Solve 4K 60 Mbps XAVC playback stutters/buffers on Plex

XAVC is designed to provide a future proof codec that can meet customers’ rapidly developing requirements for 4K content production and HD120P high frame rate shooting. And Sony has announced that cameras that will support XAVC include Sony A6300, Sony PMW-F55, Sony PMW-F5, Sony A7S, Sony PXW-X70, Sony PXW-FS7, Sony PXW-X500 and more. If you have got some XAVC with 4K resolution from those camcorders, you can import them to Plex for playing. But you should know the Plex does not support the 4K XAVC format. Read on to get the solution for it. 

 

Part 1. What media formats are supported by Plex? 

1. Direct Play Video Support 

Native video support is typically (but not always) limited to the MP4 container, H.264 video encoding, and AAC audio. Content that is not natively supported will automatically be Direct Streamed or transcoded as needed by the Plex Media Server. 

Content matching the following can usually be Direct Played: 
Container: MP4 
Resolution: 1920×1080 or smaller 
Video Encoding: H.264 (level 4.0 or lower) 
Video Framerate: 30fps 
Video Bit Depth: 8 
Audio Encoding: AAC 

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. 

Unsupported audio formats in video will have the audio automatically transcoded to either AAC or AC3 (Dolby Digital) as appropriate by the Plex Media Server in order to preserve any surround sound audio channels. 

2. 4K (UHD) Direct Play Video Support 

Some 4K (ultra high definition) devices are recognized by the Plex app. We’re working to bring 4K playback support to other devices, too. 4K/UHD content matching the following will Direct Play on supported devices: 

Container: MP4 
Resolution: 3840×2160 or smaller 
Video Encoding: HEVC (H.265) 
Video Frame Rate: 30fps 
Video Bit Depth: 8 
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. 

3. Direct Play Music Support 

The following audio formats are usually supported for music playback: 

MP3 
M4A 
Tip: Other audio formats such as FLAC or ALAC will be transcoded by your Plex Media Server to be compatible. 

4. Video Playback Tips 

Keep these tips in mind to help ensure the best experience. 
Higher streaming quality values have a better chance to allow the content to be Direct Streamed or Direct Played. 
Enabling multi-channel audio in the global settings menu adds support for the associated audio codec during Direct Play and transcoding. 
Setting a streaming quality value lower than the content’s bitrate will cause the video to be transcoded. Most devices can handle streams with peak bitrates 

Part 2. Choose one Professional 4K XAVC to Plex Video Converter 

Luckily, there is a smarter way to get rid of the incompatibility issues quickly. Simply convert the the XAVC files to MP4 or MKV files with codec H.264 or MPEG-4. Along with some help from third party program like Pavtube Video Converter, it can be done effortlessly. 

With Pavtube Video Converter, you can convert all kinds of videos including XAVC, XAVC S, XAVC L, MP4, H.265, AVIMKV, Tivo, MTS, AVCHD, Video_ts, TS, WMV, FLV, 3GP, etc. to Plex with video audio format, parameter settings all matched 6×faster speed and zero quality loss. Thanks to the built-in video editor, you can trim to cut off unwanted video clips, crop to remove black edges and retouch your videos in clicks. What’s more, you are free to customize video/audio settings to ensure smooth video playback and streaming via Plex with no limits. For Mac users, Pavtube Video Converter for Mac (read XAVC mac video converter review) is also a helpful app to encode videos for further usage. 

Ok, now free download and buy the professional video converter: 

  

Other Download: 
– Pavtube old official address: http://www.pavtube.com/video_converter/ 
– Amazon Download: http://download.cnet.com/Pavtube-Video-Converter/3000-2194_4-75734821.html 
– Cnet Download: http://download.cnet.com/Pavtube-Video-Converter/3000-2194_4-75734821.html 

Part 3. Simple steps to get Plex recognize, play and stream 4K XAVC files 

Step 1. Load original 4K XAVC files 

Click “Add” button on the main interface to load your XAVC files to the program. Drag&Drop function is included. (Note: batch conversion is supported, so you can load more than one file to save time.) 

 

Step 2. Select output format 

Click “Format” (located below where your files are displayed) and select the format you want from the drop-down list. To convert XAVC for Plex, just choose “MP4” from “Common Video” or “HD Video” as the output format. 

 

Tip: With the right settings you can retain the quality of the original XAVC file 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. 

Step 3. Start 4K XAVC to Plex Conversion 

Finally, hit the “Convert” button at the bottom of the main interface to start the conversion. It will automatically convert XAVC to Plex Media Server compatible video files After the conversion, click “Open” to quickly find the converted movies. Then, Plex will recognize, catalog, play and stream these XAVC files at ease. Have a try! 

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