Maximum Quality. Minimum Lag.

1. 4K Clarity: You get the raw file exactly as it is on the disk. No compression artifacts, no washed-out colors.

2. Less Buffering: It sounds backwards, but lowering quality often causes more lag. If your player asks for a lower quality, my server has to "rewrite" the video in real-time. If the server gets busy, your video pauses.

1. Hardware Health: Direct Streaming takes almost zero processing power. Transcoding pins the CPU at 100%, generating heat and slowing down the system.

2. More People Can Enjoy Plex!: I have a 2Gbit fiber - bandwidth is not the problem! When you Direct Stream, we simply use that speed rather than burning up CPU cycles, allowing everyone to watch at once without slowdowns.