin client software (both Web and Desktop Player) being unable to either Direct Play correctly or hand off to an external player on my system.

**My Question:**
How can I solve this? Is there a known-good configuration, a different Jellyfin client I should use, or a reliable method for external player integration that I have missed?

Thank you.

Can I get Jellyfin to use VLC as its player? That would simplify everything.