Plex HTPC feedback

Plex Players Desktop Players
791

Indeed, we can certainly agree to disagree, however…

I am not sure how you can consider this as a real scenario?

The Plex product, being the kind of product that displays video streams, for the most part, simply cannot be used or tested without a display. That is literally impossible!

That would be like amplifier developers testing their equipment without speakers!

Anyways… I have highlighted the technical reasons why display size and type is irrelevant, and cannot think of anything more that needs to be said.

:+1: :smiley:

792

All is good, it is meant in kind conversation not angry dispute.

Agree, i would hope that plex does test with a display, but that was the point of the question so to speak, as i didn’t want to assume, but just to understand.

Plex HTPC render processing for myself does vary for each of my display types, BenQ V7050 w/100" , Sony Z9J 85" , Sony A80J 77". In comparison madvr is the same for each of the 3.

1 Like
793

Ah, OK… Now I understand the reasoning behind the question, if Plex displays differently on each of your displays :smiley:

In that case, can I ask… Is the variation wildly different on each, or just a little?

And BTW… That’s some damn big TV’s you have! And this years models as well!

Currently have the Sony 65" X95H from last year… Absolutely love it… Couldn’t get any bigger as my seated position is only 7 foot away, and it only just fits between my 2 front speakers anyway!

Been contemplating if the move to this years X95J would be worth it or not…

794

Assuming you are talking about brightness/color, it sounds like your displays are out of calibration or your computer is mangling the pixels coming from the app before output to the HDMI. The app doesn’t change the pixel output to the window if you have one display connected or another; it’s identical no matter what kind of display you have.

795

When we went for 65" to 85" for the first week or so it was like wow…but after that it just feels right!!

The 95H is very good, and I did look at the X95J in detail compared to the Z9J, as i really do like the X95J. the only reason i went with the Z9J was for the pixel density.

i did find that the image processing with the 2 side by side via ub9000, was night and day to my eyes. but is it worth the cost difference, no not at all.
Many asked why not the 83" A90j instead of the A80J 77, i actually wasn’t in the market for the A80J, it was originally the Z9J vs X95J vs A90J, and i like the 8k panel the best for movies, small compromise in “perfect” black, but the 8k over the 4k was easy decision.

i only got the A80J due the prices, $3k retail and then another $800 for discounts and credits, so it was a good deal.

I am not really a big fan of projectors, but i really wanted to get the UST, as i like the viewing experiences of not seeing the traditional projections lights overhead. and i think in the coming years it might have a big market base, as the UST is pretty good.

But for me the Z9J is the best of the 3, I just felt that once you start to hit the 70"+ range, 8k does start to make a difference with the pixel density.

ok, is the difference a lot or a little,

Plex Htpc doesn’t render good on the UST, Madvr and the UB9000 are hands down better for image processing for all content, and i was amazed at how good the UST looks.

On the Z9J and the A80J, there is fair amount of difference in image processing of Plex htpc between the 2 units in regards to 2k SDR, the Z9J looks ok but a touch soft, the A80J looks pretty bad, but compared to Madvr, there is no comparison madvr image processing is sharp and gradation is very good, and no dropped frames on either units. For any HDR, Madvr does look better, then Plex htpc, but i normally use the ub9000 for hdr playback, as i feel it does the best overall. I don’t have the Madvr Envy as i hear it is great and better then the ub9000, but can’t say myself.

If you see a good price for the X95J, you might like it. it is a little better then the X95H, but not much from what i can remember.

1 Like
796

ok, thaks for the reply. the Z9j and A80j are both calibrated, the V7050 is not. But they all do look good with madvr on the same htpc or nuc that we test plex htpc (each display has it’s own pc), the ub9000 may not be a fair comparison, so i will look past that point of view.

I think that the root cause is mpv image processing, that is one of the reason at least for now i still use a different htpc UI option. but continue to hope to make plex the main UI for the home theater in the future.

797

I told you that the pixels coming out of the app are identical no matter which display you are using (assuming the obvious that the same app settings are in use). I told you places where the differences could be coming from but instead you are just intent on blaming MPV for everything (of which I can’t recall one instance where the blame is properly assigned). Your insistence on repeatedly doing this doesn’t help in making people want to help you.

