So what do you think? Is there a chance the quality of pr4100 transcodes can get as good as the shield ones via software updates?
@André.Je said:
So what do you think? Is there a chance the quality of pr4100 transcodes can get as good as the shield ones via software updates?
I am unsure, possibly, if there are adjustable transcode settings specifically for quick sync but I would assume if it was possible it would also use more CPU power.
Would need Plex to answer that one.
Thank you for the comparison photos @André.Je - had no idea the quality was dependent on the type of hardware transcoder. Hope this is something that can be optimized , as I was really looking to purchase a PR2100 for Plex transcoding.
So, it seems like you could get the My Cloud Pro and either use the native PMS for viewing content where you donât care about the reduction in quality, or just use it as a plain NAS for PMS running on another PC where you want to retain the best quality via CPU transcodes.
Itâs sort of a catch 22 with quick sync, the PR4100 is not a cheap NAS, it has decent specs for a NAS but as we all know wouldnât stand a chance when it comes to CPU transcodes.
So currently you have something that can transcode 4x1080p streams which is great, but not so great when you look at the quality.
Need a quick sync expert to comment on whether it is possible to change the quality setting of quick sync.
Which Nas or Plex boxes can actually do a decent job CPU transcoding then? Are we talking about: the synology Ds1815+ ? How would the Nvidia Sheild, Raspberry Pi 3 or Odroid C2 do.
@seangreensean said:
Which Nas or Plex boxes can actually do a decent job CPU transcoding then?
If you want to have excellent resultls in transcoding, then QNAP TVS-871-i7-16G for example is a great choice. Or QNAP TVS-EC1080+.
Thanks- is that CPU transcode
@seangreensean said:
Thanks- is that CPU transcode
If you want decent hardware transcoding then you could go for the Nvidia Shield, which can do two 1080p transcodes at once with CPU transcode quality unlike the PR4100.
Thanks carnagerover. Sorry if Iâm being slow. Are you saying the nvidia sheild can do cpu transcodes and the pr4100 canât ?(obviously we are talking 1080p)
I canât see anything on the web about the sheild doing cpu transcodes.
One more thing - I also need to buy a Nas at the moment so if I wanted a basic one to supply my 2tb of movies to the sheild- via direct play - would even a bottom of the range Nas do like the synology ds216j or would that make the system slow
@seangreensean said:
Thanks carnagerover. Sorry if Iâm being slow. Are you saying the nvidia sheild can do cpu transcodes and the pr4100 canât ?(obviously we are talking 1080p)I canât see anything on the web about the sheild doing cpu transcodes.
One more thing - I also need to buy a Nas at the moment so if I wanted a basic one to supply my 2tb of movies to the sheild- via direct play - would even a bottom of the range Nas do like the synology ds216j or would that make the system slow
No worries,
The shield does GPU transcodes using Nvidia Nvenc, which from what I have seen is very close to CPU transcode quality. The PR4100 also uses GPU transcoding via Intel Quicksync, but the quality of these transcodes is very poor compared to a CPU or Nvidia GPU transcode.
You can mount a NAS on the shield and as the shield does the transcoding you wouldnât need one with any special features.
There has been and continues to be no comment from Plex on whether the quality of the PR4100 transcoding can be improved, I have asked them on here and Twitter but they have not responded. There are also problems with the Plex app on the PR4100, not to say the shield is issue free but for now I would leave the PR4100 as far as transcoding goes.
I bought the Passport Pro for the same purposes. Went to Puerto Vallarto for vacation and could not use Plex without taking my laptop and Pro to the office area where there was wifi to let them both link with plex.tv I am guessing. Once it did that then I could go back to the room and all was good. Same thing driving in the car in the states. To get it to work I had to turn on my hotspot just long enough for the kids tablets and the Pro to phone home before they would work. Once that was done I could turn the hotspot off and everything worked until either device was shut off. But if a tablet died for example and we got it plugged in and turned on I would have to connect the hotspot for it to phone home again before it would work. And additionaly almost EVERY movie we had said the server was not powerful enough to transcode and that was only streaming ONE movie to one device. And for some reason direct play wouldnât work even though the device should have been able to direct play as I tested it from my home server to make sure I wasnât imagining things. I found it VERY inconvenient and returned it right before the end of my 45 day return window.
