Will this be enough to rekindle this whole project?
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/
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Ah, if only! Sadly I think Rasplex is an ex-project, bereft of life it rests in peace, etc. etc.
On a brighter note, however:
LibreELEC have apparently had access to the hardware early and have an alpha build already. The hardware is confirmed as capable of 4k60p, HDR and compatible with DTS-HS MA and TrueHD, although Linux kernel support isn’t there yet. So, while the body is able, the mind isn’t yet willing. Give it time…IMHO this could be a Shield killer eventually.
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So will we be able to benefit from the 4k/H.265 support of the R4 with Rasplex in its current version? im assuming not.
Just wondering if its even worth purchasing the R4 as a Plex client if Rasplex is no longer getting updates. Is there any other client software that runs on the Pi that is supported?
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I used to run RasPlex but now I use Plex Media Player (https://www.plex.tv/en-gb/media-server-downloads/?langr=1#plex-app) select the player not server, and choose embedded platforms, then you can select Raspberry Pi, it is running on my Pi2 and has been for a very long time, rock solid, if that’ll run on a Pi4, I’ll Be there.
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Correct, it’s very different hardware and current distros won’t even boot on a 4B. Whoever maintains RasPlex would have to build a new release, based on LibreELEC most likely, when it’s more stable.
edit I see that Plex Media Player embedded is also based on LibreELEC, so the same applies. Everyone will be waiting for LibreELEC to support the new hardware. It would be nice if Plex, as a commercial entity, helped out and fed into the development, though.
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I’m far more excited at the possibility of a Pi 4 as a PMS. It can do accelerated decode of everything up to HEVC 10-bit, which means it can natively decode nearly everything in my collection. So if the software can handle it, this could be a great low-power server that can spin up a bunch of transcode sessions.
Heck, you could add a usb drive and make it the ultimate travel PMS setup for a family. It could send out stuff to tablets, computers, a stick on a TV, etc. You wouldn’t need to worry about the internet speeds either.
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Just replying to add my interest in the pi4 as a PMS and to follow the topic 
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Yes I’d also be very interested in a Pi 4 PMS. Much of my content is direct play but family connects remotely so transcoding a hefty 4k or 1080p file to a more remote friendly 720p would be ideal. Can we tell from the specs if this model will have enough grunt?
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I doubt it would be enough for 4k transcoding (and HDR is still an issue that’s not resolved at all) but you may get away with 1080p->720p transcode. Remember: these devices have hardware decoding, encoding.
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Have installed the latest ARM version of PMS but sadly it doesnt pick up the hardware as cant select it in the settings.
Hopefully there will be a new version soon with the required drivers
For PMS there shouldn’t be any need for driver support as it won’t be doing anything special that’s not mediated by the OS. All access to storage and networking is handled by the underlying OS, so so long as your OS supports all the new stuff on a 4B PMS should “just work”. PMS for linux doesn’t include any drivers, as far as I’m aware, it’s just a server application.
And what about the HW support for transcoding?
Okay, so transcoding involves first decoding the material, then encoding it again in a different format. The RasPi has hardware /de/coding for some formats, but no hardware /en/coding.
Most hardware running PMS that does hardware encoding actually utilises the GPU on high end 3D graphics cards to do it. I don’t believe the RasPi is capable of that.
It seems that it’s possible to get HW-encoding in FFMPEG on RPI as well. Reddit - The heart of the internet
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That’s very interesting, although performance doesn’t look great. You may be able to get away with a single stream 1080p->720p in realtime. But then that’s all on a RasPi 3, I wonder if the 4B will be any better once ffmpeg and libraries are compiled to take advantage? It’s obviously very early days for this hardware and we’ll have to wait and see…
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This would make me so happy, if I could get Plex up and running on a Pi4. My P3 seems ok playing old AVIs but struggles with h264 files.
Really resisiting going back to my old linux laptop, due to the form factor.
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Has anyone already tried playing 4K from RB 4B?
I just moved from RasPlex to OSMC using the Plex Plugin, works really well. Only on a Pi3 right now, but will be trying on a Pi4 once it arrives
See the link in my previous post:
LibreELEC have it working in alpha, but it’s gonna take a while to trickle down to other platforms that use it (i.e. Plex)
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I’m in for Rpi4 as a 4k 10-bit player too. Not interested in it as a server that would be transcoding, but as an AIO travel player, that IS a good idea.
I also agree that some investment in this from Plex would be good for us and for Plex.
@gary_parker Appreciate you summarizing LibreElec and where they are with this. Gathering current info about Plex on RPi is a mess.
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