More and more PCs and mini-PCs are using an AMD Ryzen processor with an IGPU. And yet, unlike other software like the Jellyfin server, it seems that the Plex media server does not use the hardware acceleration offered by the IGPU.
For instance the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor has an IGPU, the 780m. This IGPU provides hardware acceleration for decoding the HEVC codec, also known as H.265 and encoded in 4K videos and movies. The Plex server does not use it. Instead, it transcodes to H264 while reducing the transmission rate over the network. It converts a video encoded in HEVC with a bandwidth of 100 Mbps to a video encoded in H264 with a bandwidth of 20 Mbps. The CPU occupancy rate is then 40% and that of the IGPU a few %.
With hardware acceleration support, video quality would be optimal (no compression) and CPU utilization would remain below 10%.
nVidia and Intel don’t even work fully on all platforms. You should consult their support docs before planning your server, there’s a nice table at https://support.plex.tv/articles/hdr-to-sdr-tone-mapping/
I’m not talking about GPUs, but about IGPUs, which are integrated into the microprocessor. Currently, it seems that many more AMD CPUs are sold than Intel CPUs: see AMD vend plus de processeurs qu'Intel dans ce pays d'Europe
Furthermore, AMD IGPU support is integrated into open products like Jellyfin.
Isn’t it time for Plex to adapt to the current market?
See this thread: Any chance for updated AMD (Mesa Gallium) drivers?
The transcoder update must happen first. Then Intel driver updates are next on the schedule.
The transcoder update available as a forum preview: Transcoder Upgrade Forum Preview. There is no announced timeline when it will be in a beta release or when Intel drivers will be updated.
On Linux, Plex supports AMD GPUs for transcoding SDR video. See Plex Media Server - #589 by Ridley. I do not know if all their GPUs are supported.
Edit: Additional information on how Plex currently supports AMD on Linux: AMD GPU Hardware acceleration - #6 by ChuckPa.
iGPU vs dGPU doesn’t matter. Plex uses the same drivers to address either.
That link addresses iGPU options…
You have to look at a project holistically. If you want to do JellyFin, use their support pages. If you want to use Plex, use their support pages as I linked. If you choose your hardware carefully you can fully use both.
Folks,
We are upgrading the transcoder.
As part of that upgrade, there is a lot of ancillary work of which AMD is on the list.
