Been doing some digging online and can’t seem to get a straight ish answer. I want to convert all my content over to x265 (I always try to download x265 content simply to save space). Currently running my PMS on Mac mini M1 and will be using my MacBook Pro i9 to convert content.
I’ve tested some TV episodes and 2 films and all seem fine. Asked a couple of friends to test on their current hardware (FireTV, Roku & Apple TV) and all work fine. I want to press ahead and do this to reduce space and reduce the amount of bandwidth needed.
So my question is, (regardless of the time/effort needed) do you think it would be ok to do this without impacting anyone watching?
Obviously re-encoding existing files will reduce quality - but it’s up to you if that’s acceptable. H.265 can be ~35% more efficient than H.264 when encoding from the original sources. Re-encoding already-encoded files will always further reduce quality, and can’t achieve the ~35% size reduction from already-encoded without additional impact to quality.
You may find that to be very acceptable. Eyeballs, screen size, and general pixel-peeping obsessiveness are very personal.
I’m not converting existing files. I’m migrating over time.
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More client devices will require transcoding of H.265 than H.264. How much this affects you depends on your clients and habits.
Plex Web currently only supports H.265 in Safari. If you and your users use Plex Web for playback (and don’t use Safari), those sessions will require transcoding.
I have a newer smaller 1080p Roku TV in a guest room, and it can’t direct play H.265.
This isn’t really a problem if the server can support transcoding a few streams.
Annoyingly, transcoded streams are often larger and use more bandwidth than a “good” H.264-encoded file would have used.
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Another consideration is that H.265 will almost always be converted to H.264 when Synced to mobile devices. That’s annoying because it makes Syncing lots slower. There are some ways to slightly improve this but they aren’t “friendly”. If you use Sync a lot, test that too.
265 is nice, if you can get it.
Encoding 265 is a PITA - what is usually over quickly at 100fps takes forever at 17fps.
I do it, OCCASIONALLY, from 4K sources - and the results are spectacular, to be honest, but MOST of the time a restricted bandwidth 1080 is good enough for my eyeballs and at my age I’d rather be watching something on TV when I kick the bucket then spending my last hours encoding something I’ll never get to see…lol
Thanks! Yeah I might do the same - just do new files and leave the current. Tempted to do some TV series that aren’t watched by loads of users so transcoding won’t be too much of an issue.
Goes to show, you don’t get free space back - there is always a drawback somewhere down the line.
I’d recommend you get your 265 chops down pat. Practice makes perfect, but in that time you’ll find out how much it hurts… and you’ll know when you want to spend ‘the hurt’ on something nice.
Do some valued TV Shows.
Short ones.
It’ll all become very clear, very soon.
In short, if you have the BluRays, or assorted 4K material - that’s good stuff to work with. DVD Discount Box At Walmart Stuff won’t benefit much from your efforts.
(Note: I encoded The Expanse - all of it, so far - from 4K to 1080 and it’s AWESOME - worth it)
I have done the deed with Movies and the quality is outstanding. I’m at 99% with Movies and about 5% with Television. I generally do not collect Television shows with a few exceptions.
To answer your Question. For my family, yes it was worth it. The results on 65" OLED are fantastic.
