What TV client is best for avoiding transcoding?

General Discussions
1

I am about to upgrade the infrastructure in my home. I’m currently using a Mac Mini (late 2012) with PlexConnect as my PMS and two Apple TV 3 via PlexConnect. All my media is stored on my Mac Mini internal drive.

I’m considering upgrading my ATV3 to Roku for a few reasons:
i) my logitech remote won’t play well with the ATV4 swipes for FF and RW functions
ii) ATV3 doesn’t have 4K capabilities…which annoys me especially since I just upgraded to an LG OLED TV

My question for the forum is simple enough…is there a material difference between clients (ie. ATV3/ATV4 vs Roku) in terms of transcoding might be supported/required? Should I upgrade to a Roku or an ATV4?

2

I prefer the Roku.
If you encode your media to mp4 / h.264 (h.265 for 4K) / AC3 5.1 or 2 channel
All your media will direct play on a Roku including 4K. (I have Roku 4s. I suspect the new Roku’s support the same codecs.)

3

I don’t actually encode any media. Almost all of my content is coming off my iphone camera/video roll as well as procured from online sources. I guess that is the root of my question…I’m looking to understand which client device best suits this kind of use case. I have no idea of knowing what codecs or file types I will be procuring online (ie. mp4, mkv, avi, mpg etc).

4

I mainly own .mkv files in 1080p with bit-rates mostly between 10-15mbps and use an Amazon Fire TV which has worked fine without any transcoding happening on the server so far but I am rather new to Plex as well so maybe not really a benchmark.

5

Nvidia shield is by far the best client (that requires little to no user configuration).

But it is more expensive.

6

@PrometheanFire said:
I mainly own .mkv files in 1080p with bit-rates mostly between 10-15mbps and use an Amazon Fire TV which has worked fine without any transcoding happening on the server so far but I am rather new to Plex as well so maybe not really a benchmark.
Any DTS soundtrack will be transcoded when played back on the Amazon Fire TV. It only supports DD+.

7

@SiscoPlex said:
Nvidia shield is by far the best client (that requires little to no user configuration).

But it is more expensive.

Don’t know why it needs to be, it’s a pile of crap. Loses it’s internet connection most of the time, and even then it can’t stop locking up/freezing on me.

8

Don’t know why it needs to be, it’s a pile of crap. Loses it’s internet connection most of the time, and even then it can’t stop locking up/freezing on me.

Never have had it lock up on me… ever!
A hard wire would not lose connection…

9

I was using a MacMini with which very unsatisfied. After having a look on all available clients I went for a small, self-assembled PC with a discrete graphics card (small, stylish aluminium case with a Kaby Lake i3 inside on a mini-ITX and a Nvidia Quadro P400 card). I’ve an Apple wireless keybord and mouse paired and use a Minix Neo M2 remote (back button doesn’t work, but I could easily map that to an other, unused button on the remote).

This may be a highly oversized setup, but when scaling SD content to a 65" screen the difference in quality gets very, very visible. In direct comparison the picture I get on my Apple TV v4 seems almost unacceptable.

Needless to say: I never experienced any transcoding on that box.

10

@SiscoPlex said:

Don’t know why it needs to be, it’s a pile of crap. Loses it’s internet connection most of the time, and even then it can’t stop locking up/freezing on me.

Never have had it lock up on me… ever!
A hard wire would not lose connection…

A hard wire can lose internet information between ones router and device due to all sorts of issues like driver problems, overheating, anything to be honest. Maybe mine came off a bad batch or something, who knows.

11

@PrometheanFire That is the exact type of details I’m looking to compare across various clients that have Plex (ie. Apple TV v4, Roku, Fire etc). Is there an easy to use guide somewhere that tells you what codecs (both audio and video) they support? Including what limitations they might have like you suggested (only accepting DD vs DTS.

This is the root of my question.

12

Do yourself a favor and check out the Nvidia Shield TV. They cost a bit more but they will literally play anything you throw at them.

13

@cayars said:
Do yourself a favor and check out the Nvidia Shield TV. They cost a bit more but they will literally play anything you throw at them.

Let’s rephrase that. The Nvidia Shield costs a lot more than any other client. It’st least 3x more expensive than other clients. I have a large & varied media collection & have spent no attention to ensuring any particular encoding but there is nothing I have found that my Roku 3 does not play.

