HEVC H.265 codec is becoming more and more popular in this year, there are more devices can record or play H.265 files, such as Samsung NX1 and Samsung NX500 camera. Some guys are planning to encode some videos manually to HEVC/H265 for saving space but keeping quality… However, there’re problems around the Plex users: Does Plex support H.265? How to get H.265/HEVC to Plex? Can we play H.265/HEVC files via Plex directly? Now read on to get some clues from this page. Learn >> The Video Codec Fight: H.265 vs. VP9.
For those who are intend to directly stream those H.265 files via Plex and finally, the Plex does do not publish a roadmap or timeline. If you want to direct stream, you need to encode H.265 into a format like H.264 that is more readily decodable. In a word, to play H.265/HEVC files via Plex smoothly, a possible way is to convert H.265 to H.264 for Plex.
Now in the following paragraphs, we will show you how to convert H.265 to Plex friendly H.264 .mp4 file type.
Best H.265/HEVC Encoder for Plex Media Server
Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate<review> is the highly recommended for transcoding H.265/HEVC video source for Plex. It is one of the firsts to provide an H.265 encoder/decoder for Windows and it ranks top on the H.265 converter application list. With it, you can convert H.265 to H.264 MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, MPG, FLV, M4V as Plex supported formats as with several mouse clicks as well as create H.265 video from non-H.265 videos.
More Powerful Features for Plex Media Server:
- Support setting Blu-ray and protected DVD for Plex Media Server
- Support extracting audio from moives for Plex Media Server
- Support adding vdieo effect for Plex Media Server
- Support adding video watermark for Plex Media Server
- Support lossless exporting vdieos for Plex Media Server
- Support adding video sources quickly for Plex Media Server
- Export videos 30x than Handbrake for Plex Media Server
- Preset more video tpyes for different Media Server
Free download and install:
100% clean, no adware, no spyware, registration for life long, free upgrades after sale, e-mail any question when converting videos to support@pavtube.com.
Hot Search: DVD to H.265/HEVC MP4 | H.265/HEVC with FFmpeg Alternative | Blu-ray to H.265 MP4 | Broad H.265/HEVC Videos on Vimeo | Decode H.265 video to Roku 3
Guide: How to Enable Plex Read H.265/HEVC Files
Step 1. Load original H.265 files
Click “Add Video” button on the main interface to load your H.265/HEVC encoded files to the program. (Drag&Drop function is included.)
Step 2. Select output format
Click “Format” and choose MP4 from “Common Video” as output format, which can be recognized by Plex easily. Learn Plex Supported format.
Tip:
1. Cick “Settings” on the main interface to open the “Profile Settings” window, under Video section, click “Codec” drop-down list and select “H.264”, “Size(pix)” drop-down list and select “1920*1080”, “Frame Rate” drop-down list and select “30fps”, under “Audio” section, click “Codec” drop-down list and select “AAC”. To compress the file size, adjust the parameters to be smaller. Learn best settings for Plex.
2. Click Edit button and you can trim, crop or adjust the video with the built-in video editor to get the very part and effect of your original H.265 video as you want.
Step 3. Start encoding H.265 to Plex
Finally, hit the “Convert” button at the bottom of the main interface to start the conversion. It will automatically convert H.265 to Plex Media Server compatible video file. After the conversion, click “Open” to quickly find the converted movies. Then, Plex will recognize, catalog, play and stream these H.265 movie files at ease. Once you’ve liberated your movie library on Plex, you’ll make it available for viewing on Roku and HDTV freely anytime. Learn More >> Plex Supported Smart TV Models.
Editor’s Note: With the right settings you can retain the quality of the original videos while also saving space. This is particularly helpful when streaming over your network, depending on your network quality. Simply click Settings bar and you can tweak the settings to your satisfaction and even save it as preset.
Plex Supported/Unsupported Formats List
Plex for PlayStation General Media Support |
|||||
| Video Support | Container: MP4 | Resolution: 1920×1080 or smaller ( PS3 has a max of 1280×720 | Video Encoding: H.264 (level 4.0 or lower) | Audio Encoding: AAC | Bitrate: 20Mbps or lower |
| Note: Other content will need to be either Direct Streamed or transcoded. | |||||
| Music Support | M4A | ||||
| Note: Other server supported audio formats (e.g. MP3, ALAC, FLAC, OGG, etc.) will be automatically transcoded for compatibility. | |||||
Plex for Smart TVs & TiVo General Media Support |
||||||||
| Direct Play Video Support | Container: MP4 | Resolution: 1920×1080 or smaller | Video Encoding: H.264 (level 4.0 or lower) | Video Frame Rate: 30fps | Audio Encoding: AAC | |||
| Note: Other content will usually need to be either Direct Streamed or transcoded. Enabling subtitles of any type will require them to be transcoded (burned) into the video stream. | ||||||||
| 4K (UHD) Direct Play Video Support | Container: MP4 | Resolution: 3840×2160 or smaller | Video Encoding: HEVC (H.265) | Video Frame Rate: 30fps | ||||
| Note: 4K content not matching the above properties will be transcoded to 1080p. Transcoding 4K content is a very intensive process and will require a powerful computer running Plex Media Server. | ||||||||
| Direct Play Music Support | MP3 | M4A | ||||||
| Note: Other audio formats such as FLAC or ALAC will be transcoded by your Plex Media Server to be compatible. | ||||||||
Plex for Xbox One General Media Support |
||||||
| Video Support | MP4 container | Video Encoding: H.264, H.265 (HEVC), mpeg4, VC-1 | Audio Encoding: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3 | |||
| MKV container | Video Encoding: H.264, H.265 (HEVC), mpeg4, VC-1 | Audio Encoding: AAC, AC3, ALAC, FLAC, MP3 | ||||
| Note: Other content will need to be either Direct Streamed or transcoded. We’re working with Microsoft to bring support for more native formats. | ||||||
| Music Support | AAC | FLAC | MP3 | M4A | WAV | ALAC |
| Notes: 1. Other supported audio formats will be automatically transcoded for compatibility. 2. At present, there is no support for 3rd-party applications to play DTS audio. Content with DTS audio will have the audio automatically transcoded by the Plex Media Server in order to preserve the surround sound audio channels. So, Pavtube is highly recommended. |
||||||
Related Software:
ByteCopy for Windows – It can rip Blu-ray/DVD to lossless MKV keeping multi-track subtile/audio and all chapter markers for Plex Server.
BDMagic for Windows – The best Blu-ray solution to rip and backup any commercial and region-locked Blu-ray to Plex Server.
DVDAid for Windows – Capacity of ripping copy-protected DVD to Plex Media Server for playback with suitable format.
Read More:
- Convert H.264, H.265, Divx, Xvid, MKV, AVI to H.265/HEVC video
- Convert NX1 H.265 to H.265/HEVC and H.264
- MediaCoder Alternative: Encode H.265 videos on Windows
- Import 4K H.265 Video from Samsung NX1 to Premiere Pro CC
- Convert H.265/HEVC Videos for Editing on Windows PC
- HEVC Converter: Convert 4K Videos to H.265 MP4 on PC
