Transcoding 1-2 streams of 1080p videos leads to lots of buffering - i5 4440k, 16GB RAM, Server 2016

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I’m a bit puzzled by what’s going on with my server. I know it’s just a guideline but it seems like my CPU, given its Passmark socre, should not have any issues with 1-2 transcoding streams but I do.

Using latest public version…

Server Version#: 1.14.0.5470

Main specs - Server 2016, i5 4440k, 16GB RAM

  1. I used to have the transcoding folder on a hard drive and now is sitting in a 6GB RAM drive. Does not help

  2. I have reduced the remote stream bitrate from 12Mbps to 10Mbps - hasn’t helped.

  3. I had 20Mbps upload till several months ago where I switched to Fios and now have 100Mbps. Has not helped

I have not ruled out that devices itself (PS4, Roku TV and old Fire Sticks) may be the reason so will try another device as well but looking for any feedback possible.

2

Please copy & paste the Plex XML info of one of these movies.

3

Sure, this one was leading to lots of issues…

<Media videoResolution=“1080” id=“14311” duration=“6793620” bitrate=“12958” width=“1920” height=“800” aspectRatio=“2.35” audioChannels=“6” audioCodec=“dca” videoCodec=“h264” container=“mkv” videoFrameRate=“24p” audioProfile=“dts” videoProfile=“high”>

<Part accessible=“1” exists=“1” id=“15125” key="/library/parts/15125/1541243833/file.mkv" duration=“6793620” file=“movie.mkv” size=“11004113729” audioProfile=“dts” container=“mkv” deepAnalysisVersion="2"requiredBandwidths=“75707,40669,18323,14596,13939,13939,13939,13939” videoProfile=“high”>

<Stream id=“46984” streamType=“1” default=“1” codec=“h264” index=“0” bitrate=“11422” language=“English” languageCode=“eng” bitDepth=“8” chromaLocation=“left” chromaSubsampling=“4:2:0” colorPrimaries=“bt709” colorRange=“tv” colorSpace=“bt709” colorTrc="bt709"frameRate=“23.976” hasScalingMatrix=“0” height=“800” level=“41” profile=“high” refFrames=“4” requiredBandwidths=“74199,39161,16882,13131,13051,13051,13051,13051” scanType=“progressive” width=“1920” displayTitle=“1080p (H.264)”/>

<Stream id=“46985” streamType=“2” selected=“1” default=“1” codec=“dca” index=“1” channels=“6” bitrate=“1536” language=“English” languageCode=“eng” audioChannelLayout=“5.1(side)” bitDepth=“16” profile="dts"requiredBandwidths=“1489,1471,1446,1446,1446,1446,1446,1446” samplingRate=“48000” displayTitle=“English (DTS 5.1)”/>

4

This file should not cause any bottlenecks for the cpu, per se

You omitted the information about subtitles, so are there subtitles in the file and are they activated?

Which client type is used to play these files?

Is the connection to the server local or remote?

If the server is remote, how great is the geographical distance?

5

So I’m visiting family for the holidays - about 1000 miles in the US so…

  1. remote connection
  2. No subtitles
  3. I can get specific details if needed but old fire sticks, Roku tv and ps4 were tried. I read that the latter two can potentially have memory constraints. Not sure if it’s the client and a better device is needed
  4. some videos play with a little bit of buffering at the start. This video in particular buffered a lot more
6

Here is an experiment:
Make an optimized version of one of your movies. (Use the ‘custom’ profile with ‘Universal TV’ and 4 or 8 mbps selected)

When finished, explicitly select this version for playback.
If this now is playing without stuttering, then it is the large distance between server and client (or more precisely the high ‘packet roundtrip’ latency, to use the technically correct term).
There is unfortunately almost nothing you can do to improve that, apart from creating ‘optimized versions’.

7

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