14

@rupaa said:
I am about to upgrade the infrastructure in my home. I’m currently using a Mac Mini (late 2012) with PlexConnect as my PMS and two Apple TV 3 via PlexConnect. All my media is stored on my Mac Mini internal drive.

I’m considering upgrading my ATV3 to Roku for a few reasons:
i) my logitech remote won’t play well with the ATV4 swipes for FF and RW functions
ii) ATV3 doesn’t have 4K capabilities…which annoys me especially since I just upgraded to an LG OLED TV

My question for the forum is simple enough…is there a material difference between clients (ie. ATV3/ATV4 vs Roku) in terms of transcoding might be supported/required? Should I upgrade to a Roku or an ATV4?

Definitely check out the NVIDIA Shield TV. It is more expensive than some other options, but it also has more capabilities.

ATV
First, ATV4 doesn’t support 4K, so mark that one off your list unless you’re heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

If you’ve a huge iTunes audio library you might want to keep the ATV3 around just for that. I still use my ATV3 to play music from my iTunes library, and IMHO, the ATV UI beats the Roku and Android TV (NVIDIA, Amazon Fire) devices hands down.

However, the ATV3 & 4 are both limited when it comes to playing movies - no 4K, no DTS, and none of the lossless audio codecs like DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, & Dolby Atmos. Given its capabilities, the ATV4 is expensive compared to other options such as Roku Ultra and NVIDIA Shield.

WRT audio playback the ATV and Roku both support Apple Lossless audio. The Amazon Fire and NVIDIA Shield do not. Apple Lossless played back on Android TV is transcoded to MP3. The ATV does not support FLAC (unsure if that is a requirement).

Amazon Fire TV
A nice box, but lacks in codec support, specifically DTS and the previously mentioned lossless codecs (no native support and no passthru). Outside of Plex, the Fire TV does not support for high bit rate audio - FLAC 24bit/96kHz, DSD, etc - if that is important to you. It supports 4K, but only at 30p, and doesn’t support HDR.

Here’s some tech details: Fire TV Device Specifications: Overview | Amazon Fire TV.

Roku
If you want 4K and HDR, you’re looking at the Premier+ or Ultra.
Here’s a nice comparison: https://image.roku.com/ww/docs/compare-chart-products-en-us.pdf

It is unclear if the Roku supports passthrough for DTS-HD MA lossless audio (I could not find a definitive answer). It does support passthrough of Dolby TrueHD & Atmos. I could not find info on native high bit rate audio support for Roku devices. Roku does support Apple Lossless audio.

NVIDIA Shield
The NVIDIA Shield TV natively plays or passes through almost anything you can throw at it. Spec sheet says it handles 4K HDR as well (I don’t have a 4K tv). Scroll down to “See Full Specs:” SHIELD TV Streaming Media Players | NVIDIA

My Shield TV is connected to a Denon AVR. It passes through Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, DTS-X without issue, along with the older formats such as Dolby Digital and DTS. It also handles 24 bit FLAC files. The only thing I’ve found it must transcode is VC-1 video and Apple Lossless audio. Very few movies are delivered in VC-1 video, and I’m not aware of any streaming box that plays it natively. WRT Apple Lossless audio, I’m keeping my ATV3 around for that (I could manually transcode the files to FLAC, but keeping things in ALAC is easier for now).

Summary

The NVIDIA Shield TV is the most expensive, but it is also the most capable. It support 4K, HDR, and can passthrough all current lossless audio streams. It natively plays everything but Apple Lossless audio and VC-1 video and supports 24bit FLAC music. It has the highest end CPU and can easily transcode anything if needed.

If you don’t need everything the Shield TV offers or if price is a concern, then go with a Roku Premier+ or Ultra. The Rokus support 4K, HDR, and can passthrough Dolby TrueHD & Atmos audio streams. They also support Apple Lossless audio w/o transcoding to another format.

The Amazon FireTV is nice, but for the price you’re probably better off going with a Roku Premier+, as the Premier+ supports 4K60p, HDR10, and more audio codecs.

The ATV4 seems too limited outside of the Apple ecosystem. The lack of 4K support is also a bit of a deal killer. Especially since it costs the same as a Roku Ultra or NVIDIA Shield (depending on the model).

15

The Shieldtv is by far the best settop box type off client for Plex. Awesome codec support, and I love the ability to plug in headphones in the remote/controller.

Otherwise look into a htpc.

