I am not the most technical person, so w/e I should include please let me know.
I have a QNAP-251 2GB RAM/QUAD Core CPU were I have installed Plex Media Server. I have used MakeMKV for a DVD/Blu Ray collection.
I have the QNAP hardlined by Ethernet to a Google Fiber router. Download is 98 MPBS and Upload is 109 MBPS speed test.
We use Plex Media Theater to run the movies in my living room. For other rooms, my phone, and friends I share to, the Plex app is installed.
For Blu Rays specifically 30-40 GB whenever my friends or I try to watch them on the Plex app [on the same network as the QNAP or outside the network] there is a constant buffering. For example, Jurassic Park is 36 GB and it will go a few seconds then buffer and repeat that over and over.
The contents of the file (stream information) matters
What the players can decode and process natively also matters.
If a file can be “DirectPlayed” (no alterations of any kind, including extension), any CPU can send it with ease.
If the file requires changing format (MKV -> MP4 for example), now the contents of the file start coming into play.
If the audio needs converting (DirectStream), this is additional load on the CPU
If the video requires converting (Full Transcode). Now a lot of factors come into play.
Are subtitles included and must they be burned into the video image? This is the largest load on a processor and when most see buffering problems.
What else can you tell us about this?
Can you recreate the issue, keeping in mind the following conditions:
DEBUG logging on, VERBOSE logging off (verbose is of no use at this level)
Start the playback session
Let it buffer 1-2 times
Stop Playback
Wait 30 seconds for the processes to exit and logs to quiesce.
Settings - Server - Troubleshooting - Download Logs
Attach the ZIP file here.
Hover over the item played - expose ellipsis - Get Info - View XML and attach that XML info (only the media part. Actor / genre and all the lower items are not needed)
I’m going to make the assumption that your server is a TS-251+ based on your statement that it is a quad core CPU. Depending upon the Plex client being used odds are good that the file is being transcoded for playback.
If this is the case, the “problem” is that your CPU is not powerful enough to transcode the Blu Ray stream as the passmark rating for the processor (Intel J1900) is 1839. The recommendation for a single 1080p file is 2000.
You might be able to reduce/eliminate the buffering by enabling hardware acceleration on the server, but you will still pretty much be limited to a single stream at any given time.
