Guys, I’ve probably got the wrong end of the stick with this but please clarify for me..
I thought the idea of buying a nas drive that does transcoding was that apps such as plex would use that feature as standard. I’m interested in the fact that plex pass offers hardware transcoding, but does that mean on the free account I have now, the nas drive has actually not been used at all for transcoding by plex up to now, and that with the pass, I can expect better quality streaming including remote streaming?
What difference am I going to see with hardware transcoding on the plex pass compared to what I was getting on the free account?
Reference: Plex NAS Compatibility
Which Synology model are you using?
With Synology NAS, hardware accelerated transcoding is supported only on systems with Intel CPUs with Quick Sync Graphics (Celeron CPUs). It is not supported on models with ARM, AMD, or Intel Atom CPUs.
A Plex Pass is required to take advantage of Hardware Accelerated Transcoding (transcoding video using the GPU). Without it, all transcoding is performed by the CPU.
CPU based transcoding is limited due to the low-power CPUs used by Synology. Depending on the model, it may be able to transcode 1080p video, but some are limited to 720p or lower.
Please review the compatibility spreadsheet lined above.
If your NAS supports hardware transcoding, you will be able to transcode additional concurrent streams. Also, depending on the model, you may be able to transcode some 4K media.
Hardware transcoding increases the transcoding capacity of the system. It does not increase the quality of the transcoded video.
If your system is struggling to transcode video, with the CPU at or near 100% utilization, then a Plex Pass could help. The video transcode would be performed by the GPU, which can transcode video faster than the CPU.
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It’s the DS218+
So in theory, if several remote accounts are streaming content from my server as well as me using it at home, all at the same time, I would get better streaming capability with a plex pass?
I’ve used the DS218+ for a couple of years. First I’ve tried to use the transcoder without the Plex Pass but without the hardware transcoding feature it was too weak.
After enabling hardware transcoding the improvement was quite noticeable. I was able to transcode 2-3 videos with low to medium bitrate. The Dual Core Intel Celeron J3355 is not the strongest but it gets the job done.
I barely had any apps installed on the DS218+ but the biggest CPU eater (besides of Plex while transcoding 
) was Hyper Backup with versioned backups.
If you are unsure about the Plex Pass you could by the Plex Pass for one month just for testing. If you feel like you don’t need the features it runs out after a month.
If you like it, cancel it at the end of the runtime and buy a yearly Plex Pass or the Lifetime Pass. 
Hope this helps! 
Thanks for the feedback. The only reason for a plex pass really is that when I just shared my library to someone outside my home its asking them for the remote pass, obviously if I had the plex pass they can view for free, but I was wondering if the transcoding feature would make streaming to a few people simultaneously, any better?
Curiously, one person I shared to can still watch for free. Everyone else is being asked for the remote pass
Hardware transcoding is magical. I had my server on a DS 920+, which I believe is the same hardware as the 218+ (except bigger chassis). The Synology can do about 2-3 software/CPU transcodes before the processor gets maxed out. When I use hardware transcoding, I barely notice a blip in the CPU usage, maybe 5% of it overall. So by that number, with hardware, you can do (estimated) 20 transcodes at once. Now, it’s possible that there is a “GPU %” used stat somewhere in the Syno, that is increased on a transcode, but I don’t know if they expose it.
As for the friend still able to view your content, it’s possible they have a plex pass and… don’t know it?
Nope definitely no plex pass and he started streaming before they bought in the remote pass charge, but going forward i have to accept there will be a charge one way or another. I expect the plex pass in my name is the most efficient use of paying as I’ll get the transcodoing. Everyone seems to be saying its a good feature so it seems worth paying just to get that?
Plex pass JUST for transcoding? Depends on your use. If you are constantly CPU capped from a few simultaneous transcodes, then it might be a good idea to use Hardware transcoding. If you aren’t, then I don’t think so. It’s simply a way to use an existing video card’s superior (speed/resource-cost-wise) transcoding capability instead of simulating it via software.
I got an Nvidia Shield, so I rarely transcode. But I also hardly ever have any users watch my content (my friends aren’t interested in it). I got a Pass for the DVR capability, any everything else in the pass was a bonus. I love the intro/credit skip feature, which requires the pass as well. And now, with remote view needing a pass, it’s a requirement for that alone.
Ah right maybe I should reconsider the plex pass then as I may not use many of the features. The biggest feature right now is overcoming the remote pass. You offer to share your library and they get hit with a charge, so at the moment it seems like the remote streaming may not get used much.
If I’m outside of my own home and attempting to remote stream my own library, will it still ask me to pay for that?
If you don’t have any Pass, I would say yes.
I think Plex detects if server and client are in the same subnet. If they are not in the same subnet and don’t have an active Pass the software detects the connection as remote and stops video playback.
Personally I would bite the bullet and buy the Lifetime Plex Pass (or at least the Plex Pass yearly). This way you could create a user and a password, give it to them and tell them explicit:
It’s all set. Whatever pops up, don’t pay for anything. You don’t have to pay, I’ve already taken care of this!
If you share with many people and don’t have a Pass it could be more confusing for inexperienced users what kind of pass they need. (some buy a lifetime pass instead of a Remote Pass for a year and wasting 3-digit $$$ because they misunderstood you, others are too greedy to pay 3 bucks for watching some movies over the holidays, etc. )
Just my 2 cents…
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The value of Plex Pass really depends on what you think is going to get the most use:
- Out of the house a lot? Have a few (or a lot) of friends that want to watch your stuff? Plex Pass enables remote viewing.
- Like quality of life improvements, such as ad-detection in recorded shows? Intro/Outro skip? Plex Pass enables those.
- Watching a lot of media that is in a format not usable on your iPhone? Plex transcodes media if required, no Pass needed. However, Hardware transcoding should reduce CPU load when doing this, which does require a Plex Pass.
- Want to hook up a TV Tuner, integrate a TV guide into the UI and record OTA videos? Plex Pass enables that.
Note: If you do not care for remote viewing yourself, that you can still allow remote access to your server for friends, but your FRIENDS would need to either shell out for a lifetime pass, monthly pass, yearly pass, or a cheap(er) monthly Streaming-Only subscription. If you care to save them money, get the pass, and all your media can be streamed from your server to friends without costing them anything.
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