What Media Formats are Supported by Plex Media Server and How to Use It?

Diana Joan

Mar 10, 2015 08:38 am / Posted by Diana Joan

Plex is a browser-based DLNA streaming media server. It can be downloaded here. Read more free Media Server software for Windows. Plex is easy to install and easy to use. It is based on XBMC whose strength is its ability to order you media in various ways. For example it has a special “folder” where it keeps movies or TV shows that you haven’t finished. It also keeps new media in a special folder. So its pretty easy to find movies and other media that you are most interested in. Read on to get to know more about Plex Media Server.

Plex media server

Plex is free. The only charge for Plex is for something called PlexPass which allows you to share media or to share your media, sync media with another device, and get the Android client for Plex. PlexPass is charged on a monthly rate of $3.99 per month.

The free version of Plex is quite usable on its own. You can use it for a home theater PC or as a media server for your DLNA media player or smart TV. It is also quite usable with Android devices with DLNA players. The Plex Android app isn’t required.

This is a screen shot of the Plex user interface:

Plex user interface

Part One: Plex Media Server supported formats.

Part two: How to install and set up Plex Media Server.

Plex Media Formats

According to their web page, Plex supports the following audio and video formats:

Container

Video Codec

Audio Codec

Notes

mp4, mov

h264, mpeg4

aac, ac3,
eac3,mp3

No

mpegts

h264

aac, ac3,
eac3, mp3, mp2

No

asf

vc1, wmv3, wmv2

wmav2, wmapro,
wmavoice

No

avi

mpeg4, msmpeg4,
mjpeg

mp3, ac3,
eac3, mp2

No

mpeg

mpeg1video,
mpeg2video

mp2, mp3,
ac3

WMC Required

mpegts, mp4

mpeg1video,
mpeg2video

mp2, mp3,
ac3, eac3

WMC Required

asf

wmav2, wmapro,
wmavoice

mp4

aac

mp3

mp3

other audio

transcoded to MP3

What to do if you have some videos whose format is not in the above table, such as iTunes M4V videos? – Use our powerful iTunes video converter – Pavtube ChewTune.

Pavtube ChewTune

Please refer to this article to know how to convert iTunes to Plex.

How to install Plex Media Server?

The Plex installation is straight forward on a Windows PC and there is no special tweaking needed. You must create a Plex account during the installation which is free. You must also tell Plex which folders contain your media.

Plex installation

The Plex sign-up screen is where you assign the server name:

Sigh up Plex

This screen lets you assign your media folders:

Add section in Plex

You can configure Plex for Internet channels:

Install Internet channels

Plex adds meta information to your media which it gets from the Internet:

Add meta information

Further Reading:
Add Movies to Plex to Make Your Media Experience Easy and Enjoyable
Plex Problems I Came Across and Solutions I Did
Stream Your Personal Media to PS4 without DLNA

Master Your Plex Media Server with a QNAP NAS