On whether I should move Plex to a dedicated server to support transcoding

Plex Media Server
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Server Version#: 1.32.2.7100
Player Version#: 8.19.1

Hi folks,

I currently run Plex on my Synology DS920+ with a Celeron J4125 (quad core, 2 GHz). I primarily stream anime that I have ripped from Blu-ray, so transcoding is required to support subtitles. I have re-encoded the videos after ripping so movies are 4-6 GB in size.

I stream locally at original quality and do not have any issues, even with subtitles on. I don’t expect to have any issue when streaming remotely, as I have a symmetrical gigabit connection at home and I feel like a 50-100 Mbps download speed on the client side should be more than sufficient to not pause to buffer.

When I went abroad recently, I tried to stream a movie from my server but I could not get it to stop pausing to buffer unless I turned the quality way down (720p). I tried to download the movie, but it ended up taking a couple hours at least to complete. I don’t recall the speed of the connection there, but I do recall it seeming like it should be good enough to at least do 1080p transcoded streaming.

I only ever stream locally on Apple TV, and I was using the iOS app when I was having trouble. I do have trouble downloading content on my iPad, even when I’m on the local network. It takes forever. I’m not sure whether the performance is dependent on the type of client used.

I was thinking of moving Plex to another machine with more powerful hardware, and getting the media files from the NAS over the network. However, I don’t want to do the work for that unless it has a good chance of actually helping.

I think local streaming being fine might be an indication that my problem isn’t due to lack of power but rather lack of bandwidth on the other end, but I’m not sure.

So here are my questions: does this sound more like a transcoding issue or a slow connection issue? Is downloading really slow because of transcoding? Is moving the service to new hardware worth the effort?

Is there anything else I should check to help figure out the answers?

Thanks!

2

It sounds more like a slow connection issue…BUT there has been some issues with hardware transcoding with the J4125

See this thread

Two things to check. Verify that your server is properly configured for remote streaming. If you have a relay or indirect connection you are limited to 720p 2mbps stream with a Plex pass

On each client there is a quality setting you can also adjust. 2-4mbps is usually the default for remote streams. You need to switch that to Original or maximum

Your NAS is not the problem, unless it’s related to the bug in the thread I linked

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For DS920+ I would roll back to 1.32.1.6999 first, your NAS should be able to play those files without issue. But like mentioned above, there’s an issue with hardware transcoding on any version above 1.32.1.6999 for certain Intel CPUs which I know the DS920+ is affected by because I have one. See below thread:

https://forums.plex.tv/t/1-32-2-7002

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Verify that your server is properly configured for remote streaming. If you have a relay or indirect connection you are limited to 720p 2mbps stream with a Plex pass

I assume you mean without a Plex Pass, though I do have one. I have direct streaming set up correctly, and either way while I was in Japan I was streaming via my home VPN.

On each client there is a quality setting you can also adjust. 2-4mbps is usually the default for remote streams. You need to switch that to Original or maximum

Already set to original quality, always. I think it makes less difference on subtitled anime, though, since transcoding is required for subtitles as it burns them in on the fly.

Thanks for the reply!

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I’ll do some research and maybe give this a try, thanks!

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It’s hard to tell if downgrading actually worked, but it does seem to be performing better as far as I can tell. I’ll keep an eye on that thread for updates. Thanks again!