This could have also fell under software, but it's in the encoding that prevents it. This transcoding issue could apply to other server software as well.  Encoding software being used and referenced is handbrake.  

Here is the discovery if you want to skip the journey below

 SpoilerDo not leave the encoder level on auto, for 4Ks, use 5.0 or higher

when encoder level is left on auto, it produced Format profile: Main 10@L5@Main; it seems the L5 Main is the culprit.  When the encoder level is manually set to 5.0; it produces Format profile: Main 10@L5@High; and with this, no more transcoding citing Bitrate exceeds DirectPlay limit.

Have not found a fix after the file is encoded other than to re-encode.

Hope this saves some headaches.
Was playing around with encoding settings and my 4Ks (x265 10bit, HDR, ac3, mkv) starting transcoding; with the server citing the message "Bitrate exceeds DirectPlay limit".  Searched through postings and the best answer was to up the bandwidth setting on the server (which never presented a problem before) and this did not solve the issue.

Then I turned to let's test random server settings and see what happens; and one of those was to disable transcoding under my profile.  This setting led to the server citing the video and audio were compatible, but needed to be remux'd into a compatible container. Strange.

tried reverting my encoding settings to previous settings via copy and paste but this did not stop the transcoding. Now I'm starting to nudge from being aggravated to a little what-did-I-break concern. And this begins the trying of random of encoding settings which solved nothing.  Then the brilliant idea that I should of had within 15 mins of this issue finally started to reveal itself.  Let's check previous 4Ks and they still work without issue.  Hmmm.  Time to compare mediainfo files.  And there is was, the Format profile is different.  On the f

Jellyfin or emby ?

jellyfin is a fork of emby.  found this issue with both, but wouldn't be surprised if this was an issue for other servers as well since the problem is in the file's profile

Originally posted by phunpsyz

jellyfin is a fork of emby.  found this issue with both, but wouldn't be surprised if this was an issue for other servers as well since the problem is in the file's profile

I run jellyfin and emby and never seen that happen, sometimes 4k causes strange issues though also 3D movies so ive heard.

doubt that it's 4K really has anything to do with the error; a 480p with a bit rate exceeding the max allowed bit rate of the encoding profile would probably produce the same error.  If I'm reading this chart (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding_tiers_and_levels ) right, then Main 10@L5@Main has a max rate of 3.1 MB, which is actually high for one of my encodes, but the source is very grainy and there could be spikes.  The profile Main 10@L5@High has a max bit rate 4x that of Main 10@L5@Main  

googling "Bitrate exceeds DirectPlay limit" and emby forums is the first link.  I should probably post my finding in there, but being lazy about creating a account.

Originally posted by JacobMiles

phunpsyz wrote:jellyfin is a fork of emby.  found this issue with both, but wouldn't be surprised if this was an issue for other servers as well since the problem is in the file's profile

I run jellyfin and emby and never seen that happen, sometimes 4k causes strange issues though also 3D movies so ive heard.

Yeah, maybe Luke on emby forums can help you out, I have never seen that error, good luck!