Advice please - QNAP TS-453-B (BE) - Can it be Server and Client? Limitations? IR (on BE only?)

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Hi all, appreciate any help in advance :slight_smile:

10 years a happy plex (lifetime pass use) it’s time to replace my mac mini (creaking!) and HP Microservers… and I’m hoping that the QNAP NAS’s might kill two birds with one stone as it were. I’ve done a few hours of research, but can’t seem to find definitive answers to the below - any help appreciated.

  1. Can the Qnap 453 be used as both the PMS and the client? It appears so… performance? I see HW transcoding is possible.
  2. Are there any limitations in doing so? I would connect via HDMI to AV amp - does it support all audio passthrough? 4k output? 4k HDR?
  3. I see one of differences between the B and the BE version is a remote control. Currently I use a Harmony remote/repeater in the cab do drive the mac mini… does the B/BE come with an IR sensor and has anyone used the harmony/QNAP combo to drive plex successfully? On the mac mini I have to use 3rd party software to turn IR commands into keypresses…

Anything else I should know? Currently I’m purely 1080p content, but am hoping that this might be future proof for 4k playback? (and 4k HDR?)

Many thanks,
Rob.

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I don’t know of a Plex Media Player for QNAP, that would leave the browser which does .264 and then everything would go south.

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Hi - I saw it demo’d here - https://youtu.be/Bq3wvjx5NCA

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The Be is the updated model. The CPU is the Intel J3455 which will support 2160p HEVC & H.264 hardware decode. It also supports hardware H.264 encoding.

It is a solid box provided the number of bays is not a limitation.

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After doing a little comparison with my TVS-1282,

  1. If you have the HDMI outputs as I do (you should)
  2. And you can install “HD Station”
  3. You should be able to install the publicly-maintained PHT app (the old Plex Home Theater)
  4. It can use your server / media in limited measure.

You won’t get everything but it did function for me the last I tested it

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If you are looking for long term 4k maintainability (depending on how much storage you need), I probably wouldn’t go with the 453Be.

  1. It doesn’t support HDMI 2.0, so you won’t get full 4k HDR output (4k @60, etc.).
  2. It also is limited in it’s GPU support for h265.

A step up would be the newer TVS-951x which has a beefier GPU (h265 support), 10GbE standard, etc. You might also want to look at QNAP’s new media focused HS-453DX which has HDMI 2.0 output also.

A bigger step-up would be Qnap’s new TVS-x72XT line which has a beefier CPU as well as great graphics for Plex transcoding.

Again if you want full 4k HDR @60hz, etc. you will need to go beyond the TS-x53 family.

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