As you guessed when you clicked the link to read my ramble, what/how do you guys watch Plex on your big screen? When I say big screen I’m referring to a screen on the wall (or the wall itself in some cases) and a projector. Not a fancy 70" 4K TV which I’m sure looks awesome.
This is my current set up and then I’ll ask my question(s):
Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector
106" white matte screen (dedicated theater room light controlled).
Denon AVR-X3300W receiver
7.1 speaker set up in theater room.
Roku 4
Intel NUCi5 with 250gb SSD and 8gb RAM
WD MyCloud EX4400 NAS which holds all of our media.
Logitech Harmony Elite w/Smart Hub - One remote that controls everything for the family, they love it and I need to keep it easy for them.
HDHomeRun to utilize the DVR functionality
A Samsung Smart TV out in the living room and some iPads.
I’ve used MakeMKV to get our entire movie collection into MKV containers on the NAS. Some of these we have noticed work better/play smoother if I convert them to an MP4 container.
We access Plex in the theater room via the Roku Plex app/channel and for the most part this works just fine. We’ve noticed for example on Game of Thrones which I ripped with 7.1 audio will stutter after about 5 mintues and stop. If you wait long enough it might start back up only to stop again in a few seconds. When we play the same title out on our Samsung TV it never stutters and works just fine.
So now the questions:
What do you all use to get Plex on your big screens?
Would we benefit from upgrading from the Roku 4 to the Roku Ultra at all?
Would running Kodi and getting the plex app for Kodi be any better and how do I keep it easy with the Logitech Harmony remote as mentioned above?
I haven’t tried converting the Game of Thrones from MKV to MP4 yet because I know I would lose the 7.1, but am I truly getting 7.1 through the Roku 4 anyway? All 7 speakers have sound but that could be the receiver pushing the 5 through the 7 if that makes sense.
Is there a setting in the Roku or Plex that would make the two play nicer with each other?
Sorry for the long post but I know sometimes answers are easier to give if you have all the information and don’t have to assume a bunch. Thanks for any ideas/help.
I have a VPL-VW675es on a 120" Silver Ticket screen, 7.1, AVR3300, with a Roku 4 Ultra, Logitech Harmony Hub, and Amazon Echo with everything tied together using Indigo home automation software so I can control everything either with voice or iOS device. Media is on a Synology DS 415+ and the PMS runs on an iMac with a quad core i5 w/8gb of RAM. Roku is wired (as are all plex devices in the home)
For every other TV we use either a Roku 3 or Vizio native Plex app.
To answer your question, unless you have lots of 4k content, i don’t see a big difference between the Roku 3 and 4 - even when viewing on Vizio 4k TVs…so I don’t think its worth the $ upgrade.
I personally don’t think Kodi holds a candle to Plex, and while I admittedly haven’t stayed current with Kodi, i think Plex centralized library with its numerous native clients is just so easy to work with I’ll likely never change.
I have never had problems with Roku and Plex - a Roku 2 was my first non PC based client and it easily and cheaply enabled me to extend Plex through my home (and the home of many others).
with a Roku 4 Ultra, Roku is wired (as are all plex devices in the home)
3. To answer your question, unless you have lots of 4k content, i don’t see a big difference between the Roku 3 and 4 - even when viewing on Vizio 4k TVs…so I don’t think its worth the $ upgrade.
4. I personally don’t think Kodi holds a candle to Plex, and while I admittedly haven’t stayed current with Kodi, i think Plex centralized library with its numerous native clients is just so easy to work with I’ll likely never change.
Thanks for the run down. Is there a performance difference between the Roku 4 and Ultra then I wonder? Everything I can find says the Ultra is a bit more powerful than the regular 4. I wonder if this is why you don’t have any issues?
No 4K content seeing the projector won’t display it anyway so no rush in this department until the projectors come down from $8K to something more like the $1500 I paid for the 45ES.
I’m probably confused on the Kodi thing then. I thought Plex still managed my library’s and all the back end stuff and Kodi would just be the player and front end pretty stuff?
