Building HTPC for plex need advice

[FIDO]

Server Version#: windows 10
Player Version#: windows 10

so basically I have ACER aspire XC 705 with i3 4160. right now it got nvidia GT 730 and my goal is to plug it to LG C8 55" 4K OLED HDR to use it as HTPC but mainly for plex.

so I wan’t to avoid transcoding as much as possible so i thought using a pc with plex software will be the best thing for direct play but I need a gpu that will work the best with plex and fix that case

so far I found nvidia quadro P600 used for 55USD~
or
GT 1030 GDDR5 for 73$~ ( it have HDMI 2.0b) brand new

so not sure which is better , i don’t want to buy a gpu then discover that it won’t decode some weird format that I got in my movies collection,
also why am hesitant is that p600 have mini display ports which means i need to buy good quality Mini DP to HDMI that support 4k 60FPS etc… which am not familiar with also the GT 1030 shows it only decode and doesn’t support encoding in the nvidia matrix page so not sure if that will be relivent or if it is missing some decoding important formats (also the GT 1030 comes with Dvi single link + Hdmi 2.0b so no future proofing with display port unless i buy the more expensive version which cost like 33$ more)

so do you think that pc can handle one of these gpu’s to watch movies , youtube 4k hdr etc… ?
it got kingston 120GB SSD +500GB HD
4GB ram (can upgrade easily to 8 for cheap if needed)

[FordGuy61]

@FIDO

so far I found nvidia quadro P600 used for 55USD~
or
GT 1030 GDDR5 for 73$~ ( it have HDMI 2.0b) brand new

Do not buy the 1030. Nvidia disabled encoding on that model. If you go with a GTX/RTX, you’ll want a 1050 or better.

The P600 is limited to two simultaneous encodes, the same as the GTX/RTX cards. You’ll want a P2000 or better if you need more than two simultaneous encodes/decodes.

See Nvidia Encode/Decode Matrix.

@FIDO

i don’t want to buy a gpu then discover that it won’t decode some weird format

It won’t decode some weird format.

PMS supports hardware acceleration for AVC/H264 & HEVC/H265 video. Edit: MPEG2 also.

See Using Hardware Accelerated Streaming. Specifically the Compatible formats and limitations section.

[FIDO]

ok thanks for reply, so far it sounds like p600 . I don’t need encoding right?
because all encoding is done on the server , the plex player ( HTPC ) should only do decoding.

so in the end i should just buy p600 and i will be able to get 4k HDR htpc working fine, so far all my 4k HDR content work perfectly on my nvidia shield that is plugged to the same tv, but I have this extra Acer pc and i want my family who are not in the same house to be able to watch on plex with direct play ( my upload is good enough i tested using plex in ps4 pro and samsung tv , my upload speed 100mbps)

i just have to worry about finding a good mini display to HDMI 4k60

[FordGuy61]

@FIDO

because all encoding is done on the server , the plex player ( HTPC ) should only do decoding.

I misunderstood. I thought the system would be running Plex Media Server and you wanted to take advantage of Hardware Accelerated Streaming.

Video transcoding, both decoding and encoding, occurs on the server. If you have a compatible CPU with internal GPU or discrete GPU, Plex will use it instead of the CPU for the video decode/encode process.

What will you be using as a client - PMP, Plex for Windows, something else?

If you’re using PMP or Plex/Win, you’ll need a video card that supports 4K output. Both of those will direct play 4K video, even when connected to a 1080p display (I have a 750 Ti card connected to a 1080p TV. PMP direct plays 4K HDR movies even though the 750 Ti does not support HEVC video).

However, if I remember correctly, neither PMP nor Plex/Win supports HDR video output. The video is tonemapped to SDR. There was a thread about this recently. I’ll see if I can find it.

Edit: See this thread. Plex Media Player does not passthrough HDR video to the attached display.

PC Plex Media Player HDR

Not sure how that is occurring for you but I can assure you that mpv (the backend player engine for PMP) is not capable of passing though the HDR metadata correctly. Your system (assuming its Windows here) is doing something that triggered the HDR signal from the OS but mpv can not capitalize on that yet. There was some work late 2018 by one of the mpv devs Jeeb to get that working in Windows. However that work is not complete and there has not been any work for HDR on the backengine of PMP for …

[FIDO]

thanks so no point in buying any Gpu for this pc. because plex player on windows can’t run HDR.

is there any other solution? maybe the plex linus distro i heard there is a plex linux thing its just a plex OS.

sounds like the only way is to buy nvidia shield TV but its not cheap

[Krazeh]

Why not just use the native Plex app on the LG C8?

[FIDO]

because its bad and doesn’t direct play almost all my files.
i have the C8 in my brother house
I got the B7 in my house and nvidia shield tv
I compared it many times the B7 plex app can’t play many things direct play and majority of it coz of 5.1 / 7.1 / subtitles while the nvidia shield anything I throw at it will run as direct play perfectly except few subtitles formats which is fine and can just turn it off at that point.

and many things available in the plex app not possible in the tv version one of which is only available in the nvidia shield that shows stats of the video running and what type of transcoding etc…
even the pc have less info compared to the nvidia shield and the tv shows barley anything.

