What are Plex Client Profiles?

Buy me a coffee

Plex Media Server contains specifications for client profiles that it uses to help determine whether a client supports the media file being played. Since each client is different, the specifications described in each profile are different.

Where are the Plex client profiles located?
How the Plex client profiles are structured
Client profiles

Where are the Plex client profiles located?

The system client profiles used by Plex are located on the server since they are read when a client requests to play a video, music, or photo. The profiles are installed when Plex is installed, and are updated when Plex is updated.

Since the profiles are included and updated with Plex, changing any of the profiles would cause the changes to be deleted when Plex is updated.

The system client profiles can be found in the following location on the Plex server:

{plex_installation_folder}/Resources/Profiles

You can also create user client profiles, which are not removed by Plex during an update. These profiles would be located in the application data folder for the Plex user.

The Plex user client profiles are located in the following path:

{plex_installation_folder}/Profiles

Note that the Profiles folder will not exist by default. You will need to manually create it and add the profiles to the folder.

How the Plex client profiles are structured

Each client contains a separate profile in an XML file on the Plex server. Within that profile there are specifications for the following:

Transcode Targets: This section can contain multiple definitions for video, music, and photo profiles. These profiles are used to transcode a media item to one of the specifications provided. There can be multiple items for a profile, as a protocol can be specified that changes the type of profile to use.
Direct Play Profiles: These are the specifications that are used to determine whether a media file can be direct played on the client. If you have a client that always transcodes a media file, using the specifications described in this section to create the media file will help ensure it will direct play on the client.
Codec Profiles (Limitations): Many clients have limitations that need to be addressed, such as only being able to play 8-bit video files. If a client has specific limitations, they will be listed in this section.

For the Transcode Targets and Direct Play Profiles sections, the following information is available:

Profile attributes for a client
Attribute	Description
protocol	The streaming protocol that is being used.
container	The media container that is supported by the client.
codec	A comma-separated list of codecs that are supported by the client.
audioCodec	A comma-separated list of audio codecs that are supported by the client.
subtitleCodec	A comma-separated list of subtitle codecs that are supported by the client.
context	The context in which the media is being viewed by the client.

The Code Profiles section contains a list of limitations for specific codecs on the client. The list can include limitations on a video, audio, or music codec.

The list is presented in a name and value pair. The name is what attribute of the codec contains the limitation, and the value is the upper bound of the limitation.

Determining what client profile will be used for streaming a media file may not be easy. For example, on my Windows 10 machine that is running the Plex application, my Plex Server uses the Plex Desktop profile and not the Windows 10 Desktop profile.

Client profiles

Below is a list of all the client profiles included with Plex. It is a long list, as Plex supports many different clients. Within each client section, are the transcode targets, direct play profiles, and the limitations associated with the client, as defined by Plex.

Android

Limitations

Limitations of the Android client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080
aac	audio.channels: 2

Asus Transformer Prime TF201

Limitations

Limitations of the Asus Transformer Prime TF201 client
Codec	Limits
aac	audio.channels: 2

Chrome

See Web.

Chromecast

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Chromecast client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HTTP Containers: MKV Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3 Context: streaming
Music	Containers: MKV Codecs: OPUS
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: ASS Codecs: ASS

Limitations

Limitations of the Chromecast client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080
aac, mp3	audio.channels: 2

cloudSync

Limitations

Limitations of the cloudSync client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.level: 40
	video.refFrames: 5
aac	audio.channels: 2
mp3	audio.bitrate: 320
mp3	audio.channels: 2

Firefox

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Firefox client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: DASH Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC Context: streaming
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3 Context: streaming
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: ASS Codecs: ASS Context: all

Limitations

Limitations of the Firefox client
Codec	Limits
*	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 2

Generic

HTML TV App

Limitations

Limitations of the HTML TV App client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8

Internet Explorer

See Web.

iOS-iPhone-2,1

Limitations

Limitations of the iOS-iPhone-2,1 client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 720
	video.height: 576
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.channels: 2

iOS-iPhone-3,1

Limitations

Limitations of the iOS-iPhone-3,1 client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1280
	video.height: 720
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.channels: 2

iOS-iPhone-3,2

See iOS-iPhone-3,1.

