Server Version#: 4.95.2
Player Version#:LG TV Plex app
I’m using QNAP TVS-h1288x for Plex. It performs very well, I use 10Gbe ethernet, with a 1Gbe ethernet adapter into the TV so it supports hi bit rate MKV’s.
Despite that, if I turn on sub-titles, on 4K content, Plex really lags. Over the years, on various NAS devices I’ve noticed that Plex can struggle.
Can someone explain why turning on subtitles can be an issue?
This NAS can easily transcode multiple streams simultaneously, but I’m not having to do that because it’s 4K straight to the TV, though sometimes it’s transcoding audio depending on the title being played.
I was wondering if using a graphics card in the NAS and enabling hardware transcoding would make any improvements to the subtitle performance.
Subtitle transcoding cannot be handled by a GPU, so no hw-accelerated transcoding. A NAS isn’t usually powerful enough on its own to handle burning a subtitle into the 4K video stream using its CPU alone.
Personally I’m happy my clients seem to support my remuxed DVD / Blu-Ray subtitles ok without transcoding.
With the Plex LG app, if the media is direct streaming, such as when audio is transcoding, enabling any subtitle format results in video transcoding to burn in the subtitles.
Your NAS has a Xeon W-1250 processor. It should handle burning subtitles for 1080p & lower resolutions OK. It will not handle burning subtitles for 4K HDR media.
For 4K HDR media, this basically means avoiding TrueHD and possibly DTS audio if you want to use subtitles. No LG supports TrueHD audio and 2020 or later models do not support DTS audio.
An alternative is using an Android TV client such as the Amazon FireTV Stick 4K Max or the Nvidia Shield Pro. Plex Android TV clients will direct play subtitles even if the audio or video is transcoding.
Thanks FordGuy, thats very helpful.
Yes, I can confirm it handles burning subtitle for 1080p and lower.
It’s a shame about newer LG TV’s not supporting DTS audio. I like LG 4K OLED TV’s and have an 2016 E6. I’ve always preferred DTS over Dolby 5.1. I’ll have to keep that in mind when it comes time to replace the E6. Looks like I might be getting the FireTV Stick 4K Max for Xmas.
