why can I watch my HD homerun app on my windows 10 server without problems but if I try and watch the same channel through plex DVR my CPU goes 95 % and I buffer every 30 sec or so?
please help thanks.
fvf
Because Plex DVR and client software is not programmed the same (as well as?) the HDHomeRun software…
Actually because Plex DVR is a train wreck due to not thinking out the system properly…
DVR is basically useless as a reliable recorded let alone an OTA viewer.
@fvfarrell said:
why can I watch my HD homerun app on my windows 10 server without problems but if I try and watch the same channel through plex DVR my CPU goes 95 % and I buffer every 30 sec or so?please help thanks.
fvf
The reason is that unless you do the mpeg2 to h264 recording for plex dvr…the final file is a mpeg 2 ts. Many of plex’s clients can’t accept this format and reencode to h264. HDHOMERUN app runs natively without transcoding so it doesn’t use cpu. What kind of cpu do you ahve in your windows 10 server?
Core 2 duo. 3.0 GHz 6 gig ram SSD drive windows 10 64 bit.
I wish Plex could allow us to bypass the DVR part and just have playback if I want to.
It is weird that the local computer that is the server can not play cleanly and all my rokus the same but my note 5 running Plex can run cleanly. My guessed it was the hard drive not keeping up the buffer so I put in a SSD but same problem.
Thanks
Fvf
Well if you have HDHomeRun tuners why even bother with PLEX when it does not even support sharing or multiple devices. I use HDHomerun DVR and point PLex to the folders only to watch remotely … at home I use the HDHomerun clients or KODI.
How do I use the HD home run from my phone when I’m away from home?
Also the DVR is not something that I use very much but that part of Plex has been working ok. It is the watching real time and the backing up 30 sec. Or just trying to watch a show where Plex buffers.
My HD home run dose not have the DVR account active. I don’t want a monthly fee.
Thanks
Fvf
You would have to use plex when away from home, hdhomerun only works on home network, just note hdhomerun DVR not a monthly fee it’s 35.00 a year.
@fvfarrell said:
How do I use the HD home run from my phone when I’m away from home?
Also the DVR is not something that I use very much but that part of Plex has been working ok. It is the watching real time and the backing up 30 sec. Or just trying to watch a show where Plex buffers.
My HD home run dose not have the DVR account active. I don’t want a monthly fee.Thanks
Fvf
I said that I point Plex to the HDHomeRun recordings for watching remotely the PLEX DVR is unreliable. EMBY is a better option if you want to use the same APP for media and DVR… bottom line is that PLEX does not support the HDHomeRun devices the way they are meant to be used. They are designed to be shared among many APPS and PLEX assumes they have full control of them and all this does is cause failures.
@fvfarrell said:
Core 2 duo. 3.0 GHz 6 gig ram SSD drive windows 10 64 bit.I wish Plex could allow us to bypass the DVR part and just have playback if I want to.
It is weird that the local computer that is the server can not play cleanly and all my rokus the same but my note 5 running Plex can run cleanly. My guessed it was the hard drive not keeping up the buffer so I put in a SSD but same problem.
Thanks
Fvf
No that’s not it…your computer is not fast enough to re-encode. Your phone can play mpeg2 natively so it is…Roku and the computer player you are using cannot - if your core 2 duo is this one or similar (because you didn’t specify beyond GHz) PassMark - Intel Core2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz - Price performance comparison - you have a score of 2000 passmark…which is enough to do a single 1080p transcode…and any other usage on the computer makes it do less than that
So on Android you can just use the HDHomeRun app…roku does not have one due to the mpeg2 issues. You are best off upgrading your computer as that hardware will not be good enough for almost anything plex related. You should take a look at the i5-8400 if you are going to take the plunge or one of the AMD chips that are slightly cheaper.
I get your issue with many things not playing the stream…you may also want to take a look at the hdhomerun tuner that automatically hardware encodes to h264
I see, that’s a drag about the CPU. I will see if the MB will take a faster CPU.
Thanks
Fvf
@mcrommert said:
@fvfarrell said:
Core 2 duo. 3.0 GHz 6 gig ram SSD drive windows 10 64 bit.I wish Plex could allow us to bypass the DVR part and just have playback if I want to.
It is weird that the local computer that is the server can not play cleanly and all my rokus the same but my note 5 running Plex can run cleanly. My guessed it was the hard drive not keeping up the buffer so I put in a SSD but same problem.
Thanks
FvfNo that’s not it…your computer is not fast enough to re-encode. Your phone can play mpeg2 natively so it is…Roku and the computer player you are using cannot - if your core 2 duo is this one or similar (because you didn’t specify beyond GHz) PassMark - Intel Core2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz - Price performance comparison - you have a score of 2000 passmark…which is enough to do a single 1080p transcode…and any other usage on the computer makes it do less than that
So on Android you can just use the HDHomeRun app…roku does not have one due to the mpeg2 issues. You are best off upgrading your computer as that hardware will not be good enough for almost anything plex related. You should take a look at the i5-8400 if you are going to take the plunge or one of the AMD chips that are slightly cheaper.
I get your issue with many things not playing the stream…you may also want to take a look at the hdhomerun tuner that automatically hardware encodes to h264
I have one followup to what you have said, I understand that my computer is under powered but what I don’t understand is on my computer, that is the plex server.
If I try to view a live show in plex it buffers and my CPU meter is at 92 to 95 But if I view that same channel in the HDhomerun app on the same computer my CPU meter goes no more then 50%. I would think if my system is under powered for playback only it would be the same for both programs on the same system.