I don’t understand what you mean by Roku 4 vs Ultra - there is no ‘Roku 4’, the Ultra is one of 3 versions of the Roku 4. Others are Premier and Premier+. All three have quad core processors and support 4k at 60fps, only the Premier doesn’t support HDR.
If Kodi can directly watch from the PMS that’s news to me…maybe there is a Kodi plugin for Plex? Unsure there.
@friedflix said:
I don’t understand what you mean by Roku 4 vs Ultra - there is no ‘Roku 4’, the Ultra is one of 3 versions of the Roku 4. Others are Premier and Premier+. All three have quad core processors and support 4k at 60fps, only the Premier doesn’t support HDR.
If Kodi can directly watch from the PMS that’s news to me…maybe there is a Kodi plugin for Plex? Unsure there.
The 1st 4K supported box roku put out was called the Roku 4, they no longer make/sell it. It’s like the first gen of the 4K Roku’s, where the new ones are 2nd Gen (Premier, Premier+, Ultra).
with a Roku 4 Ultra, Roku is wired (as are all plex devices in the home)
3. To answer your question, unless you have lots of 4k content, i don’t see a big difference between the Roku 3 and 4 - even when viewing on Vizio 4k TVs…so I don’t think its worth the $ upgrade.
4. I personally don’t think Kodi holds a candle to Plex, and while I admittedly haven’t stayed current with Kodi, i think Plex centralized library with its numerous native clients is just so easy to work with I’ll likely never change.
Thanks for the run down. Is there a performance difference between the Roku 4 and Ultra then I wonder? Everything I can find says the Ultra is a bit more powerful than the regular 4. I wonder if this is why you don’t have any issues?
No 4K content seeing the projector won’t display it anyway so no rush in this department until the projectors come down from $8K to something more like the $1500 I paid for the 45ES.
I’m probably confused on the Kodi thing then. I thought Plex still managed my library’s and all the back end stuff and Kodi would just be the player and front end pretty stuff?
You should upgrade the from the Roku 4, to the ShieldTV. That way you can maximize the use of your full rips with HD Audio…
@friedflix said:
I don’t understand what you mean by Roku 4 vs Ultra - there is no ‘Roku 4’, the Ultra is one of 3 versions of the Roku 4. Others are Premier and Premier+. All three have quad core processors and support 4k at 60fps, only the Premier doesn’t support HDR.
If Kodi can directly watch from the PMS that’s news to me…maybe there is a Kodi plugin for Plex? Unsure there.
They made just a Roku 4, it’s not on their site now because it’s no longer available. See below.
Fourth generation
On October 6, 2015, Roku officially announced the release of the Roku 4. The new device has 4K video streaming capability, a remote control finder, and updated software (Roku OS 7) and hardware that includes support for Wi-Fi 802.11ac. The Roku 4 began shipping in October 2015.[21]
Fifth generation
On September 26, 2016, Roku revamped their entire streaming player line-up with 5 new models (low end Roku Express, Roku Express+; high end Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+ and Roku Ultra), while retaining the released in April new Streaming Stick #3600 as a sixth option.[22] The Roku Premiere+ and Roku Ultra will support HDR video using HDR10.[23]
I have the 4th generation or Roku 4. So I’m wondering if there is a performance difference between the 4th and 5th generation Roku’s that is the difference between you not having issues and me having issues.
It’s saying enjoy the best of both worlds, the slick interface and the power of plex media server. So I was wondering if Kodi would have an easier time playing my movies than the Plex app on Roku.
You should upgrade the from the Roku 4, to the ShieldTV. That way you can maximize the use of your full rips with HD Audio…
I’ve thought about this but if I put PMS on Shield then I would lose DVR right? And from other posts on here and AVS, people say to stick with the Intel NUCi5 over the Shield. Do you think differently? Please I’m all ears.
You should upgrade the from the Roku 4, to the ShieldTV. That way you can maximize the use of your full rips with HD Audio…
I’ve thought about this but if I put PMS on Shield then I would lose DVR right? And from other posts on here and AVS, people say to stick with the Intel NUCi5 over the Shield. Do you think differently? Please I’m all ears.
