Server Version#: 4.51.1
Player Version#: n/a (Roku, ethernet)
I recently upgraded to:
Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX (24 cores @3GHz each) with a 32GB RAM
ASUS ROG STRIX X399-E GAMING
32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3600
Cooler Master AMD Wraith Ripper ThreadRipper TR4 CPU Air Cooler
I have a bunch of 4K videos, all encoded in H265 with the Handbrake video quality of 22 (so resulting files are usually 8-12GB). Not nearly as good as the original obviously, but still way better than 1080p.
I’ve read the three rules of 4K - don’t transcode, don’t transcode, don’t transcode… especially if the videos are h265. Still, I’ve always had faith in the idea that a future computer of mine would eventually be able to handle it. I have all of my 4K content encoded with h265.
I had calculated that this CPU should definitely be able to transcode two 4K H265 videos (we like subtitles). Today I was watching a 4K video with transcoding, got through about 15 minutes, but then it started pausing and buffering.
A few days ago, I looked at my 24 cores through the Windows task manager performance monitor, and Plex was only using 30% of the potential of the 24 cores. I changed Plex’s transcoding settings from “Automatic” to “Make my CPU hurt.” It now uses a whopping 40% of my CPU, but Plex still wrongly thinks this processor can’t handle 4K transcoding.
I have found 4K transcoding impossible without a dedicated graphics card (e.g., nVidia 2080) and hardware transcoding enabled in Plex. Even with that setup, transcodes of 4K Blu-ray rips stutter occasionally. You might fare better with your Handbrake transcodes.
If Plex could find a way to get 4K transcoding to work without the stutters, that would be the Holy Grail for me. Then I could stop needing to keep separate 4K and 1080p versions of everything.
Wow, this is so disappointing. Maybe Plex should at least update their error message to say, “We’re sorry, Plex isn’t powerful enough to stream this movie.” It sounds like those writing the Plex software need to update algorithms to take advantage of faster processors. I realize not everyone has a Ryzen Threadripper, but every day there are going to be more and more people who have processors that have more than enough computing power to transcode subtitles on the fly, and it’s such a pity to see only 30% or 40% of my processor being used… while Plex continues to report to me that my computer isn’t powerful enough. Still, I continue to save 4K MKVs using h265 and subtitle tracks in faith that eventually this will happen…
I agree, very disappointing. In the meantime, you could always keep saving your 4K files and also save a 1080p version alongside it. Just use the same file names and add the video format after. For example, I name my files like this:
I have had to recently re-rip a few 1080 and 4K movies as for some reason Plex decided it didn’t like the audio track being presented. I have had this problem happen with subtitle files too so it’s a double problem of mine, server is a very capable Ryzen 7, player is an Nvidia Shield. The culprit was MakeMKV. As soon as I started ripping with DVDFab to MP4 everything works again. I’m not sure if its just an MKV/MP4 problem but it’s worked for me.
