I'm using Rasplex currently as my plex client. Overall works well. Problem is: I have lots and lots of 20mbps+ videos and they either have to transcode or stutter
What's my next alternative? I have 2 needs
Thanks in advance
I'm using Rasplex currently as my plex client. Overall works well. Problem is: I have lots and lots of 20mbps+ videos and they either have to transcode or stutter
What's my next alternative? I have 2 needs
- Direct play 25mbps plus (all my files can direct play to rasplex if not for high bitrate)
- "Cast" from Android, iPhone, and Web plex apps
Thanks in advance
A well overclocked RasPlex can go up to 20 Mbps, but that's the limit. Movies with higher bitrates will always require transcoding.
If you really need full support for high bitrate bluray content without any transcoding then I think the best choice is an HTPC.
The entire 'family' of $99 media players has no family member with such capabilities. (Such speed doesn't come so cheap.)
But an HTPC running PHT should satisfy all your conditions, and it may be the only alternative which can do so.
Best regards: dlanor
I just picked up a CuBox-i4Pro and it is really speedy. I don't have any 20 Mbps videos to test, but would be happy to if you provide me with a sample. The UI is super responsive and I haven't had trouble with any files. It is running alpha version of XBMC + PleXBMC.
Rasplex support is right around the corner when Gotham changes get pulled into the Plex branch.
My 256MB raspberry Pi has never really been supported so I'm really looking forward to Cubox support.
I just picked up a CuBox-i4Pro and it is really speedy. I don't have any 20 Mbps videos to test, but would be happy to if you provide me with a sample. The UI is super responsive and I haven't had trouble with any files. It is running alpha version of XBMC + PleXBMC.
Rasplex support is right around the corner when Gotham changes get pulled into the Plex branch.
My 256MB raspberry Pi has never really been supported so I'm really looking forward to Cubox support.
But don't expect xbmc to run perfect on the cubox-i yet, i own one my self and have to go trough some hoops to get audio passthrough working plus there are problems playing content with vc1 codec and so on.
But it will play high bitrate video (+30GB) with cpu at 15-20%.
[NEVERMIND]
I've seen quite a few people claim that 20mbs is the upper limit for Rasplex. Is there something unique to Rasplex that's different from OpenELEC or Raspbmc, each of which are more than capable of playing videos above 20mbs provided that you have overclocked and use passthrough audio?
I do full rips of my Blu-ray library, and while I love Rasplex, it's a drag to have to transcode some of my favorites on my Rasplex box when they play without a hitch on my OpenELEC box.
The problem isn't with Rasplex, but with the Raspberry Pi itself. It just doesn't have the hardware to handle anything more than 20Mbps (less if you're not overclocking). At least, that is my understanding. It's very interesting to me that you say OpenELEC and Raspbmc can handle higher bitrates. Probably has something to do with running the full PHT experience in Rasplex, not a pared down version.
It's for this reason that I'm eagerly anticipating Cubox-i support, hoping it will be the silver bullet of a small, powerful thin client able to run PHT without compromising.
[NEVERMIND]
But that's not true. If you overclock and pass through audio, you can playback virtually any blu-ray rip on Raspbmc without any stuttering. Rasplex however, forces transcoding on a number of these rips.
What format are you ripping too from blu-ray? (Video & audo Codec) It would be good to check if the codec's can be properly listed in Plex not to transcode.
[NEVERMIND]
But that's not true. If you overclock and pass through audio, you can playback virtually any blu-ray rip on Raspbmc without any stuttering. Rasplex however, forces transcoding on a number of these rips.
You missed the point about RasPlex giving "the full PHT experience".
RasPlex is not just an XBMC addon, but a full port of the original "Plex Home Theater" program, packaged with an OpenELEC OS.
This means that there are lots of design decisions which are not up to the RasPlex coders, but to the original PHT dev team as well as the OpenELEC designers.
Apparently the PHT approach to client coding results in consuming a little more background processing power that might otherwise have been used to raise the bitrate limit of playback. Perhaps that can be changed in the future, but for the time being we're stuck with a limit slightly higher than 20 Mbps for the total bitrate, and since the limit must be placed somewhere known to be safe it's currently fixed at 20,000 kbps. So all videos with higher bitrate will be transcoded to 20,000 kbps.
It may not be ideal, but it's better than having hopeless stutters or even crashing for the very high bitrate videos, which is what would happen if that limit was simply ignored.
Best regards: dlanor
They are full size rips. I don't reencode. Codecs vary depending upon the format used in the original Blu-Ray. Matroska container. The mystery (to me at least) persists. Why does Rasplex insist on transcoding content that would playback directly without stutters if I booted Radpbmc on the same hardware?
The transcoding process has been introduced to widen the playback capabilities. There was a thread which is still pinned in this forum to gather users experiences on what the playable limit was with DP.
it was kind of agreed that 20 Mbit was a limit. I dunno what the rips you are mentionning are made of, i'd be glad to get a sample to see that or to get the debug log that transcoder will show when you play such a movie.
These transcoding decisions still have to be adjusted if we feel that they need to. but we need to know what the new decisions should be set to.
If you can provide some logs / feedback on this, i'd be happy to check them :)
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