Can Emby automatically select the most compatible version for a device?

[Netdhio 0]

I have a question: I have two different files of the same movie in the same folder, but I’ve noticed that Emby doesn’t automatically choose the most compatible version. It simply lists the 4K and Full HD versions in that order, and I have to manually select the one that works best—which is tedious.

Is there any option or setting where Emby analyzes both files and automatically selects the most compatible one for the device? If such a feature exists, could you please share the steps to configure it?

Thank you very much.

[BiG_O 4]

Heyy @Netdhio

i believe emby does support it, what device are you trying with and which app are you using?

if you get back to me i could have a look as i have a old firestick from years ago and do some testing to see if it selects the correct version of the file

 

regards

[Netdhio 0]

My Emby server is running on a QNAP TS-251A NAS, which I’ve been using since 2016. I share Emby remotely with my family, and I’ve noticed that Full HD content encoded in H.264 plays smoothly on all devices—TVs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, Apple TV, Android TV—no matter the platform.

However, playback of H.265 content is inconsistent. My NAS is too old to transcode H.265, either via hardware or software. If the device supports direct playback, it works fine. But when it doesn’t, things break: for example, on Windows laptops using Emby, the app freezes or crashes when trying to play H.265. On some phones, playback starts but may freeze or stutter.

To solve this, I created two versions of each movie: one in Full HD and one in 4K. But when I tested this on a Windows system, I noticed that Emby still shows the 4K version first in the “Versions” dropdown—even though that device clearly can’t handle it, and my NAS can’t transcode it.

That’s why I asked:
Is there a way for Emby to automatically prioritize and show the most compatible version for each device?
If this is possible, I’d really appreciate a step-by-step guide to set it up.

Thanks in advance!

[BiG_O 4]

@Netdhio thanks for the reply that is very strange it does sound like the nas cant handle it in a way im not an expert in codecs but i think it needs to decode it before playback i have a very old firestick and it forces that to transcode it to h264 from h265 10-bit 

You could try seeing if you can get old of a 8-bit h265 file to see if you encounter the same issue 

 

Regards 

[Luke 42077]

Quote

To solve this, I created two versions of each movie: one in Full HD and one in 4K. But when I tested this on a Windows system, I noticed that Emby still shows the 4K version first in the “Versions” dropdown—even though that device clearly can’t handle it, and my NAS can’t transcode it.

Hi, what happens if you select the full hd one on windows?

Currently the automatic version selection is based on what is most compatible for the device, so yes it will do exactly what you want.

But it does not take into consideration the horse power of your server machine, only the capabilities of the client.

[Netdhio 0]

Perfecto, Eddy. Aquí tienes el mensaje en inglés, redactado con precisión técnica y tono firme pero respetuoso, para que puedas comunicar claramente tu situación:

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English version:

Hi, thanks for your reply. I understand that Emby is supposed to automatically select the most compatible version for the device. However, on my Windows system, it keeps defaulting to the 4K 10-bit version—even though it’s obvious that the device can’t handle it, and my NAS can’t transcode it either. The video just stays stuck loading.

You asked what happens if I manually select the Full HD version: yes, it plays perfectly. But that’s not the point—the issue is that Emby is not automatically choosing the correct version for the device, even when it’s clearly incompatible.

Is there any configuration or setting that forces Emby to prioritize the most playable version based on actual playback capability, not just codec compatibility? Because in my case, it’s not working as expected.

[Happy2Play 9780]

Probably need to see the transcode logs for a specific example but client may be reporting compatible then failing during playback and dropping to transcoding as it will not just switch versions in a playback failure that I know of.

[Luke 42077]

14 hours ago, Netdhio said:

Perfecto, Eddy. Aquí tienes el mensaje en inglés, redactado con precisión técnica y tono firme pero respetuoso, para que puedas comunicar claramente tu situación:

---

English version:

Hi, thanks for your reply. I understand that Emby is supposed to automatically select the most compatible version for the device. However, on my Windows system, it keeps defaulting to the 4K 10-bit version—even though it’s obvious that the device can’t handle it, and my NAS can’t transcode it either. The video just stays stuck loading.

You asked what happens if I manually select the Full HD version: yes, it plays perfectly. But that’s not the point—the issue is that Emby is not automatically choosing the correct version for the device, even when it’s clearly incompatible.

Is there any configuration or setting that forces Emby to prioritize the most playable version based on actual playback capability, not just codec compatibility? Because in my case, it’s not working as expected.

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[Netdhio 0]

On 8/30/2025 at 11:16 PM, Happy2Play said:

Probably need to see the transcode logs for a specific example but client may be reporting compatible then failing during playback and dropping to transcoding as it will not just switch versions in a playback failure that I know of.

Yes, exactly—it doesn’t switch versions or select the most compatible one before playback begins. It’s clear that my NAS struggles when transcoding that video, because I’ve tested it on several TVs and only a few can play it smoothly thanks to having the right codec and doing direct playback. But when it has to transcode from 4K H.265 to H.264, the system lags, freezes, plays a few seconds, then freezes again—it’s unbearable.

On Windows, playback doesn’t even start, and I assume it’s because the system doesn’t have the H.265 codec installed. That’s why I created two versions of the video, but it didn’t help—Emby still prioritizes the 4K H.265 version, leaving the H.264 one available only for manual selection. The problem is, most users don’t know how to do that, and it leads to a poor experience.

After realizing Emby doesn’t auto-select the best version, I tested again on TVs, and as I mentioned earlier, only some can play the 4K H.265 smoothly. Others struggle and cause playback issues, which again leads to a bad experience.

It’s frustrating that Emby doesn’t have an automatic option to select the best version for the device. Ideally, it should default to H.264 first, and only switch to 4K H.265 if playback is stable. If it fails, it should automatically revert to the previous version. That would be a huge improvement.

To work around this, I’ve set it up so that all 4K H.265 content only appears under my profile, and for everyone else, I’ve made sure they only see H.264 versions—either Full HD or 4K, depending on what their device can handle.

Eventually, I’ll need to buy a more powerful NAS that can handle transcoding without issues. But even then, that wouldn’t solve the problem on Windows, and here’s why: even with a powerful NAS, Windows doesn’t come with the H.265 codec by default—you have to pay to download it. So users would still need to manually select the compatible version, and most people don’t know that.

That’s where Emby falls short. It should be able to automatically choose between the available versions based on what the device can actually play.

Anyway, that’s my take on it. If you have any other suggestions, I’d really appreciate it.

[Happy2Play 9780]

10 minutes ago, Netdhio said:

Yes, exactly—it doesn’t switch versions or select the most compatible one before playback begins

But we need to see the server log/transcode log to possibly know why the client/device that is selecting the content.  

As we can only guess you are getting DirecPlayErrror and Emby just transcodes the selected version.

Yes if selected version fails to direct play it would be nice for Emby to try the alternate version, but at some point Emby will have to just pick a version to transcode if both require conversions.  But yes the h264 version is a lot less resource intensive conversion process if needed on low powered systems.

Edited September 1, 2025 by Happy2Play

[Luke 42077]

Quote

That’s where Emby falls short. It should be able to automatically choose between the available versions based on what the device can actually play.

That's what it does.

Let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!