Synology NAS 416play & transcoding

General Discussions
1

I am think of buying a DS416play to replace my HP micro server, use less power etc.

I use Plex on my LG TVs at home or on my iPad when I am out of the house. Here are my questions:

  1. does the Plex tap into the hardware transcode part of the Ds416play? If not will it someday?
  2. I am happy to recode all my films to avoid transcoding, what’s the best format?
  3. is the DS416play the best option? I guess some will love it and some hate it.

Thanks for reading this far and thanks for answering if you do.

Adam

2

@Bacon1967 said:
I am think of buying a DS416play to replace my HP micro server, use less power etc.

I use Plex on my LG TVs at home or on my iPad when I am out of the house. Here are my questions:

  1. does the Plex tap into the hardware transcode part of the Ds416play? If not will it someday?
  2. I am happy to recode all my films to avoid transcoding, what’s the best format?
  3. is the DS416play the best option? I guess some will love it and some hate it.

Thanks for reading this far and thanks for answering if you do.

Adam

Adam,

  1. At present, there is no API for Plex to use the Synology transcoding hardware so PMS must do everything with the CPU
  2. Remember the two ways PMS transcodes: 1) On-the-fly (on demand) which is then discarded and 2) Optimized (media optimizer) which is saved.
  3. The best format for you to use is, of course, H.264 formatted video, with AAC stereo audio because it’s the most widely accepted. Container format (MKV or MP4) doesn’t matter. PMS will read the container regardless and send the data.

Before you make a decision, I would read the PMS compatibility guide. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201373803-NAS-Compatibility-List

ALWAYS feel free to come back here and ask more questions.

3
  1. I have a Qnap TS-251 with a 2.41 GHz Celeron processor and it does an OK job at streaming locally (w/o transcoding) the Video when the PMS was installed on my NAS.

The PMS did a much better job when installed on my PC (HTPC) with an Intel i3 processor.

I recommend putting the PMS where ever the better CPU is. Granted you have a similar setup.
Steaming and transcoding at the same time is CPU intensive.

2)To tell you the truth I don’t use this feature with my lifestyle. I did an optimization on an MKV just for S&G. This feature (apparently can be done beforehand) copied my MKV into a steaming friendly MP4 version and put in its own folder. With the PMS I think you have a choice of formats and resolutions to match the device you’ll be watching a movie on. I never played with it though.

  1. There are different NAS’s to get if you liked to get one with an i3 processor. It can be done with a Synology at an increased price. If you would like a stand alone NAS to save on power. Check out an E-ITX.com
    http://www.e-itx.com/a7879-ga-h170n-wifi.html
    I had my eye on that one.

It’s more like a server in a NAS case. They seem to be made with quality products at a decent price although they have lots of options that will drive up that price. A FB “Home Theater Enthusiast” member said his full sized (atx) has heat issues. If you can make your own you should be able to make your own at a better price.

The Synology’s and what-have-you are feature rich with their OS and apps though.

4

Chuckpa & MattNa1966, thanks to both, most of my media is AVI so it looks as though I am transcoding all the time, so I will see how the Synology roadmap pans out.