New Plex setup

General Discussions
1

I recently purchased a 4k television (LG Oled55e7n) and I want to upgrade my Plex setup accordingly. Recent setup is an old laptop (Sandy Bridge i3) that functions as storage and with PMS installed on Ubuntu 16.04. However, in combination with a Plex client app on the tv the current setup is insufficient to play every 4k file.

Requirements of new setup:

  1. play 4k on television;
  2. transcoding same 4k file to tablet;
  3. not needing to manually convert 4k files / subtitles;
  4. a home server, a device that is always on and is reachable from outside the home network.

So far I am thinking of generally two types of setups:
(i) a NAS (e.g. Synology DS718+) and a “player” connected with hdmi to the tv (e.g. Nvidia Shield);
(ii) one device that is capable of everything (e.g. Intel NUC).

Setup (i) seems the make the most sense to me and should offer a better out-of-box experience taken into account all the available apps on the Synology and Shield.

Although with setup (i) I am not quite sure how I should install Plex. In my view the NAS is always on; the Shield is only switched on when watching tv.

For instance, if PMS is installed on the NAS and Plex Client on the Nvidia Shield, is it possible to avoid transcoding at any time with any subtitle whatsoever?
If not, is it possible to install PMS on both the NAS and the Shield, and what would be the consequences of having two servers?

Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated.

2

Solution: stop playing 4k files. At 55" the optimal viewing distance for a 4k tv is 2.5’. And, if you sit much more than 5 feet away the human eye is not be able to distinguish between 1080p and 4k.

So … stick with 1080p and don’t worry about it.

I just saved you from wasting even more money!

3

You have a source for that?

5

This one isn’t the same chart I saw (it was on cnet, couldn’t find it again) … scroll down a ways. It says something like 3.2’ is ideal.

There’s a ton about it on the web, they’re all a little different but close enough to basically make the same point (4K is mostly pointless).

edit oh, and that link description is referring to 1080p distance, not 4K…

6

I must be missing something here.
You state initially 2.5’ and give your source and yet even without opening that link it says 7’?

1 Like
8

I’m probably biased because of my love of HDR. :grin:
That said HDR aside, my Samsung UHD had a negligible difference.
It feels more apparent on my LG OLED.
And I do mean feels… rather than definitely is. :wink:

9

With respect to the discussion re 1080p vs 4k I have made up my mind and do not want to settle for inferior quality. Playing 4k is in my opinion very affordable considering the price of an Nvidia Shield.

1 Like
10

If I understand you correctly transcoding 4k files will always be an issue, no matter the passmark score of the processor where PMS is installed. In that case I should probably forget about using the same 4k files for viewing on my tablet.

Thanks for your suggestion of the 4 bay model. I am not sure yet whether I will go for RAID 1; important files will be backed up online anyway.

In the setup you are suggesting the i7 NUC is connected with HDMI to the TV and it serves as the Plex server and client. Why would you prefer this setup over the Nvidia Shield? Merely because of the transcoding abilities of the NUC?

In your alternative setup, is it possible that the DS418play and the Shield are both configured as PMS and that the DS418play is used to transcode to a tablet and that the Shield is used to play 4k files directly (without transcoding)?

12

I have 2 4k TV’s (65" and 55"), 3 shields, a Skull NUC (i7), a Qnap TVS-1282 NAS and a Synology 1817+.
The NUC, the shields and both the NAS have been used as servers.
The Shields, Fire TV, Rokus, Xbox’s, Apple ATV4 and smart TV’s have all been used as clients.
So I have used or am using everything the OP and other posts suggested here !

I say 4k is overated!

13

The fact that transcoding every 4k file to a tablet will still not function properly on a powerful and expensive NUC, convinces my into buying the Shield.

4k playback on my TV has my priority. I think I am gonna give up on the idea that I will have a smooth Plex experience on the tablet with the 4k files.

With respect to the NAS I have not made up my mind yet which RAID I will use, but in any case I will get a Synology model whereby Plex hardware acceleration is supported. In that case both the Shield and the Synology could transcode - some but not all of - the 4k files.

Thanks for your help!

14

no, 7’ is in reference to 1080p

15

What bitrate are your 4k files? (using h.264?) 45Mbps? You could knock them down a touch (35-40Mbps might not look terrible) and see if you can reach an acceptable sweet spot for transcoding to your tablets/watching on a tv.

16

I will add to my 4k is overrated by saying it is far from simple to get it to work.

So please make sure you come back here with you success story - or not.

And I promise i won’t say I told you so - :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

The new board gives you 3 month or the post is closed

17

Well I was tempted to say there’s nothing difficult about pressing play.
However I then quickly realised you probably meant in any official Plex Client…So yeah I totally agree.

18

Just to give you guys an update.

Current setup:

  • LG Oled55e7n;
  • Synology NAS DS218+;
  • Nvidia Shield.

Shield is installed as server. 4k playback on tv is great. It plays everything you throw at it.

4k transcoding to iPhone 8 on Wifi is smooth as well. 4k transcoding to an old iPad is not working however, no matter which (streaming) settings I try.

Thanks for all your help (although the 1080p vs 2160p discussion was a bit much ;)).

MF

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