Server Version#: 1.18.4.2171 (Jan’20)
Server Rig: HP z820 based // Dual Intel Xeon E5-2690v2 // Nvidia Quadro P2000 // LSI 9260-i8 (RAID5 w/ CacheCade) // Plex transcoding cache on NVMe
Hi all, trying to fix some performance issues I came across the idea of enabling hardware transcoding using a good video card. Given the fact that I have found a lot of information regarding the use of a Nvidia Quadro P2000, I have decided to buy one.
Since enabled, I have found two main issues that appeared only with hw transcoding enabled.
Choppy, non-smooth 4K transcoding.
If during play quality is changed on Plex client, an error of the type cannot open file, already opened appear in logs regarding the creation of new transcoded files for the new streams. Client immediately stops playing the file and launching the file again is needed, only way to change quality is globally at the application level.
This happens on every client I have tried: PC, Browser, Android, PS4, LG, Samsung.
Disabling hardware transcoding returns to normal and those errors dissapear, 4K transcoding returns to smooth play and there are no issues with changing the quality.
Taking this information into account… I would like to ask some questions regarding PLEX tuning and performance:
Regarding 4K (yes I know that no one recommends 4K transcoding but due to the variety of devices, changing between direct play or transcoding is not possible on my environment, so I need to keep default option as Transcoding for ease):
Is it possible to fine tune how the decoder uses the video card so I can try different values to try to remove the issues?
Is it possible to, for example, use software decoding with 4K, but keeping every other files using hardware decoding? for example, hw transcoding some libraries, and software transcoding others.
I have thought about using for example handbrake to optimize my content, using Netflix HD content as an example… does anyone knows if there are some guidelines on selecting the best options so I can get the best quality/performance/compatibility encoding so I can normalize my content library? taking into account that I know that the bandwith needed will always be the same for my devices.
I suppose that this topic is bigger that it could seem so thanks in advance to anyone participating
Although the goal would be to avoid transcoding, within certain limits it’s doable.
Once you’ve had a look at the FAQ, follow up with some more questions or the same ones
probably better forums (videohelp, makemkv, handbrake, etc) to ask about trying to optimize/re-encode 4k. The whole point of 4k, is to have the highest quality, so attempting to re-encode/optimize it, is essentially the opposite of having it in the first place.
you are better off trying to figure out and fix whatever issue(s) you are having with the p2k, since (until recently anyway) it seems to be the most pushed gpu for transoding, but you are not the first or last person that has had problems with it.
the first things/questions to check/answer are-
if you are running headless, either plug in a monitor or get a dummy plug
you can use the nvidia-smi utility to view and monitor the gpu for transcode usage/load and stats https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-system-management-interface nvidia-smi is included with properly installed drivers. nvidia-smi has a number of command line options you can utilize.
To make it simpler, I would really like to get deeper information, such as if there is any config file out of the PLEX web control panel, that I can play with (under my responsibility, of course), to get more control of my server.
I am beginning to collect media on 4K and I feel that provided controls, even with advanced properties are not advanced enough to play with.
Regarding the re-encode of the contents, I just want to collect how other Plex users around do this and if possible their experience, as we are talking from the perspective of a client/server application it is interesting for me how to achieve the best balance… at least till I can buy a better TV, deploy 10G network…
Regarding the hardware, unfortunately as my base Rig is a HP z workstation, I must keep attached with HP hardware, so my P2K is not covered by the official nvidia drivers, only HP certified ones so maybe the root cause of my issues on this side are due to this because those are always a little outdated. Anyway I do not think there will be a lot of difference talking about a device released on 2017. I have tried to force other packages to cover my device, but as expected I got a lot of DMA/IRQ/Memory access BSOD when certain operations are performed.
I will play around with the more specific utilities, but I have the feeling that those issues are more related to how PLEX use hardware more like other causes.
When power users want to affect playback directly, there is only one option that I know about with Plex, and that’s to use a desktop/laptop and their Plex Media Player (PMP). That app has two modes, Desktop Mode and TV Mode. In TV Mode you have access to a massive number of low level MPV tuning options, including making your own keybinds.
PMP is very powerful and is more capable than Plex for Windows, their other desktop player.
The way I deal with 4K media is I only try to play it on hardware that’s capable of Direct Play. I keep a 1080p version of the film also, in case I’m going to watch it on a portable. The bitrates on a 4K are under 200 Mbps. So that’s not a problem for my existing 1Gbps LAN.
Getting PMS to play well with your hardware in light of the driver issue and past BSODs might take more of your time than you are comfortable giving. Is there any way you could run PMS elsewhere, maybe on a NUC?
Well, this information is enough by now, it seems I have tons of reading here
I used to run PMS on a Razer Blade laptop, but with time the PMS project growth large, and as I use to play with old server-grade hardware due to my “daily affairs”, it became more practical to move there, the problem is not all of my family members are IT savvy and they are my main consumers, direct-play is still a dream on their devices, the idea behind this, is to adjust the server in regards of how they improve their internet access or buy new TV/devices.
there are many reasons to deploy 10G, but neither 4k or plex is one of them.
while 4k can need more than 100mb ethernet, a single gigabit link can easily support 7 (or perhaps even more, depending on how each stream’s peak overlaps with other streams) simultaneous 4k streams.
Well 10G is becoming more popular and cheap, to be honest I am now using devolo PLCs because I actually have no time to deal with cabling all my home, but I must admit that I am impressed on how their latest devices perform, I even use PLC to link the room in which PMS is located with the router, I will never have more than 2 4k real flows so as most of the traffic is transcoded, till I got more 4k content than 1080p I think I am safe haha
