At the risk of sounding cliche, I am new and apologises if this has been answered. I have looked but had trouble finding the answers. I will put as much info as possible to try and help explain my current lack of understanding.
Background
My first foray into the Media Streaming was via XBMC and then Kodi. I was introduced to these on the Raspberry Pi and enjoyed the ability to host a MySQL DB on my NAS and the configurations available to Kodi. During my initial investigations I heard of Plex but never ventured outside what I had.
When I got my PS4 I wanted to reduce the items on my TV and maybe centralise the usage. With the Plex App on the PS4, I thought I was on a winner.
Setup
**Plex Server : Synology NAS (DS413)
*** Plex Clients: Samsung Television (1st Gen Smart TV)| Playstation 4 | iMac (x2) - Plex Theatre | Rasplex - WIP
Question
My question is around Transcoding.
I know my NAS is not a powerful device, so on the fly transcoding would not be an option. To be honest, I don’t even want to transcode etc if I don’t have too. However I don’t understand why when i try to play a file via different methods, some say I need to transcode and others I do not when accessing the same file.
_Example _
Video.mkv
Playstation 4: Error Message :The Server is not powerful enough to covert the video
Samsung TV: Does not play, just black screen and then goes back to menu - Item marked as watched
Plex Theatre: Plays without issue
So my question is if the server is not powerful enough to convert the file, why does it play via Plex Theatre?
I never had to covert any file when I was using Kodi. Is there a way I can remove the transcoding for Plex?
Some background will help you understand what’s happening.
Each device (server and client) has a processor and memory
Some client devices have the ability to decode media files shared by plex (the iMac and PS4 should be great at this).
If the client doesn’t have the ability to decode the media files, then Plex steps in and converts the media WHILE it’s being streamed. This is where your issue lies, the synology is underpowered. It cannot convert quickly enough to send a high quality stream to the client.
So, whenever you want to stream something from the Synology to a device, Plex makes a decision. Does the device where the video will be shown need Plex to convert the media, or can that device decode and show the media.
Assuming you don’t want to invest in a more powerful server, I think you have a few options:
Reduce the need for Synology to convert the media. Use Handbrake to convert the files to something like MP4 files. I’d also lower the file from 1080p quality to perhaps 720p or lower still if you have issues (look at the handbrake help for guides on this)
Change plex settings. Look at Settings | Server | Transcoder. Play with “Transcoder quality” settings, and try ticking the “Prioritise streaming transcodes” to see if they help.
THanks for the response
I do understand the NAS is not the most powerful on the market. I am comfortable with that.
with your explaination that the Client can do the conversion if / when required makes some sense. However the issue as to why the PS4 will not perform the conversion is what is now a confusing issue.
Is there an additional componet or plugin I need to make the PS4 perform the conversions?
I checked last night if my Plex on the PS4 was at the latest version.
There were no updates availalble and through the playstation store it was installed.
So any other ideas on why the PS4 would not perform the conversions. As stated the PS4 should be well and truely powerful enough to do the conversions (as is the iMac).
Need to know more info about the video you are trying to stream.
The PS4 needs to Direct Stream mkv files, but it also has to do with other things.
Do you have Direct Streaming turned on or off in the PS4 app? (Sorry, never owned a PS4 so do not know where to tell you to look other than settings.)
It makes sense that the iMac play everything, and your Samsung does the least/performs the worst. I believe Kodi could do it because they were transcoding everything it had to in the client, Plex Clients don’t do that. Makes for a better Server/Client system. Your Raspberry Pi should be able to do most everything with RasPlex, you can read about it here: https://forums.plex.tv/categories/rasplex
