Ok when i heard about Plex for PS4 i rushed to the store to get one with the idea of replacing the Mac Mini in my hi end AV chain.
I rushed...dumb me...without looking into it more carefully.
With big disappointment i noticed that PS4 doesn't have direct play and besides the "buffering thing" which is annoying enough(my dedicated server is fast[Core i5@3.4Ghz] but not THAT fast to have faster than real time transcode) the transcoded quality even at 20 mbits isn't nearly up to par if compared to the original file, at least not on my 120" projector screen.
What about multichannel audio support...DTS, Dolby Digital, Atmos...etc...?
I almost sold my Mac Mini before realizing this....
So my simple question is....will the PS4 ever have direct play for all kind of formats like a normal computer?
Given that my 8TB library is 99% mkv files, right now the app is almost totally useless for me.
Direct play of all kinds of formats like a normal computer rest solely in Sony's court. The only devices which support all kinds of formats are computers and very few TV connected devices.
Personally I would be very surprised if Sony added necessary support to the software stack supporting the Plex app. Personally, again, I've wondered/complained aloud about the same thing. TV connected devices should have software and hardware platforms that support the media formats their customers will want to play. I think licensing costs and shear complexity scare most vendors away.
Have to also remmber plex is in beta so they are still making changes and adding features fixing bugs, i do think down the road ps4 will be able to direct play more files i remmber in old days of xbox360 it had very little support and they patched in more file support later on. If you overclocked your i5 to around 4.0-4.5ghz it probly would have enugh speed to transcode on the fiy i use a i7 930 overclocked to 4.2ghz and i have no problems with transcoding no buffering at all. I own a wdtv that will direct play every file you can think of but i really like plex so i rather use it.
The quality loss would be too great at default settings and using "make my cpu hurt" would make on the fly transcode impossible even at that clock speed and by the way I'm not even sure the quality would be comparable to the original file(i'll have to test it anyway for curiosity).
I doubt any consumer CPU has enough power to transcode in real time or faster than real time, seeking trough the file also gets so sluggish that makes me cry.
Do not forget i run a 120" projector screen and i see every little detail.
I'm one of those people who thinks 4K can't come soon enough...
Secondly but not less important that machine is turned on 24/7 as it handle everything in my home network...nas, nat, dhcp, dns, is, etc...overclocking it would mean a significant increase in power consumption and possible stability issues.
I need direct play because seeking the file is too slow when transcoding and the quality takes a big hit. The higher quality settings would make the process even slower…my server isn’t fast enough and octacore cpus are way too expensive right now.
yea well thats a ps4 issue not plex sadly they cant force sony to support more types of files but i hope sony does in time as they put more firmwares out.