@âFozzie Bearâ said:
@ChuckPa said:
Iâm getting the WD Passport Pro to put in the car as my mobile media server. It supplies the media and hotspot, any laptop or phone does the serving
Hi ChuckPa,
Do you have an update on your WD Passport Pro for in car use? Thatâs exactly the scenario I want to use one for. The only things I have read in reviews is that the SoC within the device is not powerful enough to transcode on the fly. You therefore have to load the drive with media that is native to the devices you are streaming to e.g iPad, Android Tablet etc. I was going to build a Plex Server using a Banana Pi and a 1Tb SATA hard drive but this device seems ideal plus it also portable for taking on holiday. I want to use a pled server with two Nexus 7 Android tablets which will be the playback devices secured to the front headrests. I only need two simultaneous streams in the car but would also like to use a Firestick for connection to holiday apartment TVs
The only other concern I have read about on the Plex Reddit is that some users have found you require an internet connection to stream media?? This appears to relate to Plex Pass and Plex Home and authentication with Plex.tv. Unless I am misunderstanding the comments on this thread it kinda defeats the purpose of this portable device.
Fozzie
Yes, I have an update. After the damn thing being âout of stockâ for so damn long, I canned the idea. Instead Iâm going with a home brew SSD solution of my own creation.
I donât have a PR2100/PR4100 so I donât know if the issue is just settings, software or hardware. However, I do use QuickSync a lot to pre-encode content for consumption on mobile devices. QuickSyncâs not going to be as good as a CPU encode but itâs also going to be considerable faster than CPU. For me, the PQ loss is acceptable (at least for mobile device playback) given the encoding speed. At home, I watch the original Blu-ray rips anyway (Plex Home Theater/OpenPHT).
Here are some sample Intel QuickSync encodes done via Handbrake. Download the clips instead of playing via Dropboxâs Flash player. The Flash player kinda sucks. CPU used is a dual-core Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Haswell. StaxRip + QSVEncC at same CQ settings gives me better PQ but itâs not as easy to use as Handbrake and only does ~60FPS.
Aladdin (1992) - Chapter 1: Source - Aladdin Diamond Edition Blu-ray US release
720p - Balanced - High@L3.1 - Constant Quality 20 - Encoding Speed ~240FPS
720p - Balanced - High@L3.1 - Constant Quality 18 - Encoding Speed ~240FPS
1080p - Balanced - High@L4.0 - Constant Quality 20 - Encoding Speed ~130FPS
1080p - Balanced - High@L4.0 - Constant Quality 18 - Encoding Speed ~130FPS
The Avengers (2012) - Chapter 3: Source - The Avengers Blu-ray US release
720p - Balanced - High@L3.1 - Constant Quality 20 - Encoding Speed ~100FPS (Handbrake bottleneck due to burn-in subs)
720p - Balanced - High@L3.1 - Constant Quality 18 - Encoding Speed ~100FPS (Handbrake bottleneck due to burn-in subs)
1080p - Balanced - High@L4.0 - Constant Quality 20 - Encoding Speed ~100FPS (Handbrake bottleneck due to burn-in subs)
1080p - Balanced - High@L4.0 - Constant Quality 18 - Encoding Speed ~100FPS (Handbrake bottleneck due to burn-in subs)
I am thinking of buying the PR2100 to use for my PMS and out put to my 4K LG OLED, but i have read in this forum bad things about the quality of the transcoding result. Can anyone tell me if the initial issues when first released have been overcome by WD as a result of updates?
@craigriches@gmail.com said:
Can anyone tell me if the initial issues when first released have been overcome by WD as a result of updates?
AS we have launched the My Cloud Pro Series with its Quad-Core Intel Pentium inside, there were some strange things from little hiccups up to bugs - the Plex community shows it pretty well. Together with Plex, we worked on the issues. Menawhile, the WD operating system is fine. Please remind that WD is not responsible for Plex Media Server software but only for th operating system below. But our relationship to Plex is great and wherever the community find an error, we take a look into it. Software development is an ongoing process.
On the other side, we have seen a lof of issues that are definitifly not related to PMS like wrong/corrupt encodings and corrupt frames within a video - mostly the videos which are downloaded as âthe private backup from the internetâ 
Iâve just installed a new PR4100 and maxed out the RAM and as far as the transcodes go itâs just as good quality as when I was using an i5 2013 Mac mini Iâm seeing no difference in speed or quality at present locally or remote use.
Do both the PR2100 and PR4100 have an accessible update for the Plex Media Server now (both Plex Pass and Public versions?). I was reading that owners of these models were not finding either model listed when wanting to download the updates.
Update notifications have been showing up regular now through the web interface with a bright orange stripe noting a new version is available with a direct link to download the update file.
@craigriches@gmail.com said:
Do both the PR2100 and PR4100 have an accessible update for the Plex Media Server now (both Plex Pass and Public versions?). I was reading that owners of these models were not finding either model listed when wanting to download the updates.
@aaplfan said:
Update notifications have been showing up regular now through the web interface with a bright orange stripe noting a new version is available with a direct link to download the update file.@craigriches@gmail.com said:
Do both the PR2100 and PR4100 have an accessible update for the Plex Media Server now (both Plex Pass and Public versions?). I was reading that owners of these models were not finding either model listed when wanting to download the updates.
What version is it up to now? I have had my PR4100 switched off for a good while now?
