so I use plex server and stream to my family in their houses. all my blu ray collection area 100% copy from the original it means high bitrates with average 30 to 40mbps
most of my family members will stream my movies and they will choose 8mbps or 10mbps which means PLEX will transcode it ON THE FLY.
my question is if the quality of transcoding ON THE FLY is equal to ripping the blu ray movie with a software like DVDfab or Handbrake to a 10mbps and then they will just end up streaming it DIRECT PLAY because the bitrates is already lowered using those ripping software.
keep in mind in plex server I am using the highest quality setting for transcoding which is I believe ( HURT MY CPU)
if you rip a blu ray movie using DVDFAB to 10mbps quality VS plex transcoding on the fly to 10mbps. both using highest quality setting for transcoding or ripping
Are you asking whether Plex transcoding in real time is a worse quality than you transcoding your files during or after ripping them from disk?
The answer is yes, unfortunately.
Transcoding video in real time cannot waste time finding the most efficient or best looking compression method for a given scene. Therefore it uses generic parameters in order to have some transcoded packets ready when the clients request them. Nobody likes ‘buffering’ during watching a video.
The result is a slightly worse looking picture, compared with external compressors.
(This is double true when using hardware transcoding, which “cuts corners” to schieve a higher speed. Here it is important which processor or GPU generation is built into the computer. Newer hardware produces better looking results.)
If you are compressing video with Handbrake or ripping software, the encoder has no time restraints, so it can take more time finding the best compression method to achieve the smallest file or the best looking picture per scene.
(In Handbrake, this is the ‘Encoder Preset’ slider btw. The achieved picture quality is higher in the ‘slower’ presets).
