plex transcoding issues

[towncarblue]

my friend has a plex setup in his bedroom. all of his files are 1080p mkv.
its on a pc with a Intel Pentium G2030 and a HD5450 video card. 4gb ram
he has his pc hooked up to a tv via extended desktop. all of the videos play fine. he has plex on his own network only

my friend recently got himself a vizio e60-c3 hdtv for his living room.
we opened the plex app {tv} and tried to play videos from his bedroom. the
videos would start playing and then freeze . i went home and got my smart blu-ray player , same issue
i went home and got my ASUS RT-AC56U [ his is a verizon modem/router with only 802.11g speeds } to check the wifi signal. it wasnt the router.

i noticed that his cpu usage would jump to 99% and stay there until the vizio
video would freeze. ( it would take 30 seconds to 6 minutes)
i think his pc is not powerful enough to transcode the video and send it to his living room.

what options does he have ?
should he just upgrade his cpu and mobo ?
or
should he get a chromebox and install plex home theater ? i think the chromebox should do its own transcoding , not sure though ?

 

[13thmonkey]

I found that even 100Mbit network speeds weren't enough for uncompressed 1080p mkv's so transcoding over non Gbe networks is a must IMO

 

[Emanuel Elmo]

my friend has a plex setup in his bedroom. all of his files are 1080p mkv.
its on a pc with a Intel Pentium G2030 and a HD5450 video card. 4gb ram
he has his pc hooked up to a tv via extended desktop. all of the videos play fine. he has plex on his own network only

my friend recently got himself a vizio e60-c3 hdtv for his living room.
we opened the plex app {tv} and tried to play videos from his bedroom. the
videos would start playing and then freeze . i went home and got my smart blu-ray player , same issue
i went home and got my ASUS RT-AC56U [ his is a verizon modem/router with only 802.11g speeds } to check the wifi signal. it wasnt the router.

i noticed that his cpu usage would jump to 99% and stay there until the vizio
video would freeze. ( it would take 30 seconds to 6 minutes)
i think his pc is not powerful enough to transcode the video and send it to his living room.

what options does he have ?
should he just upgrade his cpu and mobo ?
or
should he get a chromebox and install plex home theater ? i think the chromebox should do its own transcoding , not sure though ?

or he can convert his content to Plex specification where the plex server does not transcode this media.
or he needs to go into the plex server setting and set how the CPU transcodes media.

All of this can be found on plex forums

I, personally, have never use anything less than a i7 to transcode files on the fly.

Transcoding takes a big portion of the CPU to do. You are not only doing the video file but you can be doing the audio as well.

good luck sir

 

[towncarblue]

what is the plex specification ?? mp4 / H.264 ?

also , he has an extensive list of videos. i dont think recoding all those videos
is an option .

will a roku 3 direct play or will the pc have to transcode ?

 

[Emanuel Elmo]

what is the plex specification ?? mp4 / H.264 ?

also , he has an extensive list of videos. i dont think recoding all those videos
is an option .

will a roku 3 direct play or will the pc have to transcode ?

I apologize for the lack of response.

here are some things from the plex support page
CPU needed for transcodes: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201774043-What-kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-computer-

Direct play, Direct Stream, and Transcode Differences: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201566396-How-are-Direct-Play-Direct-Stream-and-Transcoding-different-

Supported Media Formats on XBOX ONE: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/203824396-What-media-formats-are-supported-

Supported media Formats on XBOX 360: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/204103633-What-media-formats-are-supported-

Supported Media Formats on Playstation: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/204377253-What-media-formats-are-supported-

Supported formats on Smart TV: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/203810286-What-media-formats-are-supported-

Supported Roku Boxes: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/204151098-What-models-are-supported-for-the-Plex-for-Roku-channel-

If you use plex media server to stream to a roku box or to another pc, yes it will transcode unless the media matches plex specs.

You can see if the media is being transcoded or not by logginginto the plex account, looking under actives, and than hitting the info button and it will tell you what it is doing.

Also, the plex forums are filled with a lot of knowledgeable people and are always willing to help. The technical team frequents the forums and give solutions to problems when they arise. I love plex and use it all the time. Cheers!!!!

 

[towncarblue]

well...
i took my chromebox to my friends house today, after i logged in to my friends account i started playing some of his videos.
it worked flawlessly. his pc was not strained because the chromebox did all the work. i went and got my samsung blu ray player
and it also worked flawlessly .
the issue turned out to be the vizio tv and his sony blu-ray player. now he has a smart tv and he cant do what he wants with it......
LOL