Hey everyone,
I have a Synology DS716+II NAS which according to the compatibility list should be able to handle 1080p transcoding. However, pretty much any 1080p material I try to watch stutters/buffers and has the CPU at ~99% load (currently trying Planet Earth 2 for example). So, I’m hoping someone here can help me out.
I don’t know much about Plex yet, I’m very new to all of this, and I got this NAS for a great price at a local store and I can still return it, so I need to know if it just isn’t powerful enough or if it’s something else! I’ve attached my server logs to this thread. If there is anything else you need, please let me know and I’ll do my best to provide ASAP.
Did you have a DSM update since you installed PMS?
DSM updates remove the permissions I install.
Apr 09, 2018 20:14:29.340 [0x7fecce223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
Uninstall the package (64 bit) and reinstall it…
I have an update coming which will remove that requirement… You’ll only need Stop/Restart PMS
Unless it updates automatically, then no I think. I haven’t had it for more than 5 days. In any case, I’ll uninstall it and then reinstall the latest 64 bit package and be sure to report back. Thanks for your help!
If you have any questions about the installer and things you can do with it, I know the author 
Haha alright. If I follow Q7 from the FAQ I should be good to go right (without deleting the shared folder, I don’t think it’s needed now)?
Do NOT delete the shared folder OR the user.
Just uninstall & reinstall the package. I only need the installer to rewrite the device rules
@ChuckPA said:
Do NOT delete the shared folder OR the user.
Just uninstall & reinstall the package. I only need the installer to rewrite the device rules
Alright, done! I attached a new log from right after the installation.
EDIT: Also tried again by the way, still spikes to 99%.
Can you grab the XML for me (Hover over it -> Get Info -> View XML) and attach that XML
@ChuckPA said:
Can you grab the XML for me (Hover over it → Get Info → View XML) and attach that XML
I attached the XML from the first episode of Planet Earth II (hope that is what you meant). Just to mention it again, other shows/movies have the same issue.
yes… Perfect.
Here’s the problem:
<Media videoResolution="1080" id="3244" duration="3515049" bitrate="3575" width="1920" height="1080" aspectRatio="1.78" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="hevc" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="PAL" audioProfile="lc" videoProfile="main 10">
HEVC and main 10 . This means its HEVC codec and bt.2020 color space
The CPU in your DS716+II (Intel N3160) isn’t capable of transcoding this in hardware. PMS has no choice but to attempt software.
There is an easy solution to this.
- The video bitrate is 3575 Kbps.
- Run handbrake with a manual setting to preserve quality.
You want:
- H.264 output
- Audio can remain AAC
- Manually specify the bitrate at 6000 Kbps (6 Mpbs)
- Two-Pass processing.
It will read HEVC and write H.264. Artificially inflating the bit rate in pass. Once it is H.264, Your CPU will be fine.
It will be fine for up to 25-30 Mbps H.264 but it can’t do HEVC. You need a DS918+ (with the J3455 CPU ) for HEVC
You might want to look at the updated NAS compatibility list. I just finished it a few weeks ago
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201373803-nas-compatibility-list/
@ChuckPA said:
yes… Perfect.
Here’s the problem:
<Media videoResolution="1080" id="3244" duration="3515049" bitrate="3575" width="1920" height="1080" aspectRatio="1.78" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="hevc" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="PAL" audioProfile="lc" videoProfile="main 10">
HEVC and main 10 . This means its HEVC codec and bt.2020 color space
The CPU in your DS716+II (Intel N3160) isn’t capable of transcoding this in hardware. PMS has no choice but to attempt software.
There is an easy solution to this.
- The video bitrate is 3575 Kbps.
- Run handbrake with a manual setting to preserve quality.
You want:
- H.264 output
- Audio can remain AAC
- Manually specify the bitrate at 6000 Kbps (6 Mpbs)
- Two-Pass processing.
It will read HEVC and write H.264. Artificially inflating the bit rate in pass. Once it is H.264, Your CPU will be fine.