Now i prefer a pc to be able to run twitch website version , and youtube desktop version with many more things can be done on pc while cant be done on nvidia shield or the smart Tv’s
worst thing is to go for nvidia shield but can’t rely on smart tv’s (which are considered stupid in my opinion like they even serve you adds in the input screen !!! so i had to block them at router level cant be done in my bro house they are not tech savy enough for that)

[FIDO]

I found ppl using HDR in windows Fine

so this is what i hate about this forums almost everything i researched so far been conflicting information about many topics .

Settings to view hdr in Plex Media player on Windows 10

“HDR through computers is currently a very sad affair.” Oh no, it is actually a happy affair. A complicated affair maybe, but for me it has worked first time & straight away. You hook your Win10 PC to an HDR UHD display and turn on HDR in control panel Display Settings. (At NVIDIA control panel level, I am feeding 2160p30 12bit 4:2:2 to the display, an LG OLED.) And then I play PMP (TV interface full screen) on that and direct play 4K HDR MKVs in PMP no prob, great/proper color, it’s beautiful.…

[FIDO]

so these steps should make HDR work perfectly with a gpu that is capable to do so.

he is using GTX 1050 Ti
and my aspire pc running a gt 730 which can’t display HDR according to nvidia matrix page

so when i want to buy another gpu , it must be low profile to fit in.
and be able to give HDR in windows plex (APP not the windows store version)

Settings to view hdr in Plex Media player on Windows 10

Here are some general observations you can’t turn on HDR in the windows display control panel unless you have an HDR capable display (and proper cabling too I reckon) you must have 10 or 12 bit video turned on for HDR. You can’t turn that on using a windows control panel. You’ll have to turn it on using your gpu control panel. Your display will tell your gpu what video modes can be activated by EDID. I have an LG OLED and the highest spec I can send is 12bit 4:2:2. when you turn on HDR in the …

[Achilles]

Wrong. See my post that is linked by @FordGuy61. There is no HDR10 passthrough by mpv (the player engine used for PMP) and although your LG OLED display will show HDR BT.2020, that is only the signal from Windows 10 OS. PMP tonemaps and that is a fact. I extensively QA test PMP with the devs. If you want to believe in placebo—you are welcome to continue to.

[FIDO]

where it shows that it is a tonemap or Actual HDR ?
does it show in dashboard as direct play = actual HDR ?

[Achilles]

You will need to decipher from log lines in the plexmediaplayer.log. I am taking off on the tarmac in less than 1 minute. Nvidia Shield and don’t upgrade to Shield Experience 8.0. Otherwise you are just fooling yourself into believing that PMP on any OS platform will passthrough HDR10 metadata—from app to OS to AVR to HDR capable display. Sorry for being short but I am on limited time and grow tired of people questioning what I am stating. If you don’t believe me go look at the mpv project github.

[FIDO]

ok thanks , what about shield 8.0 i had few disconnects when launching the app for first time , it couldnt connect to plex server but recently i got no issues and it seems to work perfect

or is it tone mapping ? so it is not a real hdr

[ChuckPa]

Replying for @Achilles (no forum access in the air but did ask me to iMessage your reply to him)

(I’ve become the delivery boy? )

“It’s riddled with bugs but you can view 4K HEVC HDR10 natively”

Hope this makes sense.

[Cafe_Diem]

@FordGuy61

PMS supports hardware acceleration for AVC/H264 & HEVC/H265 video.

Just adding for clarification: A few other older codecs are also supported. It handles hardware decoding/deinterlacing of MPEG2, and the new transcoder preview supports hardware decoding of VC-1.

Nvidia definitely supports MPEG2 and I’m guessing they support VC-1 but I haven’t tested.

[Achilles]

The Shield is the only viable solution for direct playing 4K UHD Bd remuxes using Plex.

[scarbrtj]

Can do with Roku too, as long as its not some hi-res audio.

[FIDO]

thanks for the short version answer
XD but it is weird and sad how can we use plex server windows as the best server OS to use but can’t use it as plex player this makes it very tiny window to be able to use plex in HDR

ok at least i got a good answer now I can just save money to buy 2nd nvidia shield.

btw does that means on LG native plex app it also do tone mapping ? because if i play something wtihout subtitles it will direct play some movies.

[Achilles]

What I meant is the Shield is the only platform on which Plex app can direct play everything. Your LG can direct play 4K titles without PGS subtitles.

[FordGuy61]

@Cafe_Diem

Just adding for clarification: A few other older codecs are also supported. It handles hardware decoding/deinterlacing of MPEG2, and the new transcoder preview supports hardware decoding of VC-1.

Thanks for the clarification. I forgot about MPEG2. I loaded the preview on my DS918+, and it is handling VC-1 nicely.