The only difference I can see is the Plex playback ( within the server), is doing background recording to give me rewind and that was my logic in getting a SSD drive for Plex to write to.
That was also my logic in asking for a software switch to just pass the video along without trans-coding basically giving a Homerun playback app to devices that don’t have one and if those devices can’t playback the stream because of the format so be it.
If you can help me understand this I would be grateful.
fvf
Plex uses the client device video player for streaming content. So if the client video player is unable to handle the format of a video, whether Live TV or some recording, then the Server must transcode the content before sending to the client device. On my FireTV or Shield I get Direct Play so the Plex Server is not having to transcode the content.
If I try viewing from my Roku the Plex Server has to transcode since the Roku is unable to Direct Play the content.
From what I understand the HDHR app has built their own player software from what I understand.
I see what your saying on external devices but my misunderstanding is why plex server, playing a live feed with in its self can’t play but the hd app can play. Is it the background recording or plex inefficiencies.
Just to be clear my steps below.
Plex
1 Open plex server on a windows 10 computer
2. Click home at the top left of the screen.
3. Scroll down on the left side to where it says Program Guide, click
4. Select a on right now show.
5. Plays for 30 sec and then buffers with CPU at 95 %
HDhomerun app
- Go tp start
- Scroll down to hd homerun app
- Select app
- System plays great CPU 43%
Why?
Thanks
Fvf
You are using two different programs/apps for playback (e.g. you’re comparing apples and oranges). One is really good at it and one is not. Which is which is left as an exercise for the reader. Hint: “plex inefficiencies” is one way of putting it.
Because the web browser does not support mpeg2video so must be transcoded.
If I view a Live TV stream from that is mpeg2 coming from one of my HDHR Connect devices attached to my primary Plex server. I see that the Server is transcoding mpeg2video to h264:
In Task Manager I can see the Plex Transcoder process is running at 20% up to around 34% while I was watching it.
If I watch the same show from my Shield TV connect to my HDHR Extend set to Highest Quality I see that the Server is transcoding h264 to H264 (hw). The reason is the Extend is converting the incoming stream from the antenna from mpeg2video to H264 but at the Highest Quality setting is not deinterlacing the frames so the Plex Server must do the transcoding to deinterlace the video for the web browser.
If I look at Task Manager during this video stream I do not even see the Plex Transcoder process since the conversion is being done by the hardware and not a software transcode.
On your computer you are still using a client (web browser) to view the Live TV. If the client does not support the native stream coming from the HDHR device Plex must do a transcode.
I see, thank you
I’m not trying to sling mud on Plex. I am happy with my server and it has done better then others i’ve tried. I just felt like I’m out here swinging in the wind trying to make something work that is not possible with my system as is.
So to recap.
My Roku needs transcoding from homerun connect video format to what Roku wants to see and my system can’t keep up.
Plex server can’t playback a live stream as efficient as the Homerun app locally and that could be because of forced transcoding.
Thanks
Fvf
Thank you for your response.
So the web browser is the defacto device
And it needs transcoding.
That makes sense.
Well that clears it up for me.
Lastly if I sold my homerun connect and and get an homerun extend would my
Roku be happy with h264 and would my Note 5 be any more happy with h264?
Also giving plex no extra load.
Thanks
Fvf
On Tue, Feb 6, 2018, 9:40 AM johnm_ColaSC forums+d305712-s6025034@plex.tv
wrote:
Plex Forums https://forums.plex.tv/
johnm_ColaSC answered your question: Why can i watch my HD home run app on
my windows 10 server without problems BUT.Because the web browser does not support mpeg2video so must be transcoded.
If I view a Live TV stream from that is mpeg2 coming from one of my HDHR
Connect devices attached to my primary Plex server. I see that the Server
is transcoding mpeg2video to h264:In Task Manager I can see the Plex Transcoder process is running at 20%
up to around 34% while I was watching it.If I watch the same show from my Shield TV connect to my HDHR Extend set
to Highest Quality I see that the Server is transcoding h264 to H264 (hw).
The reason is the Extend is converting the incoming stream from the antenna
from mpeg2video to H264 but at the Highest Quality setting is not
deinterlacing the frames so the Plex Server must do the transcoding to
deinterlace the video for the web browser.If I look at Task Manager during this video stream I do not even see the
Plex Transcoder process since the conversion is being done by the hardware
and not a software transcode.On your computer you are still using a client (web browser) to view the
Live TV. If the client does not support the native stream coming from the
HDHR device Plex must do a transcode.–
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That would depend on what each device can handle. With my iPhone I found I needed to reduce the Extend settings from Highest Quality to Medium Quality (540p) to be able to reliably stream Live TV when away from home, in the house it seems to work with High Quality selected don’t recall what it did with Highest Quality selected. I would think that the Roku would be happier with a h264 stream but you would probably need to reduce the Extend setting to High Quality to get the Extend to deinterlace the stream before streaming. I am not sure what this would do on the Roku but can try to test tonight when I get home from work. I don’t have a Note 5 but I see that you mentioned it working fine earlier in this thread. With it being an Android device that is what I would have expected. Both the Fire TV and Shield that I have at home play content from Plex fine for me with no transcoding on the server. Even the 1080i content is deinterlaced at the device from what I recall.
There are a few moving parts, right? Remote streaming will not only depend on the server’s ability to transcode and the client’s ability to access Live TV but also on your upload bandwidth speed if you’re streaming remotely…
