Requirements for dedicated Server 4k transcoding etc

[TobyX]

Server Version#: ubuntu server 18.x
Player Version#: 1.16.3.1402-22929c8a2

Hi, I looked into many forums and topics but from my experience I find no detailed and specific answers.
In short: I have more than 10TB movies on my G suite drive and currently I’m looking for a dedicated Server what is powerful enough to deal with 4k transcoding, HD remuxes etc.
I know: it depends!
However, I’ll be the only user, so there will be no more transcoding tasks at the same time. Currently, I do not have a 4k TV but some movies are 4k and they will have to be transcoded.

There are some options I found, and I would pick up one or would be grateful for other inputs.

Option 1:

netcup GmbH - Root-Server

The RS 2000 G8 with dedicated 4 CPUs.
This would be a VPSs but with dedicated CPUs…

Option 2:
RS 4000 G8SE from the same hoster with 6 dedicated CPUs.

Option 3 would be rather expensive:
https://www.hetzner.de/dedicated-rootserver/ex52-nvme
Unfortunately, the cheaper option is curr not available.

Note that I am from Germany.

Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks

[Turboschnecke]

Hetzner, is the only one where you get an iGPU for transcoding. Without iGPU you will never have enough (v)CPUs^^

I have the EX62 and its working good for me.

[TobyX]

Oh… good to know. thank you.
Do you experienced any problems with transcoding and your current setup?

[blim5001]

But I think if you transcode 4k and the 4K content is HDR then you will lose this and the colors will look a bit washed out.

[INFO] Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you - aka the rules of 4k

NOTE: for 2022 – Plex has come a long way since this FAQ was originally written, HW transcoding has become more available and more stable, and tone mapping was recently added to address the hdr/sdr color conversion issues. The first 4 ‘rules’ generally are no longer as important as they once were, but may still be a good thing to bear in mind. Dolby Vision, is an entirely other mess. THIS thread/FAQ is NOT about DV. DV work is still in progress, and there are no perfect TV’s or external devic…

[TobyX]

@blim5001

But I think if you transcode 4k and the 4K content is HDR then you will lose this and the colors will look a bit washed out.

The HDR thing will be no problem as I do not have any HDR stuff.

However, according to your posting (“the rules”) it sounds like there is no chance to transcode 4k material at all as there are so many conditions to concern.
All of it is clear and maybe next year I’ll have a 4k TV to use direct play but according to the rules it sounds very unlikely that I could stream the content by transcoding.

EDIT:
the Hardware-Accelerated Streaming might be a solution as the server I want to use supports it.

[blim5001]

It’s not to say you can’t… you just can’t be sure of the results, as it depends on many things.

I tried playing back a 4K Movie transcoded to 20Mbs on my hetzner dedi, (which is quite old now). and for the few minutes I tried it, it appears to work (I was using Plex Media Player to play it).

My server does support HW transcoding, but in this case it does not appear to be using it (but that might be due the age and capabilities of my dedi)

obviously the hetzner dedi was maxed out

But this was HDR content so I did notice that the colours were washed out.

[Coxeroni]

Thanks for the Hetzner info, didn’t know that. Still, I am a happy customer of netcup and my 4 core VPS there is enough for 1080p transcoding, which is enough for me.

@TobyX: If you decide for netcup, give me a shout I can give you a small discount there. VPS is also rented “per hour” so there is not a lot of risk trying them out.

[TobyX]

@Coxeroni

@Toby1002: If you decide for netcup, give me a shout I can give you a small discount there. VPS is also rented “per hour” so there is not a lot of risk trying them out

@Coxeroni
Thx I am aware of netcup - I still have to think about some requirements. I will send you a pm asap

[Xhaka]

@Turboschnecke

Hetzner, is the only one where you get an iGPU for transcoding.

Yeah it works really well.