Greetings Plex members,
After 6 years… i finally got the “family & friends” lifetime discount email. As soon as i reached home, i locked in the deal 
and now… i ask you what hidden gems should be looking out for ?
My current htpc won’t benefit [much] from the hw transcoding, but i assume there are other features i don’t know of.
Any beginers guide to Plex Pass [extra] features ?
Live TV and DVR was what pushed me to get aPlex Pass. You do have to purchase a tuner (hardware, either USB or network connected) for this to work. Your Plex Pass gives you the EPG for TV programming information. The commercial skip works well for me, though commercial skipping will never be perfect.
is the live tv feature… working well ?
i currently have a slingbox 350, and i stream my “native language” sd & hd channels from Europe to the Middle East (with a maximum rate of 3 mB/s bandwidth)
I have an old pc in my home country, that i could attach a tuner to, and add it as an additional server on my account. would that be possible @hokierulz ? no media folders, just live tv function.
it works well enough, but is it perfect, no.
yes, should be fine, assuming that tuner itself is compatible with plex. see @ https://support.plex.tv/articles/225877427-supported-dvr-tuners-and-antennas/
else, I would suggest an HD homerun network tuner for your country. your pc would still be the plex server, but the tuner would connect to your antenna & ethernet network instead of directly to the pc.
see @ https://support.plex.tv/articles/201751006-plex-pass-feature-overview/ for the comprehensive list of plex pass functionality.
TecknoJunky nailed it, so I will just add my experience.
Live TV and the DVR both work well for me. I’m running on an old computer I had available, and was able to get it to do everything I need. The key for me was to get all of my use cases to where I was either direct play or direct stream. My old computer can MAYBE handle one Plex transcoding stream. Once I got that worked out it has been reliable for me.
I’ll second the HDHomeRun. I have an Extend, am in the USA, and am happy with my choice.
Assuming that you would be remotely accessing the computer in your home county you would need to set up remote access for Plex. That also works well for me, though from the boards I see that often people have problems with it. I do have the benefit of an IT background. Many times the problems go back to specifics of their network setup and ISP, personal ability to set up port forwarding, etc, so your mileage may vary. If you don’t set up Plex remote access (or can’t get it working) then Plex will automagically do a relay for you when accessing remotely. It’s nice that Plex provides the relay function, but bandwidth and video quality are limited with relay.
what is “perfect” (live tv streaming) 4 you ?
for me (with slingbox) i get stable sd streaming + automatic bandwidth adjustment (if my internet is not fast enough for HD streaming)
slingbox is a onetime purchase… is hd-homerun a monthly based service ?
also, is the hd-homerun device a standalone device ? since you mention that it connects directly to the internet. if it is, how would it connect or why would it need a plex server [at all] ?
is the device able to stream simultaneous to 2-3 devices ? [different channels]
what does live tv streaming (over the internet) have to do with plex transcoding ?
there is no “direct play” for live streaming ? or it depends on the tv channel streaming bandwidth requirement and the internet that you actually have [in the middle of the desert, for example]
i am able to access plex remotely, i opened the default port 32400 [on my d-link dir-853 router] and watched a few shows from the car service waiting room 
slingbox is live tv streamed from a streaming provider, like a netflix for live tv.
plex dvr/tuners are live tv tuned directly OVER THE AIR from a TV Antenna, so you only get tv channels local to your area.
live tv streamed from a tuner is quite a bit higher bandwidth than something streamed over the internet from a provider.
so thus depending on your internet bandwidth and devices, that stream may need converted (transcoded) to a smaller and/or more compatible format.
with a tv tuner, there is only the initial device cost, although they also sell their own dvr and channel guid (tv guide) software service which is a monthly service.
its not needed with plex, since plex has its own dvr and guide.
as far as streaming to multiple devices, that depends entirely on your upload bandwidth (at the server), and your clients settings and bandwidth.
as already stated, plex will attempt to convert the live tv stream to a smaller/more compatible format if needed to fit within the upload bandwidth and/or the device capabilities.
@TeknoJunky
as i see here the Expand model is compatible with a cable subscription [in Europe]
i assume that cable provided channels are unecrypted [like standard tv bundles - unlike hbo or xxx channels]
so this would fit me… as a standalone device
but would need to research it’s functionality for online [remote] streaming - or - if can create a vpn / vlan to stream the content [although i doubt the internet speed will suffice]
There are a lot of factors that determine if Plex will transcode - bandwidth, what player you are using, subtitles, source media format/encoding, etc. If you search the forums you will find a lot of discussion on this. I don’t have experience with them all (e.g. subtitles seem to be a sticking point for some people, but I haven’t had a need for subtitles so haven’t messed with it.)
You have to consider your source media format and the capability/resolution of your playing device. For example, USA Live TV is (typically) transmitted with mpeg2 encoding and in a .TS container. For a long time the Roku Plex client couldn’t natively play this, so Direct Play wasn’t an option. Depending on the resolution capability of the screen you are playing, it might choose to Direct Stream, but if your source is 1080i and your playing device isn’t capable of that resolution then Plex has to transcode to the lower resolution. In the Roku Plex client there are some video settings that I had to play with a lot to get it to play the way I wanted (e.g. Direct Play or Direct Stream.)
That’s part of why I chose the HDHomeRun Extend. It can do the transcoding from mpeg2 to h.264 for me. Audio also may be transcoded, though transcoding audio doesn’t take as much CPU. For example, if your source is DD and your player is only stereo it has to transcode audio.
So, it can be a big topic, and it depends on the Plex player you are using, what the source video encoding and container is in your home country, bandwidth, player settings, etc, etc, etc.
Congrats on getting remote access working!
@hokierulz
you may be overthinking it…
the cable company [from my homecountry] provides [by default] non-digital tv services that are HD resolution [at best] with regular stereo audio [2.0]
the cable provider can upgrade the service > making it fully digital > but i m concerned about hdmi hdpc blurring or blocking channels and then not being able to stream them through slingbox
You may be right, though I don’t assume the US is the “best”. 
Mpeg2 is pretty old.
How about this? If you get a lot of buffering/reloading, look at the Plex web dashboard to see if it is transcoding and killing your CPU. It’s probably fixable if it is.
HDHomerun devices are “network tuners” that reside on your home network. Applications like PLEX and other will talk to then over the local network to grab a TV Channel from either OTA or depending on model via a CableCard. They work extremely well. I have been using them for a very long time. However, my favorite application is the Channels App (and DVR) which you would consider a competitor to PLEX Live TV/DVR. Also, my favorite client is the Apple TV 4K. I used Slingbox in the past and it works quite well. I do use the Channels App remotely and it will transcode (hardware) or do a direct play (no transcode) which I prefer because I have a very fast upload ISP. FiOS 200/200 mbps.
had “buffering” issue [or low network speed]… fixed it by reducing the number of simultaneous transcodes / checking and re-enabling the “direct play” option / plan for an Intel CPU for my next build
ok, i understand now… hdhomerun devices are “network tuners” … not “to be used over the internet” tuners
the obvious quick solutions to that is
but more importantly, i think, is the internet speed between hdhomerun device and the “client”
there s an “experimental” feature on plex to automatically adjust the video quality based on the “detected network” speed
although it’s only for web client only : Automatically adjust quality (Beta)
also Treat WAN IP As LAN Bandwidth might help …
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