Tip!: The Media Optimizer feature requires Plex Media Server version 0.9.14.3 or newer.

What is Media Optimizer?

Media Optimizer is a feature that lets you specify content and have your Plex Media Server create “optimized” versions of it for you. Basically, the server “pre-transcodes” the content based on the settings you choose and saves that optimized result as a different “version” of the media. When playing that library item, the server and app then work together and use the most appropriate version of the item to give you the best experience.

Why would I want to use it?

There are lots of reasons you might choose to make optimized versions of your media.

You have several family members streaming simultaneously, but have an older computer that can struggle to transcode. Create optimized versions ahead of time so transcoding isn’t required on the fly.

You have limited upstream bandwidth and don’t want people streaming from outside the network to need your server to transcode. Again, make optimized versions that can be served without transcoding.

Keep optimized versions for your 10 most recently added movies.

Always have optimized episodes for On Deck television content.

There are lots of other reasons someone might make use of the feature, of course.

Example Usage

You can go through an example usage of Media Optimizer where an optimization is set up for the four most recently added movies in a library.

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Creating Optimized Versions

You can set up optimizations for all sorts of conditions and scenarios.

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Conversion Queue

When you have optimizations or syncs (whether Mobile Sync or Cloud Sync) set up, you can monitor the conversions in the Conversion Queue. You can also adjust the queue order or delete conversions there.

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Optimized Versions (Server Settings)

After you’ve set up optimizations and they’ve completed conversion, you can manage those under the Plex Media Server settings.

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