My Plex HTPC Script Collection

This is a collection of my personal Plex HTPC scripts.

I'm not really a programmer, but kind of cobbled most of the stuff together and tweaked it with ChatGPT. Maybe the scripts are still helpful.

Overview

• Smart Deband
• Smart Screenshots
• Dolby Atmos Auto Pass-through
• Dolby Vision to HDR10

Smart Deband

This script activates the deband function of mpv if the video is in H.264 8-bit format. In addition, you can add exceptions via a whitelist and blacklist. Since mostly bad encodes or web rips are in H.264 8-bit, the debanding should only be applied to these videos.

I have added a single exception: If the video has 12 ref frames, debanding is not enabled. This primarily affects high quality web rips that have already been cleanly filtered.

Step 1

Put smart_deband.lua in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC\scripts.

Step 2

Create smart_deband_blacklist.txt and smart_deband_whitelist.txt in your desired folder.

Update the paths in the lua file.

local whitelist = "C:/Your/desired/path/smart_deband_whitelist.txt"
local blacklist = "C:/Your/desired/path/smart_deband_blacklist.txt"

Step 3

Put the settings below into your mpv.conf file.

deband=no
deband-iterations=6
deband-threshold=64
deband-range=32
deband-grain=0

The file is located in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC.

Step 4

Now you just have to define which files outside the H.264 8-bit rule should be either additionally debanded (whitelisted) or excluded from this rule (blacklisted). You just have to put a part of the filename into the respective text file.

Examples

If you put [Bad Encode] Random Anime in the whitelist, the debanding will be applied even if the video is in HEVC or H.264 10-bit.

If you put [Good Encode] Random Anime in the blacklist, the debanding will not be applied even if the video is in H.264 8-bit.

Smart Screenshots

With this script you can take 3 different types of screenshots. It also inserts the date, time, series name, episode number and timestamp into the file name.

1. Regular sceenshots.
2. Screenshots without subtitles.
3. Screenshots with informations of the episode and a time stamp. Pretty nice for QC stuff.

Step 1

Put smart_screenshots.lua in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC\scripts.

Step 2

Change the key bindings at the end of the script (1, 2 and 3) to your liking.

mp.add_forced_key_binding("1", "screenshot", screenshot)
mp.add_forced_key_binding("2", "screenshot_no_subs", screenshot_no_subs)
mp.add_forced_key_binding("3", "qc_screenshot", qc_screenshot)

Step 3

Put the settings below into your mpv.conf file.

screenshot-format=png
screenshot-high-bit-depth=no
screenshot-png-compression=6
screenshot-directory="C:\Users\User\Documents\Screenshots"

The file is located in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC.

Update the screenshot format and directory path to your preferences. Both values are important for the script to work.

Step 4

Create a subfolder named QC in your screenshot directory. The screenshots with and without subtitles will go directly into the defined directory, the QC screenshots will go into the subfolder.

Examples

These screenshots were taken from the same frame.

A regular screenshot

A screenshot without subtitles

A screenshot with informations of the episode and a time stamp

To-do

Currently nothing.

Dolby Atmos Auto Pass-through

This script activates the audio pass-through for Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD when it has detected an Atmos audio track. Since mpv or Plex can't recognize the format directly, it must be marked as Atmos in the track name.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work perfectly yet. It happens that the toggling doesn't work on the first try. Also, the Atmos track must be preselected when opening the file.

Step 1

Put dolby_atmos.lua in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC\scripts.

Step 2

Put the settings below into your mpv.conf file.

audio-device=wasapi/"device name"
audio-channels=auto
audio-exclusive=yes

The file is located in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC.

You must define your audio output device behind audio-device=. You can get the name by running mpv with the following command: mpv --audio-device=help. Don't use the ID of your audio device, use the actual name. Sometimes Windows will change the ID.

If your audio device doesn't support all layouts, you should list them instead: audio-channels=2.0,5.1,7,1 etc.

Step 3

Disable all audio settings in Plex HTPC. It resets them every few days anyway. That's why we defined them in the mpv.conf.

To-do

• Add an option to toggle the pass-trough via hotkey
• Add that when switching the audio track it will be checked again if pass-trough should be active

Dolby Vision to HDR10

This script converts Dolby Vision Profile 5 to HDR10.

Without this function, Plex cannot switch in HDR mode and displays the video incorrectly.

Step 1

Put dolby_vision_to_hdr10.lua in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Plex HTPC\scripts.

That's it!

To-do

Currently nothing.

Tips

You can also bind functions directly via your input maps! This is particularly helpful if you're using a controller.

Examples

"KEY_AXIS_0_UP": "mpv:script-message screenshot_no_subs",
"KEY_AXIS_0_DOWN": "mpv:script-message qc_screenshot",
"KEY_AXIS_1_UP": "mpv:script-message screenshot",