It will be fine for up to 25-30 Mbps H.264 but it can’t do HEVC. You need a DS918+ (with the J3455 CPU ) for HEVC
Thank you so much for your help and fast responses Chuck, really appreciate it!
I’ve two more questions for you:
First, how much impact on the quality will processing it with handbrake have and second, if you are positive the 918+ can process these files, do you think it’s worth the upgrade (I can still return this one)? I mainly went for x265 because the files are quite a bit smaller in size and storage space was limited on this model cause it only has 2 bays.
If you let HandBrake do what it wants, the low quality that you already have will suffer badly. This is why I instruct to artificially raise the bit rate.
HEVC does save space but, as you’re now realizing, expensive cost. Which would you rather? Bigger drives or a whole new NAS? This is the tradeoff.
In the Synology world, drives are cheaper. For me, I went BIG and still I can’t do BT.2020. I bought the QNAP TVS-1282 i7 (i7-6700). HEVC SDR yes. HEVC HDR (bt.2020) no. Fortunately for me, when the warranty is up, I can drop an i7-7700 in it and have that bt.2020. Until then, I’m stuck where I’m at.
So I stay with H.264. PLUS, H.264 is going to be around for a LONG time… you can’t go wrong staying with it… You really can’t… Why transcode every time you want to watch something? Makes no sense to me
@ChuckPA said:
If you let HandBrake do what it wants, the low quality that you already have will suffer badly. This is why I instruct to artificially raise the bit rate.
HEVC does save space but, as you’re now realizing, expensive cost. Which would you rather? Bigger drives or a whole new NAS? This is the tradeoff.
In the Synology world, drives are cheaper. For me, I went BIG and still I can’t do BT.2020. I bought the QNAP TVS-1282 i7 (i7-6700). HEVC SDR yes. HEVC HDR (bt.2020) no. Fortunately for me, when the warranty is up, I can drop an i7-7700 in it and have that bt.2020. Until then, I’m stuck where I’m at.
So I stay with H.264. PLUS, H.264 is going to be around for a LONG time… you can’t go wrong staying with it… You really can’t… Why transcode every time you want to watch something? Makes no sense to me
Thanks for your clear explanation! In that case, I’ll just go for the bigger drives route. 1080p is fine for me and even in a relatively low quality copy, I’d rather have that then 200gb files lol, but that’s just me!
I run 1080p at 30 Mbps and I would challenge you to call it ‘bad’.
My files, for a 2 hour movie, run about 30-35 GB. This is really good quality for a CGI laden movie. Some of my 4K movies (SDR) are 50-60-70 GB.
Here’s the next trick… Pre-process them such that you don’t have to transcode anything… DirectPlay and you are golden. If you can DirectPlay HEVC HDR, PMS will not care! As example: A little Synology DS1813+ (Atom D2700 CPU) can DirectPlay three streams 2160P HDR without blinking before running out of WiFi 
@ChuckPa said:
I run 1080p at 30 Mbps and I would challenge you to call it ‘bad’.
My files, for a 2 hour movie, run about 30-35 GB. This is really good quality for a CGI laden movie. Some of my 4K movies (SDR) are 50-60-70 GB.
Here’s the next trick… Pre-process them such that you don’t have to transcode anything… DirectPlay and you are golden. If you can DirectPlay HEVC HDR, PMS will not care! As example: A little Synology DS1813+ (Atom D2700 CPU) can DirectPlay three streams 2160P HDR without blinking before running out of WiFi 
I see! Are these settings good?
The source video was 3500 Kbps… You want 6000 not 60000
You also want CFR (Constant Frame Rate)
Lol yeah I spotted that one a bit late unfortunately haha I’ll update my preset, thanks!
@ChuckPA Will the DS718+ work as well as the DS918+? I have the 716+II and I get a lot of buffering. especially when I play TrueHD.
It will be fine for up to 25-30 Mbps H.264 but it can’t do HEVC. You need a DS918+ (with the J3455 CPU ) for HEVC
Thanks!