iOS-iPhone-3,3

See iOS-iPhone-3,1.

iOS-iPod-1,1

See iOS-iPhone-2,1.

iOS-iPod-2,1

See iOS-iPhone-2,1.

iOS-iPod-3,1

See iOS-iPhone-2,1.

iOS-iPod-4,1

See iOS-iPhone-3,1.

iOS

Limitations

Limitations of the iOS client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 2

Konvergo

Microsoft Edge

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Microsoft Edge client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3 Context: streaming
Video	Protocol: DASH Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC Context: streaming
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: ASS Codecs: ASS Context: all

Limitations

Limitations of the Microsoft Edge client
Codec	Limits
*	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 6

Mystery 3

See PlayStation 4 App.

Mystery 4

See PlayStation 4 App.

Mystery 5

See Xbox 360 App.

Opera TV App

See HTML TV App.

Opera

See Web.

Panasonic Viera 3D TV

Limitations

Limitations of the Panasonic Viera 3D TV client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8

PlayStation 3 App

See PlayStation 4 App.

PlayStation 3

Limitations

Limitations of the PlayStation 3 client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.bitrate: 15360
	video.level: 41
ac3	audio.channels: 6
ac3	audio.bitrate: 640

PlayStation 4 App

Limitations

Limitations of the PlayStation 4 App client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.channels: 6
	audio.bitrate: 256
	audio.samplingRate: 48000

Plex Desktop

Raspberry PI

Limitations

Limitations of the Raspberry PI client
Codec	Limits
h264, mpeg4	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitrate: 20000
	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.bitrate: 1000

Plex Home Theater

Limitations

Limitations of the Plex Home Theater client
Codec	Limits
mp3	audio.channels: 2
mp3	audio.channels: 2

Plexamp

Popcorn Hour

Limitations

Limitations of the Popcorn Hour client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080
aac	audio.channels: 2
aac	audio.channels: 2

Roku-3.1

Limitations

Limitations of the Roku-3.1 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.refFrames: 5
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.bitrate: 256
aac	audio.channels: 2
aac	audio.bitrate: 256
aac	audio.channels: 2

Roku-5.x

Limitations

Limitations of the Roku-5.x client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.refFrames: 8
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac, mp3, mp2, pcm, flac	audio.channels: 2
aac	audio.channels: 2

Roku-5000X-6.0

Limitations

Limitations of the Roku-5000X-6.0 client
Codec	Limits
*	audio.channels: 6
*	audio.channels: 6

Roku-6.x

See Roku-5.x.

Roku-7.x

Limitations

Limitations of the Roku-7.x client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.refFrames: 8
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac, mp3, mp2, pcm, flac, alac	audio.channels: 2
aac	audio.channels: 2

Roku

See Roku-7.x.

RokuDLNA-3.1

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-3.1 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitrate: 8000
	video.refFrames: 5
	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 2

RokuDLNA-4400X-7.x

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-4400X-7.x client
Codec	Limits
h265, vp9	video.width: 3840
	video.height: 2176
	video.bitrate: 16000

RokuDLNA-5.1

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-5.1 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitrate: 12000
	video.refFrames: 8
	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 2

RokuDLNA-5000X-6.x

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-5000X-6.x client
Codec	Limits
mpeg1video, mpeg2video	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1088
	video.bitrate: 20000
ac3	audio.channels: 6
ac3	audio.channels: 6

RokuDLNA-5000X-7.x

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-5000X-7.x client
Codec	Limits
mpeg1video, mpeg2video	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1088
	video.bitrate: 20000

RokuDLNA-6.x

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-6.x client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitrate: 12000
	video.refFrames: 8
	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 2

RokuDLNA-6000X-7.x

Limitations

Limitations of the RokuDLNA-6000X-7.x client
Codec	Limits
h265, vp9	video.width: 3840
	video.height: 2176
	video.bitrate: 16000

Safari

See Web.

