I have the DS216+ with the latest DSM and latest Plex installed. I have the same buffering problem previously mentioned with HDHomeRun off the air MPEG2 to a ROku: I have a PlexPass and the Plex status shows hw transcoding. The spec on the DS216+ and the Plex NAS compatibility shows it should work. I have no network buffering as everything is hardwired. Any ideas other than replace the HDHomerun with the Extend version?
Thanks for the reply. Why wouldn’t the HDHomeRun Extend solve the problem? Then no transcoding at all would be required with the Roku client? I also have a FireStick which decodes directly MPEG 1080i and it appears to work fine with PMS on the Synology.
There shouldn’t be any transcoding occuring, the UNO release added mpeg 2 decode support and as long as this is newer than 2XS then it should work. CC was fixed around 1.15.4
The Extend transcodes mpeg2 to h.264 on the fly so live or dvr will be native to the Plex client but really shouldn’t be needed.
Thanks again for the quick reply. Yes, but the DS216+ has hardware transcoding which, according to Synology: “Synology DiskStation DS216+ features real-time H.264 1-channel 4K Ultra HD or 3-channel Full HD2 video transcoding” S upported codec: H.264 (AVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30. AND according to the PLEX NAS support sheet, it supports up to 1080p.
If that’s the case, why does Plex status show HW transcoding and low cpu usage when using 1080i files? Server log shows HW and speed=0.7 which suggests transcoder is not keeping up.
Interesting observations using a recorded TV file:
- Using the Synology Video Station app and DS viewer on the Roku has no buffering and occasional noticeable pixelation. Initial buffer time is about 10 sec. This demonstrates the hardware is capable of 1080i transcoding.
- Using the Roku media player with the Plex server has significant buffering. Initial buffer time is about 20 sec. eventually will stop playing
- Using the Roku Plex app results in significant buffering and eventual playback error that the server was not powerful enough.
These results using a Roku 3800X streaming stick and the Plex status showing 1080i(MPEG2VIDEO)(hw) to 1080p(H264) - Transcode (hw) Similar results with a Roku 4200X hardwired.
On a separate note, the Plex status screen shows bandwidth, but nothing on CPU or RAM usage.
I will try a HDHomeRun Extend as it looks like it always transcodes to H264. Unfortunately Silicon Dust does not have a Roku app yet and I have a lifetime PlexPass.
Several years ago I used a SimpleTV box with great results.
Looks like Roku still does not officially support MPEG2 although a lot of commentary on the forums indicate the later models will. I’m gonna try a HDHomeRun Extend with the Plex DVR/live TV. I understand it can be set to output only H264. Unfortunately Silicon Dust does not have a Roku app.
I used to have a SimpleTV box which worked fine. Unfortunately they went out of business and no one has a tv guide that supported it.
For the price of an Extend you could buy an Ultra or a couple of Primiers which do play mpeg 2.
Can’t help but think you have something else going on like forced subtitles or something.
I need to jump in on this because i am going nuts trying to figure out why transcode health (speed) is at 0.7 or less rarely getting above 1.
Antenna: DS8e 78-91% signal strength depending on channel
HDHomerun Extend: Set to Heavy
PMS Version 1.15.8.1198
NAS: DS918+ Intel Celeron J3455 (2122 passmark), 4x3TB SHR2, 500GB SSD cache in slot 1
Roku Ultra
Plex Player client
Essentially I am trying to get the best of everything - watching a fuzzy/dull picture on an HD TV is not acceptable. The issue comes down to the transcode health for Live TV and DVR - that’s where my journey is spinning in circles. I have read a lot of other posts in this forum and now the rest of the hair comes out. It really doesn’t seem to matter what I set the HDHR-E at (really only 3 choices) the rest comes down to Plex, DS918+, and Roku.
Plex for whatever reason is constantly transcoding Live TV - DVR audio from 5.1 to Stereo and I get very few Live streams without buffering. However, when I set the PMP client to force Direct Play, I lose the ability to FF and REW. - Round and Round we go. I even read Ultramookie 2016-12-20 making HDHR work my way. Not getting another HDHR-E unless that is the only way.
I hope posting my issue on Brananbi’s post will help. Thoughts and ideas are welcome. But, as far as dedicating a PC… not any time soon.
So I bought a HDHomerun extend. Set the transcode default to “None” and the quality in Plex server to “Highest Quality” . Now I can watch live TV without buffering and the Plex server (on the Synology DS216+) does not transcode. It shows 1080i H.264 in and out. And seems to work OK with two different channels on two different ROKU boxes. Also, same channel on two ROKU boxes works OK. Interesting the HD Extend always shows the destination as the Plex server IP.
Tried to record some TV shows and for some unexplained reason the Plex lost its write permissions in the Synology for TV shows. Fixed that. Will record some shows tonite and see what happens tomorrow. I note that while recording, TV shows do not show up in the library, but can be viewed from the beginning when accessed from the guide.
Timeshifting(FF while recording or pause live and ff) is not working, hasn’t worked for over a year.
Roku OS 9.1 and Plex 6.36
On my Ultra to direct play mpeg2 my settings are,
Local quality should be: Original
Remote quality: Original
264 mode auto
Mpeg2 checked
Audio HDMI Auto (Let the TV tell Plex what it understands and convert to Stereo)
Allow insecure connections when local
Subtitles (on my user profile) are set to off
Plex captures the stream from the HDHR and written to disk on the server, .Grab if it is a recording, Session if it is live. It then starts another session to stream to the client. When you set the Extend to compress it converts mpeg2 to h.264 when it streams to the server. Since the default of all Plex clients is h.264 there should be no further conversion. What could be happening is that the Roku is not detecting the server as being on the local network and instead as remote which would fall under different settings, restricting bandwidth and forcing a transcode.
Buffer on Rokus aren’t that large, once it’s filled the transcoder throttles to average of .7, obviously there shouldn’t be any transcoding.
Since there is a Beta HDHomerun app I took a look at it over the weekend. While the video worked, there was no combination of settings that could get audio to work between my TV and Roku Ultra.
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