I am currently running Plex Server on my Synology NAS (DS214 play), and streaming to my PS4 using the Plex App.
I am consistently getting lag time when watching movies, and sometimes is just hangs-up completely. I have read that the best solution is to re-code my videos (with Handbrake?) so that they do not need to be transcoded when streaming.
Which device do I need to re-code my videos for? For the NAS? Plex? or PS4?
I have gone through several forums, but I can not find a clear answer. Any help would be great! Thanks!
What extension(s) are your files in? (.mkv, .mp4, .avi, etc…) If they’re in .mkv, the PS4 doesn’t handle those files so well… (As I’ve heard in other Plex Forums). You need to convert them using Handbreak, I use it and it’s the best. You can just convert them to .mp4 and they’ll be flawless across any and every device. You wont have to do it for your NAS or Plex, is the Issue with the video playing on the PS4. If they’re all in .mp4 any device you use with Plex, there will be no problem.
I had the same issue with the PS4, The way to fix that is in settings on the Plex app for PS4 and change one of the settings.
In plex on PS4 -> Sign in with Plex home user -> Select home user drop-down -> Video -> Max. H.264 Level -> (I have mine set to 5.7). Once I changed that there has been no problem while playing a movie. Once you change that there should be no problem.
Try changing the H.264 level on the PS4 first before you take hours converting the files only to find out its the level you need to change.
My video library is a mix of .mkv, .mp4, .avi, .mov, etc…
I already did a sample of three videos, and converted them to MP4 (with Handbrake), using H.264 (4.0), and 30fps. Those videos still had issues.
I will try to make the update to the settings in the PS4 Plex app tonight and see if that helps.
Thanks!
You have to re-encode for the lowest-common-denominator across all your clients, their network connections, etc. It can be rather tedious, yes.
Or you get a proper computer to run the Plex server on. That would not be your NAS… your cell phone has more CPU that it does. Plex is built around transcoding for the “out of box” experience advertised on the website. Most off-the-shelf NAS appliances have only enough CPU to share files and therefore can’t transcode worth a thing.
I’m really not a fan of all these PMS builds for underpowered NAS appliances. It really sends the wrong message to new users and results in hundreds of unhappy threads in the forums.
