The player does have a large effect on both those things. A player that supports the codec will not need server hw accept and hdr conversion as it will direct stream. A big issues is these codecs can cost money. So if the player doesn’t come with it the player needs to pay for it, something plex may be doing for those that purchased their subscription.
This is a good thing. His motivation may be more sinister. It could create a situation where non medical treatments can be advertised without restriction and genuine medicines can’t. It needs to be applied to all treatments, even unregulated ones.