How many simultaneous live streams can plex handle on a single channel? For example, HDHomeRun Extend, can 10 different people watch the same channel?
I’m not sure if plex must transcode this stream (mpeg2 or h264) or not, but lets assume that all devices want to watch the same quality of stream.
There are several variables. But this is likely not limited by plex, but by the resources of your server. My suggestion would be to try it out with as many clients as you can and see what happens.
mavrrick, I haven’t purchased a tuner yet. This is one of the factors that will determine if I do.
If it’s a transcode per TV stream, then it’s going to be pretty limited… If on the other hand one transcode can be sent to a bunch of devices, then not so bad.
Transcoding is done on a device basis. This is because not all devices have the same ability. Also not all tuners have the same ability. Like the experience with streaming with a hd homerun extend with hardware encoding to mp4/h.264 video may have less needed conversions then a stream in .ts/mpeg2 video on other tuners. I would still suggest you attempt it yourself. I will see what numbers I can come with tomorrow. I am using a dual tuner HVR-2250 from Hauppauge.
My point was there are allot of factors though so getting a set answer may be very hard.
@syadnom said:
If it’s a transcode per TV stream, then it’s going to be pretty limited… If on the other hand one transcode can be sent to a bunch of devices, then not so bad.
I have an HD HomeRun Prime. It has 3 tuners. If two devices are both watching CNN live, it will use one tuner. If one of the devices switches to a different live channel it will use a second tuner. Transcoding sessions are per device so if two devices are watching CNN live, while they may only be using one tuner, there would be two transcoding sessions. The number of simultaneous transcoding sessions that one Plex Media Server can support is a function of the hardware and the nature of the transcoding. It could be 1 on a NAS or a dozen on something with multiple CPUs.
So I have done some really simple testing. The simple quick answer is in my environment this morning I was able to run 3 streams. 1 was direct played to a shield TV and the other 2 were transcoded to android devices. That is just my environment though. As the previous poster said transcoding is simply a matter of the server hardware being able to push them out.
They thing to keep in mind is that transcoding adds a bunch of variables. Source resolution and bit rate of the video stream playing effect how well it will transcode. There are also impact based on the activity in the stream. Some streams with much more activity like sports may not transcode as well too. Broadcast tv can also be sent with a bit rate up to 19mbps which if used will but a hurt on allot of hardware we may think should be fine. The standard people have been preaching here for a long time is 2000 cpu pass mark score per 1080 stream. That was based on 10mbps video though. The best thing you could do is try to get gear that can direct play it. If you can manage that the number of streams should be damn near unlimited. That is why Hd homerun extends are appealing. They can be set to transcode on the fly to h.264 video.
Just to be clear what I was doing this morning. My server is a i5 2400 cpu. It has a pass mark score around 5900 I believe. The videos being converted this morning were 720p streams.
I just added a mi box to the set playing the same channel and it is direct streaming as well… so that is 4 running at the same time. So far the android TV boxes are direct streaming and the android phone/tablets are transcoding. So what your clients re could be a factor. What clients do you plan to use?
@mavrrick so just to clarify, you can direct stream 1 channel to the mi box and shield tv simultaneously without transcoding?
I’ve realized my situation is more complicated. I need a couple OTA tuners, but I also need a cable-card tuner. I have a HDHomeRun PRIME but am waiting on a cable card. As I’m reading the specs, the prime doesn’t transcode so I really have to deal with mpeg2 streams for cable card channels.
So, I’m kind of back to square 1. I need to handle 20 transcodes if it’s 1 stream per player.
20 transcodes? What is it you are trying to do?
It’s a pool room with 20 TV’s. We pay for cable TV by occupancy and have 20 set top cable boxes. it’s ugly.
There are other solutions on the market that I’m looking at, but plex would be a really cool way to handle this.
Well. You could do 20 mi boxes. They are $69 a piece. They would direct stream so then you are limited by network band with and how fast the server disk may be.
Don’t forget you can only use one channel lineup. That means either OTA only or the prime for cable card and the others for clear qam channels from cable.
I have a a feeling the bigger probnlem may be Wi-Fi bandwidth
