OK so I am new to all this and so confused. We have a ton of pictures, lots of digital music and also a good number of DVD’s and Blue-rays.
I want to set up a NAS and also a Plex server but have so many questions.
Currently I live full time in an RV and have an older Panasonic TV which I want to replace. Not sure what I will get but assume it will be one of the new smart TV’s but will be somewhere between a 40 and 50 inch to fit in the space I have.
I want to set up a NAS with Raid to protect my files better and also want to digitize my DVD’s and run Plex. The question is which NAS to get.
I have been looking at Synology DS918+ and also the QNAP TVS-471 but am also open to other options.
So some questions -
How important is 4K transcode?
Is the QNAP really worth the additional cost? (basically about $400 more)
Will the 918+ do hardware transcode?
What is the best format to rip my videos into?
About how much space will a standard movie take?
Thanks in advance - I really appreciate any and all help
-Bill
The big difference here is the i3 versus the Celeron from a CPU perspective. This is a plus for general processing.
The DS-918 has the ApolloLake GPU and can handle 4K transcoding whereas the i3 CPU’s GPU can only do 1080p.
To answer “How important is 4K transcoding?” the answer lies with “How much 4K content do you have and can it play directly on all your devices (4K TV/players)?”
Perhaps a better option for you, equivalent to the DS-918+ is the QNAP TS-453Be. Now you are comparing apples and apples.
Hi Feducu, i am glad it worked lol. There are so many different solution to this, some work some do not. I think the Plex employee try their best. It would be nice if there was a knowledge article somewhere for specified issues. But yah i am happy it works. Let me know if you need anything else
The QNAP version of the x18+ family would be the TS-x53Be family. So in this case, the comparable QNAP to the 918+ would be the TS-453Be.
I would not look at the x71 line from QNAP as that is basically EOL’d.
In terms of a step up model, you might want to look at QNAP’s new TVS-951x. It gives you better Plex transcoding capability (newer Intel CPU/GPU) in 4k (4k HDR@60) and a little more expansion.
In terms of 4k transcode importance, it really depends on how you plan to upgrade your TV. More and more sets are coming 4k, and HDR is become more common. But in the end, it boils down to what content are you using as your source. OTA HD is 720p/1080i, BluRay’s are 1080p.
SO unless you plan on getting a UHD Blue-Ray player/gaming system AND a beefy PC to rip them, 4k probably isn’t as much of a concern at least in the short-term.
What do you plan to do the DVD/Blue-Ray ripping on? As for formats, partly depends on the NAS you get, but most common are h.264 & HEVC (h.265), but not all NAS support HW transcode for H.265 yet.