Samsung SmartTV

Limitations

Limitations of the Samsung SmartTV client
Codec	Limits
mpeg2video	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.bitrate: 30720
ac3, wmav2, dca, aac, mp3	audio.channels: 6

Samsung Tizen

Limitations

Limitations of the Samsung Tizen client
Codec	Limits
ac3, wmav2, dca, aac, mp3	audio.channels: 6
aac	audio.channels: 2

Samsung

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Samsung client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AC3 Context: streaming
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: SRT Codecs: SRT Context: all

Limitations

Limitations of the Samsung client
Codec	Limits
ac3, wmav2, dca, aac, mp3	audio.channels: 6
aac	audio.channels: 2

Sonos

Limitations

Limitations of the Sonos client
Codec	Limits
*	audio.samplingRate: 48000
	audio.channels: 2
	audio.bitDepth: 16
	audio.bitrate: 1411

Sony Blu-ray 2013

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Blu-ray 2013 client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.frameRate: 30
ac3	audio.channels: 6

Sony Blu-ray

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Blu-ray client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.bitrate: 15360
	video.level: 41
ac3	audio.channels: 6

Sony Bravia 2010

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Bravia 2010 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080
ac3	audio.channels: 6

Sony Bravia 2011

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Bravia 2011 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080
ac3	audio.channels: 6

Sony Bravia 2012

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Bravia 2012 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080
ac3	audio.channels: 6

Sony Bravia 2013

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Bravia 2013 client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
*	video.height: 1080

Sony Streaming Player

Limitations

Limitations of the Sony Streaming Player client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.bitrate: 15360
	video.level: 41
ac3	audio.channels: 6
ac3	audio.bitrate: 640

tvOS

Limitations

Limitations of the tvOS client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.channels: 2

Universal Mobile

Limitations

Limitations of the Universal Mobile client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.bitDepth: 8
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.level: 40
	video.refFrames: 5
aac	audio.channels: 2

Universal Recording

Universal TV

Limitations

Limitations of the Universal TV client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.bitDepth: 8
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.level: 40
	video.refFrames: 5

Unknown Browser

See Web.

Vivaldi

See Web.

Web

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Web client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3 Context: streaming
	Protocol: DASH Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC Context: streaming
	Protocol: HTTP Containers: MKV Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3 Context: streaming
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: ASS Codecs: ASS Context: all

Limitations

Limitations of the Web client
Codec	Limits
*	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 6

Western Digital TV Live

Limitations

Limitations of the Western Digital TV Live client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.level: 41

Wii U

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Wii U client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC Context: streaming
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: ASS Codecs: ASS Context: all

Limitations

Limitations of the Wii U client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitDepth: 8
*	audio.channels: 2

Windows 10 Desktop

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Windows 10 Desktop client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3 Context: streaming
Video	Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3 Context: static
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: WEBVTT

Direct Play Profiles

Direct Play profile values for the Windows 10 Desktop client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Containers: MKV Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, MSMPEG4V2, HEVC, H264, VC1 Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3, FLAC, PCM
	Containers: MP4, MOV Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, MSMPEG4V2, HEVC, H264, VC1, WMV1, WMV2, WMV3, DVVIDEO, MJPEG Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3
	Containers: MOV Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, MSMPEG4V2, HEVC, H264, VC1, WMV1, WMV2, WMV3, DVVIDEO, MJPEG Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3, PCM
	Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3, MP2, PCM
	Containers: ASF Codecs: VC1, WMV1, WMV2, WMV3 Audio Codecs: WMAV2, WMAPRO, WMAVOICE
	Containers: AVI Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, MSMPEG4V2, H264, VC1, WMV1, WMV2, WMV3, DVVIDEO, MJPEG Audio Codecs: MP3, AC3, EAC3, MP2, PCM
	Containers: DV Codecs: DVVIDEO Audio Codecs: MP3, AC3, EAC3, MP2, PCM
Music	Containers: ASF Codecs: WMAV1, WMAV2, WMAV3, WMAPRO, WMAVOICE
	Containers: MP4 Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, ALAC
	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
	Containers: MP2 Codecs: MP1, MP2
	Containers: AC3 Codecs: AC3, EAC3
	Containers: AAC Codecs: AAC
	Containers: FLAC Codecs: FLAC
	Containers: WAV Codecs: PCM
Photo	Containers: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Subtitle	Containers: WEBVTT

Limitations

Limitations of the Windows 10 Desktop client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.channels: 6
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000

Windows 10 Mobile

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Windows 10 Mobile client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3 Context: streaming
Video	Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3 Context: static
Music	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: WEBVTT