The Shield would be used to replace your Roku, the end client. You would keep running your server the way it is. The benefits with the shield is that it does native playback of all Codec’s, Dolby True-HD, DTS-HD and etc… Also the Shield can run Kodi. So you can tryout the Plex Addon for it.
The shield is probably the closest you can get to building an actual HTPC for your TV without actually building one and it has very High WAF. Also it basically requires no maintenance/tweaking (like Roku) and runs most the Apps (Netflix, hulu and etc). Which makes it superior in my opinion over a custom HTPC because it just works all the time like an appliance should.
Also the ShieldTV paired with your HDHomerun will give you a native cable experience, that Plex cannot currently provide with Plugins, which is awesome…
My advice would be to buy and see if you like it (I think you will ) If you don’t, just return it. Can’t hurt and if your not running the Plex Server on it, just get the basic Non Pro version.
Lastly, I was like you previously, had a Roku 4, upgraded to the Roku Premiere+ and then finally upgraded to the ShieldTV! I haven’t looked back since! The ShieldTV is amazing because no transcoding is ever needed… One thing to note is the Plex Interface is slightly different than the Roku clients, but I like it.
You should upgrade the from the Roku 4, to the ShieldTV. That way you can maximize the use of your full rips with HD Audio…
I’ve thought about this but if I put PMS on Shield then I would lose DVR right? And from other posts on here and AVS, people say to stick with the Intel NUCi5 over the Shield. Do you think differently? Please I’m all ears.
The Shield would be used to replace your Roku, the end client. You would keep running your server the way it is. The benefits with the shield is that it does native playback of all Codec’s, Dolby True-HD, DTS-HD and etc… Also the Shield can run Kodi. So you can tryout the Plex Addon for it.
The shield is probably the closest you can get to building an actual HTPC for your TV without actually building one and it has very High WAF. Also it basically requires no maintenance/tweaking (like Roku) and runs most the Apps (Netflix, hulu and etc). Which makes it superior in my opinion over a custom HTPC because it just works all the time like an appliance should.
Also the ShieldTV paired with your HDHomerun will give you a native cable experience, that Plex cannot currently provide with Plugins, which is awesome…
My advice would be to buy and see if you like it (I think you will ) If you don’t, just return it. Can’t hurt and if your not running the Plex Server on it, just get the basic Non Pro version.
Lastly, I was like you previously, had a Roku 4, upgraded to the Roku Premiere+ and then finally upgraded to the ShieldTV! I haven’t looked back since! The ShieldTV is amazing because no transcoding is ever needed… One thing to note is the Plex Interface is slightly different than the Roku clients, but I like it.
Got it, so do you run your server on the Shield or are you running that on something else. I never thought about keeping the NUC and running the Shield with it as an option. I thought the Shield would replace the Roku and NUC and replacing the NUC is where others squawked.
After a lot, and i mean a lot, of experimentation I have settled on a windows 10 media centre with Kodi DSplayer with the plexpass kodi addon
Benefits over any other solution
Passes all audio formats directly to my receiver ie. bitstream
Madvr video render, by far the best picture quality over any other solution
plex addon for kodi means you dont give up all the other little extras you get in a “proper” plex app such as related movies, extras, cast info, trailers etc. (This is all contingent on you having a plexpass)
can still use all the other cool kodi stuff if you want
caveats
i dont use the dvr stuff - no idea if it works at all
I used to use tvheadend and a special chanel to view live and recorded tv directly in kodi but i dont bother anymore
regarding the business of losing audio channels when switching containers, that makes no sense. Both mkv and mp4 containers can store dts-ma and truehd, though im not sure if you can have object based formats like dtsx and atmos, though it should be able to.
That being said, containers mean very little, if your device is hanging up on audio then it’s weak. Use the HTPC instead.
I’ve got a bunch of different devices as well but NOTHING is as good as the Shield for set and forget about it. It just works and plays everything. It costs a bit more then other devices but you get what you pay for!
) If you don’t, just return it. Can’t hurt and if your not running the Plex Server on it, just get the basic Non Pro version.