1 Like
798

Understandable and nothing shared is meant with hostility, just conversation, no disagreement that when i read your noted post, I understand you are working on fixing the stutter as the post was noted, and when I was asking what type of display you tested on ,I was wrongfully assuming you did that step in the process. my error. i was just asking to understand.

Correct, based on the feedback there is no reason for me to believe the pixels come out of the app differently.

There is nothing wrong if you or others like what you see, I respect that, completely and equal respect both ways. but on my 85" Z9J , plex htpc or mpv which ever we want to refer to, at this moment in time doesn’t meet my expectation for home theater or main room viewing. it doesn’t perform as well for image processing, i.e chroma, gradation, spectacular highlights, sharpness, etc. compared to other htpc playback options.

We are plex users, and we do enjoy plex as our front end, Roku, Shield, Android TV, ATV, FTV, Xbox, they may all have little quirks for each platform, but it is the main thing we use 95% of the time for all normal viewing. so we do also want to use it in our home theater, and we are hopeful that one day it will be there. it is just not there yet for me on my 85" display.

799

Our main HTPC plays direct to our ‘humble’ QN800A (85")

Probably not in the class of panel the other person mentions but Plex HTPC is identical output in terms of quality from every other media player software I’ve scrambled together in the past few weeks just to test.

Had a local calibrator around yesterday to check the panel and he remarked how good the quality was from Plex HTPC

Our HTPC isn’t anything special - an ageing Ryzen 2700x via an older model mid level Denon.

Mind you, I’ve only bothered with 4k content and dabbled with HDR only.

Humble needs for now.

800

Nothing wrong with a QN800A, those mini leds look great!! I am sure you like your panel as much as i like mine, they are both great.

801

Hi Guys , wondering if anyone has a solution … my Plex htpc works wonderfully with dts-hd ma , trueHD , etc

The trouble is when my amp is turned off and Plex htpc was still running it resets the hdmi type setting to basic and breaks pass thru (reverts to pcm) until such time as I notice it and go back into settings to enable all the advanced codec tick boxes again - changing it away from the simple mode

Is there a way to force this , stopping it going into simple mode ?

Cheers

802

This happens both in Plex HTPC and in PMP.

I’m not entirely sure I would consider this a bug, because once the Amp is off, if the Plex software is still running it may be regularly checking the status of the HDMI connection and once it notices that something has changed, reverts back to the default settings.

I’ve even seen this happen when I plug my HDMI lead into the other socket on my graphics card.

As far as I’m concerned, when I’m done using Plex, I always exit the app anyway so doesn’t really pose a problem for me.

803

Yeah I can certainly agree with the logic here. It’s a similar idea to 1080p TV’s starting to look a little rough once they start getting bigger, and 4K starts to make a real difference.

There simply is a point where size and resolution matters. It’s just physics! :+1:

1 Like
804

Yeah it’s not a bug , I know why it’s happening , just hoping
For a way to lock it - or not , no biggy.

Wife, kids , busy lives - sometimes the amp gets shut off while the pc still running for whatever reason

No one cares except me when I notice PCM displayed on the receiver screen instead of beloved dts hd Ma (actually I often hear the difference too before looking at the amp)

1 Like
806

Not sure if this may help, but to share a few years ago with handshake issues on htpc, i used dr hdmi (better option) and monitor detect killer (low cost option) to aide in windows and avr or display issues.

Not sure if it would work the in the same manner to help with your topic, but just to share for you to review to see if it is of any help.

1 Like
807

Ah OK… I can certainly see how that can happen with a household full of people.

Oh the difference is certainly noticeable for sure :+1:

1 Like
808

So here’s a curiosity… I installed 1.6.1 the day it was released, and it still had the same UI, but today when I launched HTPC I was prompted if I wanted to “try the new Modern UI”.

So has @Plex initiated something at their end to trigger this in the last day or so? @gbooker02 ?

809

Yep, see about 10-15 posts up. It was mentioned the option for the new UI was enabled.

1 Like
810

Huh! Somehow I missed that post! lol

811

@gbooker02 Just been testing out the modern layout and looks so much better!

In fact the only thing stopping me from making this the default HTPC app instead of Kodi is channel and guide navigation using my remote/keyboard.

From my testing it seems there is no way to go up or down channels when viewing DVR Live TV or to navigate the guide/jump to a channel number or am I wrong?

Is there a list of the keyboard shortcuts used so I can map my remote to work with it correctly?

1 Like