Direct Play Profiles

Direct Play profile values for the Windows 10 Mobile client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Containers: MKV Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, HEVC, H264, VC1 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3, FLAC, PCM
	Containers: MP4 Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, HEVC, H264, VC1, MJPEG Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3
	Containers: MOV Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, HEVC, H264, VC1, MJPEG Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3, PCM
	Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, MP3, MP2, PCM
	Containers: AVI Codecs: MPEG4, MSMPEG4, H264, VC1, MJPEG Audio Codecs: MP3, MP2, PCM
Music	Containers: ASF Codecs: WMAV1, WMAV2, WMAV3, WMAPRO
	Containers: MP4 Codecs: AAC, ALAC
	Containers: MP3 Codecs: MP3
	Containers: AAC Codecs: AAC
	Containers: FLAC Codecs: FLAC
	Containers: WAV Codecs: PCM
Photo	Containers: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Subtitle	Containers: WEBVTT

Limitations

Limitations of the Windows 10 Mobile client
Codec	Limits
*	video.bitrate: 40000
aac	audio.channels: 6
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000

Windows Phone

Limitations

Limitations of the Windows Phone client
Codec	Limits
*	video.width: 1920
	video.height: 1080
	video.bitrate: 40000
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000

Windows

Limitations

Limitations of the Windows client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.bitDepth: 8
aac	audio.channels: 6
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000
aac	audio.samplingRate: 48000

Xbox 360 App

Limitations

Limitations of the Xbox 360 App client
Codec	Limits
aac	audio.channels: 2

Xbox 360

Limitations

Limitations of the Xbox 360 client
Codec	Limits
mpeg4	video.width: 1280
	video.height: 720
	video.frameRate: 30
	video.bitrate: 5120
ac3, wmav2, wmapro	audio.channels: 6

Xbox One

Transcode Targets

Transcode target values for the Xbox One client
Profile Type	Specifications
Video	Protocol: DASH Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AC3, AAC Context: streaming
	Protocol: HLS Containers: MPEGTS Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AC3, AAC Context: streaming
	Containers: MP4 Codecs: H264 Audio Codecs: AAC, AC3, EAC3, MP3 Context: static
Music	Containers: MP4
Photo	Containers: JPEG
Subtitle	Containers: ASS Codecs: ASS Context: all

Limitations

Limitations of the Xbox One client
Codec	Limits
h264	video.width: 1920
h264	video.height: 1080
*	audio.channels: 6

ZP

Limitations

Limitations of the ZP client
Codec	Limits
*	audio.samplingRate: 48000
	audio.channels: 2
	audio.bitDepth: 16
	audio.bitrate: 1411

Buy me a coffee

Table of contents

Where are the Plex client profiles located?

How the Plex client profiles are structured

Client profiles

Android

Limitations

Asus Transformer Prime TF201

Limitations

Chrome

Chromecast

Transcode Targets

Limitations

cloudSync

Limitations

Firefox

Transcode Targets

Limitations

Generic

HTML TV App

Limitations

Internet Explorer

iOS-iPad-1,1

iOS-iPhone-1,1

iOS-iPhone-1,2

iOS-iPhone-2,1

Limitations

iOS-iPhone-3,1

Limitations

iOS-iPhone-3,2

iOS-iPhone-3,3

iOS-iPod-1,1

iOS-iPod-2,1

iOS-iPod-3,1

iOS-iPod-4,1

iOS

Limitations

Konvergo

Microsoft Edge

Transcode Targets

Limitations

Mystery 3

Mystery 4

Mystery 5

Opera TV App

Opera

Panasonic Viera 3D TV

Limitations

PlayStation 3 App

PlayStation 3

Limitations

PlayStation 4 App

Limitations

Plex Desktop

Raspberry PI

Limitations

Plex Home Theater

Limitations

Plexamp

Popcorn Hour

Limitations

Roku-3.1

Limitations

Roku-5.x

Limitations

Roku-5000X-6.0

Limitations

Roku-6.x

Roku-7.x

Limitations

Roku

RokuDLNA-3.1

Limitations

RokuDLNA-4400X-7.x

Limitations

RokuDLNA-5.1

Limitations

RokuDLNA-5000X-6.x

Limitations

RokuDLNA-5000X-7.x

Limitations