Does tone mapping work on the QNAP appliance? (i.e. the QNAP OS is linux based?)
The support article here talks about OS but doesn’t mention appliances.
If one has hardware transcoding, does the need for tone mapping go away. Or QVS? Forgive my ignorance on the various manipulations that must occur when streaming…
Transcoding and tone mapping are two different operations but…are related
You can transcode 1080p to 720p without tone mapping because the source is SDR. (Standard Dynamic Range). This is most of your content. Tone mapping only occurs if you’re using 4k HDR content. There is some 1080p HDR content but it’s not common
Intel CPU’s using QSV can do transcoding in any OS, but only do tone mapping in a Linux distro. Yes, all NAS devices are some version of Linux.
Agree. An i-9 is like using a sledgehammer for a fly swatter. Heat and power draw are also a consideration for any type of NAS
I run a Windows server on an i-7 2600 and a Celeron J4105 in my NAS. For me it’s ok because I almost never transcode anything. If you can direct play everything you can run a server on a 15-year-old laptop
Consider the fact that an i5-13500 or i5-12600k ($190-$240) has the same graphics as the box you linked (UHD Graphics 770) and significantly higher graphics than the NUC Chuck linked. (UHD Graphics 630)
When it comes to transcoding that that will make a bigger difference than just raw CPU muscle
Everything Insomnic_1 says is also true. Personally, I don’t see spending 5k on a system that struggles with transcoding but if you don’t need it, you don’t need it. Yes, those boxes can do tone mapping but they will all struggle with any type of subtitle burning.
Given your current setup, I’m guessing you’re not doing a lot of transcoding anyway
1000%
Some people will go out far out of their way to avoid transcoding, like it’s a point of pride. But for me, one of the very best things about Plex is its ability to play any file on any device… As long as you put a little care into hardware selection.
Is there some kind of summary diagnostic in PMS where I could see the details of my current library? (Edit: By that I mean the types/quality of video. How much is HDR/SDR, 4k/1080/720/360, etc…)
Generally I haven’t had any issues but I do recall a few shows where I was unable to resume viewing in the middle of an episode (or movie) and had to restart from the beginning and then fast forward to my preferred time.
Edit: I do recognize that the i9 is overkill. I don’t pretend to have gone back and looked if a lesser processor would have served me well, but the 940 was one of the pricier/feature rich CPUs at the time and I’ve gotten 12+/- years out of it. Generally I’ve found that i5 machines begin to fade around 4 years but my i7 machines are still relevant 6-8 years later. Not sure how that balances out in terms of $ value…
In a movie library you can go to the filters in the upper left corner
You can do the same thing in a TV type library but you have to filter it by episode instead of TV show first
Movies, only 8 are HDR and 9 are 4K. 339 in 1080p, 275 SD, 91 in 720p
So perhaps I’m overthinking. Looking for a used QNAP nearby…
That will let me get my feet wet with QNAP and learning the OS without about half the cost of the other one. (Only an i3 but does appear to do hardware transcoding) These was a time when I did watch anime and used subtitles, but that is rarely the case now.
You might have to run it in an x4 slot but you can add a GPU to that NAS if you ever need it
Good to know. I probably don’t need the Thunderbolt card, but I’ll see what happens when I get things up and running. Not even sure that guy has it still.
I’ve made a couple of offers for used QNAP on eBay (TVS-672XT-I3-8G & QNAP TVS-h674-i5-32G) and picked up their JBOD (a used QNAP TL-D1600S for $500) and 6x18TB WD Red NAS Pro drives. I figured I could play around with that box for now and see how it runs just plugged into my desktop. (Alienware Area-51 R5, i9-7900X, 64GB, 2080 Ti). I suspect any RAID arrays I build on it with the Windows box will need to be blown away when it gets attached to a proper QNAP NAS.
Thanks to everyone who provided. I’ve marked ChuckPa response as solution but input from others helped me navigate my options and hammer down my first foray into a dedicated appliance. If all goes smoothly, I can probably find any answers I need already here in the forums. Appreciate everyone’s time.
Well, so much for that idea.
I guess eBay doesn’t like VPNs? I used my account for the first time in a couple of years (had it since 2005) and they immediately and permanently banned my account. I had made an offer and contacted the seller on another. WTH? Hopefully Craigslist pans out…
Wow, never heard of that… Pretty heavy handed. There are all kinds of good reasons to use a VPN. Sorry to hear it!
I have no way of knowing if that was the reason, but it is the only one that I can think of. Mine is setup to rotate on a regular basis. Fortunately I’ve got my brother reaching out to the seller(s) to try and complete the transaction. I guess there is yet another reason not to like Paypal & eBay.
Found a workaround. My brother bought it with his account and had it shipped to my house (The price dropped almost $200 too). So I’m now the owner of a TVS-h674-i5-32G with a TL-D1600s for expansion and to take advantage of the older 10xHDD from my original rig. I’ll report back once I have everything up and running.
I hope the TVS-h674-i5-32G is a good compromise. I think it will be adequate speed once I’ve transferred all my data over. Came in today and is currently building out two volumes (Estimated 150 hours to setup each 30TB volume) on two storage pools. I’ve got each in RAID5 and encrypted so it will take awhile. I chose QTS instead of QuTS hero as it seemed to make more sense. I think I also read something about WD Red NAS Pro drives and ZFS if I’m not mistaken. I will have the device plugged into an SMB grade UPS (APC) and hope I can somehow integrate a clean shutdown if an extended power loss occurs.
Thanks again for all the advice. I’ll post a pic of them side-by-side, but the QNAP is about 1/4 of the size of my old server. Very much looking forward to having updated hardware and not worrying about the day that beast finally dies.
The power supply in that unit is 250 watts (nominal)
Knowing you’ll probably want a few other things on the UPS with it (switch, router, etc… hahahahahaha) start adding. 350 watts or even 450 watts
Now use the APC calculator to confirm the size you’re thinking of.
I have an APC Back UPS Pro 1500.
I can run both servers on it, plus all the switches and other machines and lighting, for about 20 minutes with power out.
That’s more than enough time to shut things down.
It’s important to remember, QTS is slow to shutdown & startup. It’s just how they do things.
If you were to size for a 750 VA → 1000 VA , you’ll have a fair amount of time for everything to safely shutdown when battery starts getting low. You’ll also have a good amount of room to grow ( You will! LOLOL)
Best part with QNAP, I can tell it when to shut down (how many minutes or battery level )
I know I can get almost 30 minutes of runtime so I’ve set both machines to power off at the 20 minute mark (power off for 20 minutes). I prefer being safe so I opted to use 20 minutes and be guaranteed both are off before battery is expended.
I’ve got a pair of Back-UPS 1500 in place. One for the server and one for the networking equipment. If I ever get around to it, I’m going to move this hardware into a small 4u rack with the NAS sitting on top. Out of sight and away from dust. I have a Smart-UPS C1500 (SMC1500-2UC) ready to go.
Looks like once the NAS settled and put the volume build on higher priority, it is down to ~17 hours to complete both. I’m guessing it will take most of the weekend to sort and move the 15TB of data I have into the new NAS. Then I’ll do the PMS setup on the device.
Thanks again.
Good that you have 1500s ready to put into place.
17 hours sounds more like it.
Moving the data is the pain. I have 10 GbE LAN and it took me 19 hours to move 45 TB from one NAS (QNAP) to the new server (Ubuntu home-built). It averaged about 750 MB/sec over NFS.
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