Plex HTPC feedback

Plex Players Desktop Players
731

Great to see a new HTPC relevant app in development, maybe I can start to think about ditching my complicated emby - NextPVR - Kodi setup and return to Plex again!

First impressions are good, great to see a proper guide and I am not experiencing any stuttering whilst watching HD content, and this is on an old Core Duo Win 10 machine.
Like others have said there is far too much grey in use around the UI, from the backgrounds to wasted space in the pop-ups and menu area. Really hope to see more use of TV art in the backgrounds or a way to customise accent colours or backgrounds. Kodi is the gold standard for how to display a good looking menu, would be great if we can add some more pleasing effects and transitions to the UI.

The photo screensaver could do with more work, need the option to disable the file name being shown (I’m sure not many people rename every single photo in the collection, and who wants to see “DSC-0022345” across their photos?) Better still an option to read the date taken tag which would be more relevant and reliable info. Some pan-and-scan effects would not go amiss as well.

As mentioned elsewhere the lack of being able to set a recording from the guide or whilst watching a program is a big missing feature but I believe you are working on that?

Will you also be adding other Plex features such as Arcade to the app in time? Being a HTPC targeted app it’s the ideal platform to also host the feature.

1 Like
732

I like how it looks but I miss having a skip ads button like on the nvidia plex app. Are there plans to add that in eventually?

733

Agree it is nice to see work towards HTPC crowd, just wish that external player was an option, as it would resolve all issues is have, and give us the UI of plex with great picture quality, which i just don’t see mpv being able to give us, at least as of today. just too many dropped frames and lack luster renderings. but always hopeful for the future.

734

We believe we’ve identified the issue and a fix will be in the next release.

4 Likes
735

Just wanted to follow-up on the stutter issues in HTPC.

I followed the advice of @gbooker02 and disabled the refresh rate matching in HTPC 1.5.1.
No more stuttering/dropped frames and playback feels smooth.

Besides no longer having 24p frame matching, another drawback is that my GPU is taxed even more than with refresh matching enabled.
Using the same TV Show sample as before, CPU load is 22% and GPU 65% with refresh matching disabled compared to CPU 22% and GPU 44% with refresh matching enabled.

The same sample in PMP gives CPU 12% and GPU 24% with refresh matching enabled.
That is a considerable improved performance with the old player.

I can provide more logs if Plex staff is interested.

736

@gbooker02 - Could you please update the download links at the top of the topic, as there is no download link for 1.5.1 and it still states 1.4.1 is the latest.

Thanks…

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737

Click the first link that starts with the third word in post #1.

738

This is currently possible using “plex for kodi” and having kodi setup to use an external player which runs madVR.

739

Yes, external player support is what’s needed here. I’m also a bit bummed this isn’t an option.

3 Likes
740

Just wish we had the current plex ui, i use kodi & plex currently with external player, but the user interface is jut not as savy and streamlined as the common plex interface, and the wife doesn’t like because it is not the same as the roku and shield…lol.

741

I remember back in the old days it was an option, maybe plex will poll htpc users and see how many would like to have it added back as an option.

1 Like
742

Man, I love it, runs smoothly, keyboard is all the way to go to control :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
I miss some news, i’d no idea that was a new htpc player.

Nothing else to add for now. Txs a lot.

743

Just to take a few quick poll(s)

  1. What is the main reason you use Plex HTPC, not to be confused with Plex Windows App or Plex Web App. Specifically the main viewing method of Plex HTPC.?
  2. And what are the import features you are looking to get from Plex HTPC

This is not meant to say you don’t also use other methods to use Plex , like Roku, Shield, FTV or ATV etc,

Plex HTPC Viewing Usage (select one)
  • Dedicated Home Theater viewing
  • Living or Main Room viewing
  • Computer or Laptop viewing

0 voters

Scale for below poll(s),
1 - Not important
2 - Neutral
3 - Very Important

Importance of Video Quality i.e; (Rendering, Scaling, Chroma, Detail, Dropped frames, Color accuracy, etc)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

