Help with setting up PLEX around the home

General Discussions
1

I’m looking to setup my parents home with PLEX using the media server that i have. Though i’m looking to put PLEX in 4 - 6 rooms. The issue is 2 of their TV’s don’t support plex and the other’s have PS3’s PS4’s that can stream without an issue.

Though i’m looking to setup an arrangement that is Wired to the LAN (not wireless) and is really straight forward for them to use. They do have an amazon fire TV stick, but unfortunately the wireless network is not strong enough to support high bitrates over 18mbps.

Any reccomendations on making things as easy as possible and what to do would be greatly appreciated!

2

If you don’t need 4K or HEVC compatibility, a Raspberry Pi 3 is a good choice.
It is small enough to be taped to the backside of the TV and can be operated with the TV’s remote control (as long as the TV supports HDMI-CEC)
Then run either ‘PMP Embedded’ or OpenPHT on the RasPi.

I suggest you try both. It is just a swap of the SD card.

Another excellent option: If you can get your hands on a Roku device with ethernet port, use this.

3

Perhaps not quite a simple as a Pi but there’s something to be said for a Roku box as it supports Netflix and so many other things in addition to Plex.

5

@trumpy81 said:
Another good choice if you do need HEVC and 4K is the Odroid C2. It is very similar to the Raspberry Pi 2/3 and it will handle HEVC/4K. It can also be taped to the back of the TV and the TV remote will operate it.

It also runs RasPlex/OpenPHT the same as the Raspberry Pi and the cost is much the same.

Other things to consider though, is to make sure your files are capable of direct playing on any device you happen to choose. That can save you a lot of headaches down the track.

Since you are likely to be streaming across the net to your parents house, try to maintain your files at 720p and keep the overall bitrates as low as possible.

With Plex, you can maintain very high quality files for local use and a low bitrate file for streaming and Plex in most cases will auto select which file to use without any intervention by you.

Simply store a high quality file and a file for streaming in the same folder with almost the same name.

EG:

Divergent (2014) 4K.mp4
Divergent (2014) 720p.mp4

Plex will ‘group’ those two files and display a number in a square at the top left corner of the poster so that you know there is more than one file in the group.

When someone plays that Movie, Plex will decide which file to use based on the client device and it’s location. So if your parents were to watch it, Plex would serve them the 720p version and if you were to watch it, you would be served the 4K version, assuming your Plex client could display that file of course.

Thanks for this information, hopefully you can enlighten me a bit further.

I will soon be returning home to stay with my parents, so bitrate is not really an issue (i would hope). As for my files they appear to be mostly MKV formats but some require transcoding when using an amazon FS but not for other files, which is unclear to me.

With the Odroid supporting HEVC i assume this would cover further formats/codecs? Also, is there somewhere in the UK that sells the device that you may know of?

Lastly looking at OpenPHT - what is it? I’ve tried to search it up and learn more but im unable to. I’ve saw and understand RasPlex though, but is OpenPHT you would use in combination of RasPlex or is it a different plex client?

7

@trumpy81 said:
The Amazon Fire Stick only supports MP4 or M4V which would cause your Plex server to transcode or remux if using MKV files.

See this link for the supported file formats for the Amazon Fire Stick: Support | Western Digital

If you are using an Odroid C2, then .mkv files would not need to be transcoded or remuxed since RasPlex/OpenPHT supports .mkv formats. It also supports many more formats when compared to other set top boxes or media players.

RasPlex/OpenPHT is the open source version of the former ‘Plex Home Theater’. It runs very well on the Odroid C2 or a Raspberry Pi.

RasPlex and OpenPHT are one in the same thing. RasPlex is the original name because it was designed to run on a Raspberry Pi, but now it can be installed on a number of devices, like the Odroid for example, so the name was partially changed.

Perfect, thank you for explaining that.

To confirm, is this the Odroid C2? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Odroid-C2-Einplatinen-Workstation-1-5GHz-Quad/dp/B01CY4V5LC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500490760&sr=8-1&keywords=Odroid+C2

In comparison to the Odroid C2, is the Asus Tinker Board the equivalent ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-GB-SBC-Tinker-Board/dp/B01N35PQ9U/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1500490942&sr=1-2&keywords=asus+tinker+board

9

@OttoKerner said:
If you don’t need 4K or HEVC compatibility, a Raspberry Pi 3 is a good choice.
It is small enough to be taped to the backside of the TV and can be operated with the TV’s remote control (as long as the TV supports HDMI-CEC)
Then run either ‘PMP Embedded’ or OpenPHT on the RasPi.

I suggest you try both. It is just a swap of the SD card.

Another excellent option: If you can get your hands on a Roku device with ethernet port, use this.

Would Plex run on an Asus Tinker Board if the PMP was compiled on the Tinker Board then? You seem to know whats whaT!

10

@Methanoid said:
Would Plex run on an Asus Tinker Board if the PMP was compiled on the Tinker Board then? You seem to know whats whaT!

Sorry, I have no idea what that is.

12

Its a 64bit ARM CPU same as Pi3… ?!? The TB has a Rockchip RK3288 (at 1.6GHz) vs Pi3 at 1.2 GHz