Name: transcoding

Last reviewed by: Clipper, April 2026

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Transcoding

Plex has three ways of delivering content to Plex clients:

• Direct Play
• Direct Stream
• Transcoding

Which method is used depends on the Plex client you are using and the bandwidth available to your location.

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Content Delivery Methods

Direct Play

In most cases this is the ideal way to stream. Direct Play delivers content in the original bitrate and container to your Plex client, bypassing the CPU of your Bytesized account completely — enabling multiple concurrent streams without any performance impact.

Direct Stream

Plex can work some magic if Direct Play won't work because the container is unsupported by your client. It extracts the streams from the container and repackages them in a container your client supports. This has a small impact on your Bytesized account but is not significant enough to limit concurrent streams.

Transcoding

This is the fallback mode whenever available bandwidth is insufficient or your client doesn't support the stream format. Transcoding has a heavy CPU cost and is what limits the number of concurrent streams you can do from your Bytesized account. It also reduces overall picture quality.

Optimising for Direct Play / Direct Stream

To experience your content in the best quality, it's always recommended to use formats your Plex clients can understand at a bitrate that matches your connection to our servers.

Video bitrates

It's recommended to target a bitrate of at most (your base speed − 4 Mbit) so you can Direct Stream it with some headroom. For example: if you can achieve 12 Mbit to the servers, target around 8 Mbit. You could use higher bitrates and transcode on the fly, but an on-the-fly transcode from a higher bitrate will always look worse than a properly encoded file at a lower bitrate.

Use our speedtest if you're unsure what bitrate you can achieve.

Plex clients

If the bitrate requirement is satisfied, you still need a Plex client that can handle the streams natively. The Plex web app and mobile apps will transcode most content. For the best experience on a computer or TV, use Plex HTPC or Kodi with the Plex add-on.

Various Smart TV models have different capabilities — always check whether your device supports Direct Play for your content type.

Debugging your streams

The best tool for monitoring your streams is Tautulli, which you can install on your Bytesized account. Tautulli shows you in real time whether streams are being transcoded, Direct Played, or Direct Streamed.

In Plex HTPC you can press i to get information about what kind of stream is being received.

4K content

• 4K content is usually encoded in HEVC/x265, which is much heavier to transcode — you will typically only be able to do one transcode at a time.
• 4K content has a higher bitrate — make sure you have enough bandwidth to stream it natively. If you need to transcode 4K down to 1080p, there is no benefit to having 4K in the first place.
• A Direct Play 1080p file will always look better than a transcoded 4K file.