If you’re willing to use Kodi with a Plex add-on, the latest FireTV (4k I believe it’s called) works very well, but there’s an ongoing issue with ac3 audio in the official Plex app.

Most Roku devices, outside of the ones that support 4k, are pretty much as limited codec wise as your Apple TV, so no win there.

16

I have many different players, Roku 3 and Ultra, Shield TV, Fire TV, Raspberry PI (Running PasPlex and/or Plex Media Player) and several computers running things from PMP to Plex inside KODI.

I inherited a rather large library when my uncle pass a few years ago but he did not even try to be consistent in the file tpyes he used. There is a fairly even mixture of MKV (with various codecs inside), avi, mp4 and even some mov and other rarer formats. I also have a pretty powerful server so I have not really worried about converting anything so the mix of types remain.

I also like to experiment, which is why I have so many different players, and I have ckecked wht direct plays and what does not and which client works best during playback.

Of all my clients I like my Rokus best BUT they are also the ones that require the most transcoding.

My Shield almost never requires transcoding BUT it is also the most expensive and has one of the poorest Plex interfaces in the Plex client that comes pre-installed. It also has a built in server that technically works well BUT it has many failing and weaknesses where not the smallest ones are that it does not handle large libraries based of network shares well and it does not transcode some files correctly if hardware transcoding is turned on.

The Shield use gets better if you install Kodi and use Plex for Kodi (requires Plex pass) but even then it is clumsy to use.

Recently I discovered PlexKodiConnect ( https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/210023/plexkodiconnect-let-kodi-talk-to-your-plex/p1 ) and it appears to be the best solution for the Shield. It should NOT be installed on a Shield that uses the regular Plex app or into Kodi if and other Plex addon is installed. It just does not work well if it competes on the Shield with other Plex apps. What it seems to do is make Kodi’s regular interface see the Plex database so you are actually browsing Plex through Kodi giving you all the Kodi features and Skins while having the Plex back end which, for me is vastly superior to Kodi’s.

I have not been testing PlexKodiConnect for long enough to say for sure but the preliminary results are good and, if everything holds up, it may make the Shield’s powerful playback abilities viable for use with Plex.

17

If what you’re seeking to do is avoid transcoding, I’d highly recommend trying PMP. I’ve never had to transcode anything with it, and I’ve tried HEVC, h264, MPEG2, then AC-3, DTS, DTS-HD, and TrueHD. Just plays everything smoothly. :slight_smile:

18

@Elijah_Baley said:
I have many different players, Roku 3 and Ultra, Shield TV, Fire TV, Raspberry PI (Running PasPlex and/or Plex Media Player) and several computers running things from PMP to Plex inside KODI.

I inherited a rather large library when my uncle pass a few years ago but he did not even try to be consistent in the file tpyes he used. There is a fairly even mixture of MKV (with various codecs inside), avi, mp4 and even some mov and other rarer formats. I also have a pretty powerful server so I have not really worried about converting anything so the mix of types remain.

I also like to experiment, which is why I have so many different players, and I have ckecked wht direct plays and what does not and which client works best during playback.

Of all my clients I like my Rokus best BUT they are also the ones that require the most transcoding.

My Shield almost never requires transcoding BUT it is also the most expensive and has one of the poorest Plex interfaces in the Plex client that comes pre-installed. It also has a built in server that technically works well BUT it has many failing and weaknesses where not the smallest ones are that it does not handle large libraries based of network shares well and it does not transcode some files correctly if hardware transcoding is turned on.

The Shield use gets better if you install Kodi and use Plex for Kodi (requires Plex pass) but even then it is clumsy to use.

Recently I discovered PlexKodiConnect ( https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/210023/plexkodiconnect-let-kodi-talk-to-your-plex/p1 ) and it appears to be the best solution for the Shield. It should NOT be installed on a Shield that uses the regular Plex app or into Kodi if and other Plex addon is installed. It just does not work well if it competes on the Shield with other Plex apps. What it seems to do is make Kodi’s regular interface see the Plex database so you are actually browsing Plex through Kodi giving you all the Kodi features and Skins while having the Plex back end which, for me is vastly superior to Kodi’s.

I have not been testing PlexKodiConnect for long enough to say for sure but the preliminary results are good and, if everything holds up, it may make the Shield’s powerful playback abilities viable for use with Plex.

For the record it seems both HEVC 10bit transcoding and the missing files over smh are fixed in the next ShieldTV firmware, currently in beta.