The Plex Media Player desktop application's default quality setting is in different places depending on the interface you're using. The Plex Web UI is used as a point-and-click interface, whereas the Plex Media Player TV UI is used as a remote-friendly interface.
| Plex Web UI | Plex Media Player TV UI |
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Want to change quality for a single playback session? Skip down to Troubleshooting.
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If you don't know how much bandwidth you have, visit https://fast.com and it'll tell you.
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Click Settings up in the top-right corner.
- Click Quality in the left-hand navigation menu.
- Choose a default quality that's better than the stock configuration of 2 Mbps. For the bandwidth-impaired, keep this number below 80% of your max speed. For everyone else, I suggest 8, 10, or 12 Mbps.
- Ensure that Play smaller videos at original quality is checked, and then click SAVE CHANGES.
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If you don't know how much bandwidth you have, visit https://fast.com and it'll tell you.
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Highlight and then select, or click on your user portrait.
- Open Settings.
- In settings, open Video, then Remote Quality.
- In Remote Quality, choose a default quality that's better than the stock configuration of 2 Mbps. For the bandwidth-impaired, keep this number below 80% of your max speed. For everyone else, I suggest 8, 10, or 12 Mbps.
Get lots of stops/starts, or buffering a lot? Try lowering the quality. To temporily adjust quality for a single playback session, follow these steps.
| Plex Web UI | Plex Media Player TV UI |
|---|---|
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- Open the playback Settings for the video you're watching.
- Click on the current playback quality and choose a new one from the list.
- Navigate to the onscreen settings icon while your video is playing and click or select it.
- Select/click Quality from the list of settings, and then choose and quality from the list and select/click on it, then back out of the settings menu.
Thank you so so much for this write-up.
After troubleshooting countless new and experienced Plex users, I have a couple suggestions:
Update the first iteration of Plex Web UI to Plex in Web Browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.). Every reference, thereafter, can just say Plex in Web Browser, Plex Web Browser UI, or something similar. The users should have gotten the gist from that first header with specific browsers referenced.
Plex Media Player TV UI changed to Plex Smart TV App That's how Plex's support refers to it, which brings us to #3.
Please please include the Plex's official Smart TV post in your Troubleshooting section, for example:
"Q: Are you experiencing a playback error on your Smart TV's Plex app? The most common one is Playback Error - An unexpected playback problem occurred."
"A: This error, and its similar iterations, are detailed by the official Plex announcement here:
Important Info for Plex app on Smart TVs"
(In the bottom area of Troubleshooting) "Before reaching out for outside support, Google. /r/Plex, Plex's FAQ Articles and Plex's Forums likely have you covered. If you you're frustrated with your device and Plex's playback, try a different device. Most problems can be fixed by simply changing devices, like switching from the Plex Smart TV app to its web browser player.
Lastly, since each Plex user is starting with only one device, I'd recommend that Plex Browser and Plex Smart TV documentation be split into two separate pages. If we're lucky, maybe we'll get the mobile OS apps also documented on a 3rd page :)
Post-updates, this is excellent material for posting to the /r/Plex subreddit.