0 voters

Importance of Audio Quality i.e; (Lossless Video Audio, Pure 24/96 or higher Music tracks, etc)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

0 voters

User interface i.e; (Navigation, Remote control integration, subtitles, seamless playback, etc. )
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

0 voters

Importance of performance i.e; (CPU & GPU usage)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

0 voters

Importance to Mirror other playback options i.e; (Work with same options as Roku, Shield, ATV, FTV, etc)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

0 voters

744

I appreciate every taking time to vote (21 at this time), I think the general feedback is consistent on what everyone is looking for from Plex HTPC. my wife asked why list computer or laptop as an option, I said that I am pretty sure there are some using it that way. but for this post we will look at just the main viewing.

I do consider Dedicated Home Theater and Living or Main Room to be the same basic usage,

Here are my thoughts,

#1 Video quality for playback is the most important need. Really, we all love our HTPC because it gives us incredible video quality, but too many front end and different options to try and make a sleek user interface and navigation. So in short, we just want the Plex UI and sleek libraries, but no steps backwards from our current htpc media player video quality?

#2 The User interface for navigation and integration of items like the remote controls, make perfect sense, this is where other front ends may fall short, but we can use our own media player configuration.

#3 - 4 Audio really depends on the individual setup as well ( if you do video and audio with separate HDMI) and then the content, for most bitstream is the standard and should never be an issue, but I didn’t want to exclude strictly music users, (as i sometimes listen to music in the home theater).

#3- 4 CPU & GPU usage, fair to say we don’t want to waste resources, but admit some users may also double the HTPC as the plex server (as I do). and others might use a NUC and look for good baselines.

#5 - Standard options like apps for Roku, Shield, FTV or ATV, I agree we may not really need the fully package of options that we get on other devices (Arcade , tidal, photos, etc.) as this is not meant to replace those devices, but improve the home theater experience.

What this reminds me of, is the use of Netflix and Amazon on the Panasonic ub9000, the video processing of most streaming devices is not great in comparison to higher end devices like ub9000 or htpc, but their is a gap in user interface that most user have come to enjoy with plex.

So I don’t know if plex is willing, I would like the option for all of us to test this interface with our current external player.

745

Does this have plex arcade support?

746

I know I’m reaching back a long ways, but I used OpenPHT until yesterday when it stopped working and now switched over here.

The one major feature that I’m missing is being able to type in the time stamp and hit enter to go there while playing. For example you could type 1430 and it would go to 14:30. It was even smart enough that if you typed in 999 it would go to 10:39.

Any thought on getting that added back in?

1 Like
747

Hoping the stuttering gets improved in the next version(s). Turning off hardware decoding and refresh rate matching helps a little on my system but then CPU load is through the roof.

That and the unfinished Live TV / Guide features which have not been implemented yet (Missing artwork and show info, being able to set a recording from the guide/in-progress show, mini guide overlay, quick channel change etc) are the only things stopping me from using it as my main TV player.

I hope the plans are to get it out of BETA status more by Christmas, although I know we wont get a firm commitment on that!

748

I agree, i hope new versions bring something better for everyone, but for now i will keep with my other gui and use my external player (madvr) and keep testing the new releases as they come out to see if there is any improvements for picture quality.

749

I seem to have issues with playback on MacOS Big Sur (latest version) with Plex HTPC (v. 1.5.1 and even 1.4.1) with the latest PMS version (on the same host) that it does not always start the video playback. I have to fastforward for 10 seconds so it’ll run and then I can rewind to 0:00 to see the movie or series. Doesn’t do it always but most of the time.

Never had these issues previously, there is a workaround (as told, fastforward and rewind) but I thought it would be best to give some feedback here.

750

I came to the forums this morning looking for any news or updates to the old PMP 10 foot player. Since there was nothing new I was on the verge of creating a post for a plea to get the devs to give a facelift for it.

I stumbled onto this post by chance. How was it that I haven’t seen any notifications or advertisement for this!

Downloaded and installed to my old NUC and instantly fell in love with it. Works like I wanted an HTPC media player to work meaning play video files, does music too!

Kudos to devs for creating this!