However none of them seem to be a feature request to be able to assign the transcoder process scheduling priority . Yes, I'm aware of the "Transcoder quality" setting, which is currently set to Automatic. I don't want to lower the quality of the output though. I want to be able to change the PlexNewTranscoder.exe priority from Normal to Below Normal or Idle, so interactive applications are given priority.
Otherwise while transcoding and using the PC with another CPU intensive application, there is a noticeable sluggishness. Manually forcing the transcoder priority to idle resolves this symptom.
Setting process priority is up to the OS. Nothing Plex can do about that. As you showed in your screen shot, you can set the priority manually in Windows. The problem is Windows doesn't remember that setting when you reboot, again another Windows problem. The program slipstream mentioned will change the setting for you each reboot.
Yes, manually forcing Plex Server to start with a lower priority is a bandaid for the correct solution -- having the application request itself.
But I'm still very curios about the benefits of changing priority levels....
Please read the scheduling priority Microsoft link in the first post for the gory details. Basically if the plex transcoder was set to a Low priority, I can still use the desktop with another CPU intensive application (for example Lightroom or Photoshop) and not feel an impact from the transcoder. Currently this is not the case as all share the same priority level.
Please read the scheduling priority Microsoft link in the first post for the gory details. Basically if the plex transcoder was set to a Low priority, I can still use the desktop with another CPU intensive application (for example Lightroom or Photoshop) and not feel an impact from the transcoder. Currently this is not the case as all share the same priority level.
What is the meaning of setting a server and it's child processes to run in low priority? This is IMHO rather unusual but if you want to do so you can still start PMS in low priority.
In a regulare usage situation you should not have the transcoder running at 100% all the time anyway unless you are syncing your content over and over again.
I dont want to have to manually set the priority level of Plex every time I reboot. A known CPU intensive application should handle this for me (just like Handbrake does).
You're right, the transcoder shouldnt be running 100% of the time and it's not. Take the scenario from last night which caused this request to be made. I'm getting a bunch of movies synced to my phone for an upcoming airplane trip. While the transcoding is occurring, I'm also trying to process a lot of RAW photos from vacation in Lightroom/Photoshop. Their performance is noticeably impacted until I forced Plex priority from Normal to Low.
If you need a solution ad hoc for "Photoshop events" write a simple batch that quits and restarts PMS in low priority (and also one to revert the condition).
Something like this should work:
taskkill /IM "Plex Media Server.exe"
start “PMS” /low “C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Media Server.exe”
