Why is this converting?

Sometimes, when you press play, you'll see a message that Loombre is preparing your video before it starts, or the picture looks a little softer than you expected. Here's what's happening and why.

What's going on

Every device — a TV, a phone, a laptop, a streaming box — can only play certain kinds of video and audio directly. When the movie or show you picked isn't in a form your device can play on its own, Loombre converts it on the fly so it plays correctly instead of failing or looking wrong.

This isn't a bug and it isn't something you need to fix. It's Loombre doing extra work automatically, in the background, so playback just works.

Why this happens

A few common reasons:

• Your device doesn't support the video's original format. Some devices are pickier than others about what they can play directly. Loombre checks and converts only when it needs to.
• Your network connection is slower than the video needs. If you're watching over a slow connection — especially away from home — Loombre may lower the picture quality automatically so playback keeps up without constant pausing to catch up.
• Subtitles need to be drawn directly onto the picture. Some subtitle styles can only be shown this way, which requires converting the video.
• The file was encoded in a way that cannot be cut into pieces safely. Streaming sends video in short segments, and some H.264 files (an "open GOP" encode, common in broadcast rips and some x264 settings) have segment boundaries that depend on the previous segment. Sent as-is, they can show blocky, smeared patches after a seek; Loombre converts them instead so every segment stands on its own.
• Whoever administers your Loombre has chosen settings that affect how videos are sent to certain devices or networks.

What to expect

• Picture quality may be slightly lower than the original file, and a few seconds may pass before playback starts, while Loombre prepares the first bit of video.
• This is automatic — you don't need to change any settings for it to work correctly.
• It only happens when needed. If your device can already play a file directly, Loombre sends it as-is, at full quality, with no delay.

Still looks wrong, or won't play at all?

If playback fails outright, or quality seems unexpectedly poor even on a fast connection, let whoever administers your Loombre know — they have tools to see exactly why a particular decision was made (see the Admin Guide) and can adjust settings that affect it.