What are you watching on?

Find your device below and flip the settings — takes about a minute per device.

Trying to watch anything in 4K? You really need to do this. Most servers refuse to transcode 4K, so without Direct Play turned on you'll get errors or fall back to a lower-quality version.

Smart TV

LG / webOS

For any LG Smart TV running webOS with the Plex app installed.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Local Quality	`Original`
Remote Quality	`Original`
Online Quality	`Original`
Allow Direct Play
Allow Direct Stream

How to get there

1

Launch the Plex app. From the home screen, open the menu under your username in the corner.
2

Select the Settings (gear) icon.
3

Open the Video section and configure each value as shown.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Streaming Box & Smart TV

Android TV / Google TV

For streaming boxes like the NVIDIA Shield, Google Chromecast with Google TV, Xiaomi Mi Box, Walmart onn., and TiVo Stream 4K — plus any smart TV running Android TV or Google TV. Common brands include Sony, TCL, Hisense, Philips, Sharp, Toshiba, and JVC. Not sure? If your TV's home screen looks like the Google Play Store and asks you to sign in with a Google account, it's Android TV / Google TV.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Adjust automatically	OFF
Home streaming	`Maximum`
Quality Suggestions	OFF
Remote streaming	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open the Plex app and scroll down to Settings at the bottom of the home screen.
2

Go to Video Quality. By default Quality Suggestions is ON.
3

Toggle Quality Suggestions to OFF to reveal the higher quality options.
4

Set every option to Maximum. Your final screen should look like this.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Streaming Box & Smart TV

Roku

For any Roku device — Roku Stick, Express, Ultra, or Roku-powered TVs.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Local Quality	`Original`
Remote Quality	`Original`
Direct Play	`Auto`
Allow Direct Stream

How to get there

1

Open the Plex app and find Settings at the bottom of the home screen.
2

Go to Video and update the values as shown.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Streaming Box

Amazon Fire TV

Includes the Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV 4K Max, and any Amazon Fire TV-powered television.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Adjust automatically	OFF
Home streaming	`Maximum`
Quality Suggestions	OFF
Remote streaming	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open the Plex app and scroll down to the Settings option at the bottom of the home screen.
2

Go to Video Quality. By default Quality Suggestions is ON — this is what's holding you back.
3

Toggle Quality Suggestions to OFF. This unlocks the higher quality options.
4

Set every quality option to Maximum. Your screen should look like this when you're done.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Streaming Box

Apple TV

For the Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K (any generation) running tvOS.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Auto Adjust Quality	Off
Local Quality	`Maximum`
Remote Quality	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open the Plex app and scroll down to Settings at the bottom of the home screen.
2

Go to Video Quality › Internet Streaming and set every option as shown below.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Game Console

Xbox

For Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X with the Plex app.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Local Quality	`Original`
Remote Quality	`Original`
Allow Direct Play
Allow Direct Stream

How to get there

1

Launch the Plex app from the Xbox dashboard.
2

Scroll down the library list on the home screen and select Settings.
3

Open Video and apply the recommended values.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Game Console

PlayStation

For PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 with the Plex app installed.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Local Quality	`Original`
Maximum Remote Quality	`Unlimited`
Allow Direct Play
Allow Direct Stream
Allow HEVC (h265)

How to get there

1

Launch the Plex app. From the home screen, find the menu hidden under your username.
2

Open Settings › Video and apply the values shown below.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Mobile

Android Phone / Tablet

For Android phones and tablets. Note: the Plex mobile app is a one-time $5 activation per platform (Android or iOS) paid through the app.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Automatically Adjust Quality	DISABLED
Home Streaming	`Maximum`
Remote Streaming	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open the Plex app and tap the hamburger menu (three lines) in the upper-left corner.
2

Tap the Settings gear icon in the slide-out menu.
3

Open the Video › Quality section.
4

Tap Remote Streaming. By default the Maximum option is hidden — tap Show All.
5

Now you can see the option you need — select Maximum.
6

Match every setting on the Quality screen to look like this, then tap ‹ in the upper-left to save.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Mobile

iPhone / iPad

For iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Note: the Plex mobile app is a one-time $5 activation per platform (iOS or Android) paid through the app.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Automatically Adjust Quality	DISABLED
Limit Cellular Data	`0.7 Mbps, 320p`
Home Streaming	`Maximum`
Remote Streaming	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open the Plex app and tap the hamburger menu (three lines) in the upper-left corner.
2

Tap the Settings gear icon in the slide-out menu.
3

Open the Video › Quality section.
4

Tap Remote Streaming. The Maximum option is hidden by default — tap Show All.
5

Select Maximum.
6

Tap ‹ in the upper-left to return, then match every setting to the values shown below.
7

Your finished Quality screen should look like this.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Browser

Plex Web Player

For any browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, Edge. Plex Web lets you stream straight from app.plex.tv.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Video quality	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open app.plex.tv and sign in to your Plex account.
2

Click the OPEN PLEX button to launch the web player.
3

Click the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
4

Under the Plex Media Player section, choose Quality and set Video quality to Maximum.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Desktop

Windows / Mac App

For the Plex desktop app from the Microsoft Store or from plex.tv on Windows and macOS.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Video quality	`Maximum`

How to get there

1

Open the Plex desktop app and click the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
2

Open Quality and set Video quality to Maximum.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Media Player

Kodi

For Kodi with the Plex for Kodi (PMK) add-on installed.

Set these

Match every value in your Plex app to this list.

setting	value
Local Quality	`Original`
Remote Quality	`Original`
Online Quality	`Original`
Allow Direct Play
Allow Direct Stream
Allow HEVC (h265)

How to get there

1

Open Kodi. Find the settings menu hidden under your username in the Plex section.
2

Open Settings › Video and apply the values below.

Done.

Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.

Why bother?

Plex defaults to 720p on most clients. Safe choice — it'll play on anything. But if your TV is 1080p or 4K and your connection can handle it, you're watching a blurry version of a sharp file. Worse, the server has to transcode it down on the fly, which eats CPU and slows things down for everyone else sharing the library.

By switching off Plex's defaults and unlocking the higher quality options, you get:

Press play, video starts almost immediately instead of buffering.
Fast-forward and rewind respond on the first click, not the third.
Your friends sharing the server stop getting kicked off because of CPU spikes.
And the obvious one — the picture is actually as sharp as the file.

Heads up: if your connection or the server you're streaming from can't keep up, you might see some buffering. If that happens, just drop down one quality step.