SOLVED: iOS HEVC files always get transcoded in Jellyfin 10.11

[Lazy vita]

Hi everyone,
I’m running Jellyfin 10.11 in a Docker container on Windows 11 (12700KF + Nvidia NVENC).
Most of my library consists of 4 K HEVC (H.265) MP4 files. When I play these videos in Chrome on desktop they are delivered as Direct Play . But on my iPad / iPhone (Safari or the official iOS app) the server always starts an FFmpeg transcode job, even though the devices can natively decode HEVC. 
The only workaround I’ve found is to open Dashboard → Users → Playback and untick “Allow video playback that requires transcoding” for my account. After that, the same HEVC files direct-play instantly on iOS and look identical to the originals.
Unfortunately this also blocks playback of the ~30 % of items that really do need transcoding (AV1, old MPEG-2, soft-sub burn-in, etc.). Switching the setting back and forth for every file is not practical.

Is there another reliable way in 10.11 to tell Jellyfin that iOS can Direct Play HEVC while still allowing the server to transcode other formats when necessary?

[theguymadmax]

Can you post the Media info of one the files you're having issues with. On Jellyfin mobile for iOS I can play back most 4k content without transcoding on 10.11. Also, post the ffmpeg logs of one of the transcodes.

[Lazy vita]

Hi theguymadmax,

Thank you for your help.

I've gathered the information. The Jellyfin UI only provides a summary, but it seems to point directly at the issue.

When I play the file on my iPad, the Dashboard shows it's transcoding with the reason: "Video level not supported".

Here is the media information for the file as displayed by Jellyfin:

Media Info:

Container: mp4
Path: /videos/Pr_Output/0_30.mp4
Size: 318.7 MiB
Video Stream:

Title: 8K HEVC SDR
Codec: HEVC
Profile: Main
Level: 180 (which corresponds to Level 6.0)
Resolution: 4650x2160
Aspect Ratio: 155:72
Frame Rate: 60
Bitrate: 26756 kbps
Bit Depth: 8 bit
Video Range: SDR
Audio Stream:

Codec: AAC
Profile: LC
Layout: stereo
Channels: 2 ch
Bitrate: 317 kbps
Sample Rate: 48000 Hz
It seems Jellyfin is detecting the video's HEVC Level as 6.0 (180) and considers it unsupported by my iOS device, even though the device hardware can likely handle it. This forces a transcode. As mentioned, if I disable transcoding entirely for my user, the file Direct Plays perfectly on the same device.

Is there a way to adjust the device profile for iOS in Jellyfin to allow Direct Play for HEVC Level 6.0 content?

My device is an iPad Air4 running iOS 17.2.

Thanks again for your guidance.

[theguymadmax]

There are no Jellyfin clients that allow you to adjust the levels; it's auto-detected. You would need to re-encode the video with a lower level.

[Lazy vita]

Got it, thanks a lot!