My Late2012 MacMini that I have been using has a Plex Server has reached it’s limits. Feeding it with 18gb 4k h265 videos has proved to be too much. I keep getting chunky video or crashes in my Minix and in my FireTVStick and they all blame the server.
Need a cheap all in one replacement. Possibly small, plug n play, that can stream 4k h265 from external Usb3 drives. Please consider that the Pc will stay on 24/7.
Any idea for a particular brand/model I can buy… ?
If the client can play your 4k/h265 videos natively, then that server should be just fine.
If you’re looking for something to transcode 4K, well… ugh. Check out this thread: [INFO] Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you - aka the rules of 4k
Not possible if you need to transcode 4K HDR video.
You’ll need a CPU with a Passmark of 17000, which means an i7-9700K or better (Reference What kind of CPU do I need for my Server?).
Suggestions:
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Find out why things are transcoding. Is the the video, audio, or subtitles that force the transcode? Play a 4K HDR video with an AC3 5.1 or AAC 2.0 soundtrack and subtitles disabled. Check the status in the Dashboard via Plex Web. If the video still transcoding, then probably a good bet your clients do not support 4K video.
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Invest in clients that can direct play 4K HDR video - Look at Roku Ultimate, Apple TV 4K, Nvidia Shield. Suggest you stay away from FireTV Sticks. I’ve yet to see one that can direct play 4K HDR video via the Plex app. I’ve a Cube and it will not direct play 4K HDR movies even though the tech specs indicate it should.
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If you do replace your server, then…
a) Invest in a Plex Pass
b) Buy a server with an Intel 8th Gen or later CPU or buy a server with an older gen CPU and add an Nvidia 1050 or better video card.
This will let you take advantage of Hardware Accelerated Streaming, using the GPU to transcode instead of the CPU.
You won’t need an i7/i9, since the GPU will be doing the video transcoding. A nice quad core i5 should work just fine.
Thanks. Very precious answer.
I am not an expert so I don’t really understand what is the problem here. My tv is HD not 4k so at some point of the chain someone has to transcode something.
But what I understand from your answer is that I might NOT need to transcode. What I understand is that… Possibly… with the right player, the server could just stream the file as it is (more bandwidth but less cpu work) and leave it to the player to downsize the HDMI signal to HD?
In this case I believe that MacMini will be able to stream (not live transcode) 20gb In 2 hours with no problem.
So… again… maybe the best solution is to invest in a 4k tv so there is no need at all for transcoding.
Do I get it right here?
As noted in the thread @darcilicious linked, the best approach is to not transcode 4K. If you have a HD TV, this means don’t play 4K video.
The problem is that transcoding 4K video, especially 4K HEVC video, is incredibly compute intensive. It can be done, but not by a “cheap” server.
If you want Plex to transcode 4K, you need either (a) a very beefy CPU or (b) a moderately beefy CPU, an appropriate video card, and a Plex Pass to enable hardware acceleration.
You could use Handbrake or similar programs to transcode the video before loading it into Plex. This would work fine for home movies and similar (short) videos. However, it is not really feasible for feature movies that typically run two hours. It would probably take your Mac Mini 12+ hours to process one movie (with decent quality & compression settings).
Yes.
Do your homework before purchasing. Scan the sections of the forum for each brand of TV you are considering.
Example: There have been recent posts that the Plex client for Hisense/Sharp TVs is not capable of playing 4K video, even on their 4K TVs. People seem to have good luck with LG, Samsung, & Sony, but they’re not without their own issues.
What it boils down to is:
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Do not play 4K media unless you have a 4K TV/display.
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Transcoding 4K media to 1080p is very process intensive and fraught with problems.
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Do your homework before purchasing a 4K TV.
Why do you get 4k videos if you cannot play them in the first place? This just does not make a lot of sense.
Or you replace your fire TV with a Apple TV 4k or a nVidia Shield.
His TV is HD, not 4k. He would not profit from a 4k device.
I beg to differ. He’ll be able to play those 4k Files, no matter what kind of screen is connected.
And he can wait for a good deal on a 4k TV, without having to take into consideration if this tv has a Plex client.
Probably right, sorry bout that. The device plays fine and downscales to 1080p, correct?
I did not know the Shield and ATV4K would scale 4K to 1080p. That’s good info. Thanks.
Sure, you can set them to whatever resolution you want. I currently run my Shield at 1080p since I have it connected to my old amp. Haven’t played any 4K titles though with this setup, cause I thought it is stupid to do so 
It probably is, when HDR is involved…
Yes. Tested it with an old Sony TV which is only 1368 px wide. No issues playing 4K content.
Thanks for all.
Whatever 4k tv I will buy I will not consider their software as I believe a separate player is better and more flexible.
What wasn’t clear until now is that 4k to HD downgrading is not something that is done fast/live by the graphic card of the player (basically is to choose one pixel every four) so even if my player is 4k enabled it will want to convert to HD if the tv is HD.
I thought downscaling was something easy to be done at a hardware level just “before the hdmi cable”.
Thanks
Marcello
Because I will eventually get a 4k tv and don’t want to re-download all videos again. Makes sense to me.
So Apple tv4k will live down-convert a 4k stream from Plex to an HD output with no problems?
I understand any player will be able to do that.
That is what I am trying to understand. I thought FireStick basic would have hardware downscaling and would be able to process a 4k input from Plex but seems it needs 1080 input and this means that all the work is on Plex Server.
I seem to understand that the Best option would be a 4k player even if for now I have a HD tv as a 4k player should have hw downscaling to HD and will require from Plex just a direct stream.
Funny I find a FireStick 4k on eBay and not on Amazon!
So Isn’t hw downscaling to HD “just before the hdmi cable” (regardless software, server, source) a standard feature of all 4k players ?
Be advised that all the FireTV (Stick) devices are cheap low-end devices for the masses. So I would spend some dollars/euros/(insert your currency here) more and get a proper device like Apple TV, nvidia Shield or at least a Xiaomi Mi Box depending on your demands regard HDR and/or HD audio. Otherwise we might here back from you soon that your files are not directly although you got a new 4k device…
