Media Support

The following information is about media/encoding support for our Xbox app.

General Video Support

Content matching the following can usually be Direct Played:

• ASF container
  • Video Encoding: vc1, wmv2
  • Audio Encoding: wmav2
• AVI container
  • Video Encoding: mpeg4, msmpeg4, msmpeg4v2, msmpeg4v3, vc1, wmv3
  • Audio Encoding: aac, ac3, mp3
• MOV container
  • Video Encoding: H.264
  • Audio Encoding: aac
• MP4 container
  • Video Encoding: H.264, hevc (H.265), mpeg4, mpeg2video, vc1, wmv3
  • Audio Encoding: aac, ac3, eac3, mp2, mp3
• MPEG container
  • Video Encoding: mpeg2video
  • Audio Encoding: mp2
• MPEGTS, TS containers
  • Video Encoding: H.264, mpeg2video
  • Audio Encoding: aac, ac3, mp2
• MKV container
  • Video Encoding: H.264, hevc (H.265), mpeg4, msmpeg4v2, msmpeg4v3, vc1, vp9, wmv3
  • Audio Encoding: aac, ac3, alac, e-ac3,flac, mp2, mp3
• WMV container
  • Video Encoding: wmv2, vc1
  • Audio Encoding: wmav2

Other content will need to be either Direct Streamed or transcoded. We’re working with Microsoft to bring support for more native formats.

Related Page: Direct Play, Direct Stream, Transcoding

4K/UHD Video Support

General playback support follows the information above. In addition to that, 4K content is compatible for:

• • Content being Direct Played or Direct Streamed *
  • Resolution: 4096×2160 or smaller
  • No subtitles are enabled
  • MP4 container
    • Video Encoding: hevc (H.265), mpeg4
  • MKV container
    • Video Encoding: hevc (H.265), mpeg4, vp9

The Xbox One S and Xbox One X models are capable of playing content at a 4K output resolution. Other Xbox One models can play 4K content (so long as it is compatible, as noted above), but the content will be downscaled by the console to 1080p output.

4K content that is not compatible requires transcoding. Note that transcoding 4K content can be a CPU-intensive process and some lower-powered computers (and especially NAS devices) might not be capable of doing so in real-time.

Music Support

The following audio formats are currently supported for music playback:

• aac
• alac
• e-ac3
• flac
• mp3
• m4a
• wav

Other supported audio formats will be automatically transcoded for compatibility.

Does the app support DTS or TrueHD audio?

Our app does support audio passthrough of both DTS and TrueHD audio streams. For that to be an option:

1. The Xbox must be configured to allow the passthrough at the system level.
2. The console must be connected to a AVR/TV with corresponding audio support.
3. Passthrough is only supported when the content is already being fully Direct Played in Plex. (It is not supported when the content is instead direct streamed or transcoded.)

Related Page: Microsoft: Xbox Audio Passthrough