Optimal Plex video quality settings for every device
What are you watching on?
Find your device below and flip the settings — takes about a minute per device.
LG / webOS
Any LG smart TV running webOS.
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.
Android TV / Google TV
NVIDIA Shield, Chromecast, Mi Box, and smart TVs running Android TV or Google TV (Sony, TCL, Hisense, Philips…). Not sure? If your TV signs in with a Google account, this is it.
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.
Roku
Roku Stick, Express, Ultra, Streambar, or any Roku-powered TV.
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.
Amazon Fire TV
Fire TV Stick, Cube, 4K Max, and any 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.
Samsung, Vizio & Other TVs
Samsung, Vizio, Panasonic, and any other smart TV with a Plex app — it looks nearly identical on all of them.
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, then open the Video section.
-
3
Set every quality value to Original (or Maximum if that's what your app shows) and make sure Direct Play and Direct Stream are allowed. Names vary slightly by platform, but the values in the table above cover all of them.
Done.
Hit play on something. If it buffers, the connection is the bottleneck — drop one quality step and try again.
Apple TV
Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K, any generation.
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.
Xbox
Xbox One, Series S, and Series X.
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.
PlayStation
PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
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.
Android Phone / Tablet
Android phones and tablets. Heads-up: the mobile app is a one-time $5 activation.
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.
iPhone / iPad
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Heads-up: the mobile app is a one-time $5 activation.
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.
Plex Web Player
Any browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Brave — streaming 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.
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.
Kodi
Kodi with the Plex for Kodi add-on.
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.