I’m looking to upgrade my server to better handle 4k files. It screams through 1080p just fine but struggles when sending 4k to a non-phone device.
Current specs of PC:
48 GB of RAM (yes, I went way overboard)
Intel Xeon E5-2675 V3 16 core, 32 thread, 1.8 GHz base, 2.3 Turbo (I realistically see it hitting 2.2 in real world attempting to transcode 4k)
SSD cache drive for transcoding
Nvidia 8400 GS video card.
Now I’m guessing at the very least I’ll need to updated my GPU to make life simple and smooth. Is that all I’ll need to do? Or is a new CPU (and thus likely a new motherboard) also in my future to make things smooth?
Storage space or anything else on that list isn’t an issue - and I generally don’t mind “not transcoding” per that link, but plex seems to always pick the 4k version over the 1080p. I have a lot of 4k “.bak” videos because plex would never grab the 1080p copy when streaming to my TV (chromecast and/or Roku).
By Plex, you mean the Plex client, right? Because if a user selects a 4K video, then the Plex server will try to stream it. If the server can’t use “direct play”, it will do what it always does and transcode.
One way to work around this issue is create separate 4K and 1080p libraries.
Edited to add: that link I posted points to the support article regarding supported CPUs, etc.
To be honest I’m not sure. I have both files in the same folder (currently) and just go to the entry in my library and press play. I don’t typically see a way to select which version I’m starting.
A second library and location for 4k might be doable if that’s what is needed. It’s by far the cheapest option
Just today I tried my Galaxy s10. It was remarkably smooth.
Devices that have had the stuttering and buffering issues:
Chromecast second gen
Lg TV app (hardwired to gig network, but think tv itself is only 100 so no surprise there)
Roku. Forget which one, but it has wireless AC.
My server is hardwired to a gigabit network. I have Google WiFi, each puck is using the gigabit network for it’s backbone and there is a puck in the same room as all of these devices, less than 10 feet away.
That I knew, it’s all about the codecs. What surprised me was the s10 wasn’t direct play but transcoding still. According to the playback info on the app the audio stream wasn’t compatible. But that’s what lead me to thinking I needed a beefier PC. My phone has more umph behind it than a Chromecast or Roku so in theory didn’t need as much work done or some uneducated stab in the dark like that.
And I’ll have to look at that, but if it doesn’t default to the 1080p files it might not matter. The other users of my server are… Picky. They just want it to work by pressing play. The second library might truly be my best option then because of that.
haha yeah. Only it’s not the remote user I"m concerned about - they can get their own setup if they don’t like mine. It’s those that live with me and legally have half a stake in all my possessions that I need to keep happy
in the link provided previously above, near the bottom of the post is information on how to figure out why plex may be transcoding.
you can then use that info to try to figure out how to avoid it, if it is possible.
assuming the client can actually display 4k/hdr, the 2 biggest causes for transcoding are HD audio and subtitles.
for non-4k clients, there is no way to avoid transcoding except by playing content that is compatible with that display and within the bandwidth/audio restrictions.
Yeah in this case there are 2 causes 1 I can help the other I can’t. The one I can help is audio. My soundbar isn’t hooked up to my ARC(?) port so nothing recognizes my 5.1 system properly I could change that that instead of optical and run everything through a HDMI splitter if that was ever the limiting factor.
Larger issue is the TV itself, chomecast and Roku are all only 1080p.
I have them so I don’t need to go back and re-rip my media in the future. 30 minutes now, or hours later. It really isn’t a problem for me to queue up multiple rip jobs and generate both files right away. As mentioned above, the problem was when going to play the files the client was always defaulting to the 4k and thus not exactly going smooth.
