I’m just wondering what everyone thinks of the i9-12900K and if it could transcode 4k->4k with a cpu score of 37216?
The biggest issue with my server now is I enjoy watching with subtitles on, however, when watching anything in 4k with subtitles it forces it to transcode. I could drop the quality to 1080 or 720 with subtitles, but then there is no reason to have a 4k library.
If the 12900k cannot transcode 4k->4k would adding a video card to my set up meet my needs? I have read a lot of plex owners using the p2000 but 4k->4k transcoding does not have a lot of information online. I’m currently running an intel NUC10 i7, but willing to upgrade to a machine with the 12900k or a mid level cpu with a video card if that is a more viable set up. (I’m looking to upgrade either way due to storage options. I’m running out of usb spots for external drives lol)
Answering the CPU question the i9-12900K and it’s iGPU (Plex Pass feature) are more than capable to do transcoding.
Plex doesn’t transcode 4K to 4K. Your real problem seems to be subtitles and your current CPU is not able to handle the additional load. There are many types of subtitles, anything other than .srt require even more CPU. Check the dashboard when something is giving you a problem and see what is occurring.
While you need a CPU with a fast core you probably don’t need an i9 which would handle 15-20 concurrent streams, an i5 is usually sufficient for 3-5.
I’m using LG TV OS as my client and unraid as my server. As mentioned I am using a NUC10 which has an i7-10710u (10075 passmark score), with 32gb RAM, a 512gb m.2 SSD as a cache drive and two 10TB usb3 seagate drives (exos drives) where I keep the media. I use ram transcoding and HW transcoding.
I have tried a local .srt subtitle file and the plex subtitle search using srt and pgs.
I have also tried changing the burn subtitles settings.
With the LG Web app and I get unexpected error with subtitles on, however, I just tested further, on the PS4 app with subtitles on it transcodes 4k->4k (direct play with them off) and it is quite laggy, presumably due to the cpu usage, though it is not maxed out. On the windows app on my laptop it plays fine and even direct plays 4k with the subtitles on, and using chrome it transcode to 1080 with or without subtitles and works fine.
Based on that it seems like the LG client is the worst and presumably nothing will fix that, including upgrading my processor to a 12900k?
Upgrading to a 12900k would probably fix my issues with the lag on PS4.
and
Using a shield pro should be able to direct play as the windows app was on my laptop.
Going to need logs or that dashboard screenshot, it doesn’t sound like the HW transcoding is working.
In your two examples, the audio + subtitles are being transcoded which would cause the video as well. Ensure the quality setting on the clients is set to maximum, if the video is transcoding then it is probably being converted to 1080p.
There is no dashboard view when trying to run with subtitles using the LG app, the cpu jumps to about 60% usage for a few moments before I get a playback error: an unexpected playback problem occurred.
To add to this I checked the logs when running on the LG with subtitles. (When running on windows plex app with subtitles there were no errors or warnings) Note the screen shot has a filter for warnings and errors only.
I’m going to continue to google, but, please let me know if anyone has seen this error before and knows a fix.
I do have tone mapping enabled, however, I did try turning it off (I didn’t restart the plex docker, not sure if this setting requires a full restart).
The bandwidth shouldn’t be an issue as my local network is all gigabit with cat5e all under 20ft. (Modem->Switch and switch goes to the server, TV, and, PS4. My laptop has been on wifi)
I just decided to test a tv show. Running GoT in 4k with subtitles does work on the LG TV.
This makes me think it’s more likely to be related to the errors in the logs (seemingly permission based issues) than an issue with my server or tv.
Could this be related to the size of the files? GoT ep 1 is 9.9GB while the copy of captain america 2 is 49.7GB.
EDIT: I’ve been able to play some 4k movies with subtitles using the LG TV. I’ve gotten a couple from 10-12 gigs to work, Creed, Deadpool and Spiral (saw). I tried captain marvel at 14gb and that did not work. Though, I am still unsure if it is because of size or permissions. I am continuing to test or find more information.
I know that each client has unpublished and unknown limitations on how much bandwidth it can deal with such as the browser choking on anything above 80Mbps. The 1.25+ versions don’t seem to be as optimized as previously but you can’t go back or you will loose HW transcoding support.
hmm, yeah that could make sense.
I also did notice that I am getting slightly different errors between captain america 2 (47.4GB) and captain marvel (14.2GB) and both wont play.
Everything before 12:12 is captain america where it mentions permission issues and 12:12 onward is captain america. Any thoughts on why they would be different?
I’m also thinking it may not be a size issue (or at least not for Captain Marvel).
Going through my 4k library based on file size and Mortal Combat 14.4GB works with subtitles, however, Captain Marvel at 14.2GB does not work.
I am going to call this broken. Most likely it is the server but since all my clients have recently updated it will be tough to track down. I turned on subtitles and got a buffering every 3 - 5 seconds even using Plex for Windows and 1080p stream. Stream would start transcoding when it shouldn’t have.
If you are running your LG TV on a wired connection, then you are going to be running into bandwidth problems there, as the LAN port on the TV will be limited to 100Mbps.
This is true for just about every single TV on the market, although I am not 100% sure about some of the much newer 8K models.
With the higher bitrate files, if they are encoded with variable bitrate (and most are), then there are likely to be peaks well above 100Mbps, which would therefore trigger a transcode on the LG.
I run my Sony XH95 on wireless as it is 5Ghz ac capable, and can therefore achieve link speeds or around 800Mbps, although I very rarely use any of the internal apps on it, apart from YouTube as that supports HDR.
