Hey Developers, I wanted to take a second and say first thanks for keeping Plex going! Second, I was interested in knowing what you think about us users who spent quite a bit of time and money on sophisticated HTPC setups? Will all that power be utilized by Plex in the future especially with the desktop application? I know UI wise you have opted for a less heavy design on many platforms, but do you think for those who have high end HTPCs we are wasting money, or will there still be a place for those higher end power HTPCs running Plex in the future?
Fun fact: Floyd Mayweather Jr. uses Plex on his airplanes/jets Long ago I remember seeing Plex for iOS on an interview he did with loads of movies and thought wow his setup must be pretty high end! If someone worth over $500 million is using Plex, then I would say you guys are doing something right!
Yes, for the discerning movie enthusiast who goes for the absolute best in quality/comfort a dedicated HTPC still is the best option.
HTPCs can be adapted to the specific needs/preferences of their users
You want a special 8-channel sound interface which delivers audio in the digital ADAT format? You can get it.
You want all audio upconverted/decoded to 192kHz/24bit ? No problem.
You want a customized wireless remote controller, which upon pressing playback will also dim your lights and opens the motorized curtain in front of your projection screen? It can be built.
HTPCs will get the highend features first. Simply because they have the computing power to even run code which is not optimized very well. Bringing demanding features to lesser hardware (if technically possible at all) requires a bigger effort and, above all, time for development/optimizing code.
even the current HTPC Plex clients illustrate my point very well. While it is true that Plex has made an effort to unify the appearance of its client apps across all hardware platforms - it is equally true that there are significant differences in the playback abilities of e.g. Plex Media Player vs. e.g. Plex app [Anvergo] on the FireStick.
They may look identical but, contrary to the FireStick, PMP will play and decode almost every video and audio format natively and (with the right hardware in your HTPC) will bitstream even the high-end audio formats over HDMI.
With a HTPC and PMP you can use a relatively weak NAS as Plex Server, an option you don’t have with the Firestick (unless you are willing to invest a significant amount of time and computing power to convert your files to a Firestick-friendly format).
For the enthusiast, quality plays also a significant role. A HTPC doesn’t need to rely on server-side transcoding. It plays the file as it is, which is always the best option from a quality-perspective.
Because every transcoding operation degrades the quality (how much so, is a different topic).
I have a laptop connected to my TV with a wireless Logitech keyboard and touchpad. I don’t really consider
it a HTPC, just a laptop connected to my TV. But I do it for all the reasons Otto above mentions and then some.
A Windows PC will play and do just about everything you ask of it. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I still prefer to browse my movies via Windows Explorer and play them with VLC than with Plex. Most of the family does as well. It’s just faster than Plex.
We also like to use it to watch YouTube videos or surf the web if the family is researching a vacation trip or something. Netflix is obviously another use of it.
I guess I would consider it more like a Home Entertainment PC than an HTPC.
I have a PS4 and a Sony Smart TV - tried both with plex, then got a HTPC - hands down the HTPC wins. PS4 was the worse, PMP displays noticeable screen judder /Tear just scrolling the screen to find movies. Very slow, Sony Smart TV via Opera TV was not much better. Stutter and judder whilst playing and being pretty much forced to transcode pretty much everything I tried to play as I prefer H264 MKV.
HTPC lovely audio pass through, direct play, 24bit matching stutter free PMP IMO. Its also much quicker, and the ability to use my own remote control and assign keys, also set config files and generally have more control is without doubt making a HTPC win hands down.
If you or the family are heavy plex users, or love your media then a HTPC is 100% worth looking into.
@KarlDag said:
My problem with HTPCs is that when you try to play something heavy (ie h265) fans kick in and get annoying during playback.
This can be averted by selecting the most suited components. There are some things to cool a PC silently, or at least not annoyingly loud.
Most have to do with over-dimensioned cooling components and temperature-controlled fans with special low noise design. This requires bigger(-ish) cases.
A mini Mac is not an ideal HTPC (IMHO), because these machines are built for small size and beauty. Not for continuous high load and silent cooling.
And Apple doesn’t support bitstreaming of the HD audio codecs.
This can be averted by selecting the most suited components.
This. It’s all about proper design. My server is a beast of a system for its size, with 6 hard drives and 4 fans, and it’s just about dead silent (slight airflow noise) even at 100% load (which I can only make happen artificially).
@KarlDag said:
My problem with HTPCs is that when you try to play something heavy (ie h265) fans kick in and get annoying during playback.
This can be averted by selecting the most suited components. There are some things to cool a PC silently, or at least not annoyingly loud.
Most have to do with over-dimensioned cooling components and temperature-controlled fans with special low noise design. This requires bigger(-ish) cases.
A mini Mac is not an ideal HTPC (IMHO), because these machines are built for small size and beauty. Not for continuous high load and silent cooling.
And Apple doesn’t support bitstreaming of the HD audio codecs.
That’s why I put Windows 10 on mine. It’s quiet and great as a HTPC with a custom fan profile.
It really depends on the use-case. Is it for you, the movie buff who can tell a difference between 8mbps & 30mbps? If so, then duh…get an HTPC (and as mentioned above, buy the right hardware. A gaming PC is a piss-poor excuse for a real HTPC). Now, if less tech-savvy family (or children) are part of the use-case, then the Roku wins. Every. Single. Time. Less buttons! Easier to find stuff! “Just works!”…the trade off is it transcodes and is slightly lower quality, and you have less controls/options to tinker with & fine tune…but the trade off is worth it if you don’t want phone calls at work about “how to make Jake & the Neverland Pirates work” (true story)
also worth noting is that the networking hardware is of supreme importance if you do anything that isn’t all contained in a single machine (like running PMP on the same machine as PMS). Do NOT use a router/switch that was “a great buy” at WalMart. ever.
@jkalland said:
also worth noting is that the networking hardware is of supreme importance if you do anything that isn’t all contained in a single machine (like running PMP on the same machine as PMS). Do NOT use a router/switch that was “a great buy” at WalMart. ever.
If your router costs less than your Plex client, you’re doing it wrong.
I have 11 fans in this “HTPC Server.”
Each of them individually, digitally controlled (some in pairs).
Most of them only spin-up on boot (which means rarely - because it runs 24/7).
They are high quality, almost silent fans and I rarely even notice them due to the overall size of the case (as you can see, half of the fans are “Off”).
It runs both my Plex Media Server, and PMP for my Home Theatre.
It is also a Server for my Blue Iris Security System and 4 IP Cameras.
The system sits in the middle of my Theatre (to one side) in a custom desk designed for Audio editing.
The rest of the room is so well acoustically baffled that I rarely hear anything.
A big noisy RackMount server was out of the question.
@jkalland said:
also worth noting is that the networking hardware is of supreme importance if you do anything that isn’t all contained in a single machine (like running PMP on the same machine as PMS). Do NOT use a router/switch that was “a great buy” at WalMart. ever.
If your router costs less than your Plex client, you’re doing it wrong.
With the exception of an HTPC or really expensive mobile device…yes. (says the guy with a Roku hooked up to a ProCurve switch)
Long ago I remember seeing Plex for iOS on an interview he did with loads of movies and thought wow his setup must be pretty high end! If someone worth over $500 million is using Plex, then I would say you guys are doing something right!
