Plex Remux vs Transcode

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Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#1388486 16-Sep-2015 12:33

Oblivian:
Paul1977:
Oblivian: I take it you don't have a reasonably new smart tv? I would have thought file limitations are almost a thing of the past with the built in media players these days.

I have a 2012/13 Panasonic plasma - use Kodi as a media store/library on a couple of devices, enable the uPnP sharing and browse using the built in player. Almost everything I throw at my tv is played native with no modification/caching/muxing etc. Including multi channel audio streams out to the amp.
http://kodi.wiki/view/UPnP/Server

Worth a test before spending more money.

I do have a reasonably new smart TV Panasonic Plasma VT50 (possibly the same as yours). While it supports most file formats it stretches widescreen movies (1920x800) vertically to fit the full screen (1920x1080).

Yep, ST50.

And also, odd.

Just double checked with Kodi streaming, I have 3 aspect options. Of which Aspect1 is the default and I see bars on WS data. Seems to fit to width only. Aspect2 (change in options while playing) fills to top of screen. And original, which does some odd shrink

It's been ages since I looked, but I'm pretty sure that no matter what I did I couldn't get it letterboxed to correct the aspect ratio. And I don't think they've ever release a firmware update for it either.

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1388556 16-Sep-2015 14:46

Paul1977:
Oblivian:
Paul1977:
Oblivian: I take it you don't have a reasonably new smart tv? I would have thought file limitations are almost a thing of the past with the built in media players these days.

I have a 2012/13 Panasonic plasma - use Kodi as a media store/library on a couple of devices, enable the uPnP sharing and browse using the built in player. Almost everything I throw at my tv is played native with no modification/caching/muxing etc. Including multi channel audio streams out to the amp.
http://kodi.wiki/view/UPnP/Server

Worth a test before spending more money.

I do have a reasonably new smart TV Panasonic Plasma VT50 (possibly the same as yours). While it supports most file formats it stretches widescreen movies (1920x800) vertically to fit the full screen (1920x1080).

Yep, ST50.

And also, odd.

Just double checked with Kodi streaming, I have 3 aspect options. Of which Aspect1 is the default and I see bars on WS data. Seems to fit to width only. Aspect2 (change in options while playing) fills to top of screen. And original, which does some odd shrink

It's been ages since I looked, but I'm pretty sure that no matter what I did I couldn't get it letterboxed to correct the aspect ratio. And I don't think they've ever release a firmware update for it either.

Sounds like you're after a silver bullet solution. In my experience there will be compromises all over the place.

I for my part am very happy with a two device solution'

- Roku (or in my other room a Sony BD player) for the main streaming video e.g. Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, Amazon and they do DD+ which is really what you want now for the best in streaming audio
- Popcorn Hour for all other content locally. The Popcorn can't do H.265 (well perhaps the newer ones can) but are one of the few media players that can stream MKV content with audio as DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby True HD. If you are ripping your own BD's to put on the network, you will want to retain the lossless audio. The Popcorn also does FLAC and AAC 6 channel.

I also do have Kodi on a Pi2 but not sure it can do lossless audio

My 2 cents anyway.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#1388817 17-Sep-2015 08:52

lchiu7:
Paul1977:
Oblivian:
Paul1977:
Oblivian: I take it you don't have a reasonably new smart tv? I would have thought file limitations are almost a thing of the past with the built in media players these days.

I have a 2012/13 Panasonic plasma - use Kodi as a media store/library on a couple of devices, enable the uPnP sharing and browse using the built in player. Almost everything I throw at my tv is played native with no modification/caching/muxing etc. Including multi channel audio streams out to the amp.
http://kodi.wiki/view/UPnP/Server

Worth a test before spending more money.

I do have a reasonably new smart TV Panasonic Plasma VT50 (possibly the same as yours). While it supports most file formats it stretches widescreen movies (1920x800) vertically to fit the full screen (1920x1080).

Yep, ST50.

And also, odd.

Just double checked with Kodi streaming, I have 3 aspect options. Of which Aspect1 is the default and I see bars on WS data. Seems to fit to width only. Aspect2 (change in options while playing) fills to top of screen. And original, which does some odd shrink

It's been ages since I looked, but I'm pretty sure that no matter what I did I couldn't get it letterboxed to correct the aspect ratio. And I don't think they've ever release a firmware update for it either.

Sounds like you're after a silver bullet solution. In my experience there will be compromises all over the place.

I for my part am very happy with a two device solution'

- Roku (or in my other room a Sony BD player) for the main streaming video e.g. Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, Amazon and they do DD+ which is really what you want now for the best in streaming audio
- Popcorn Hour for all other content locally. The Popcorn can't do H.265 (well perhaps the newer ones can) but are one of the few media players that can stream MKV content with audio as DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby True HD. If you are ripping your own BD's to put on the network, you will want to retain the lossless audio. The Popcorn also does FLAC and AAC 6 channel.

I also do have Kodi on a Pi2 but not sure it can do lossless audio

My 2 cents anyway.

I've been after a silver bullet for years, never found one though.

WDTV Live is great for supporting pretty much any file, but is disappointing in almost every other respect.

Was playing with Raspberry Pi 2 last night, not overly impressed but haven't had a really good play with it. And I know Netflix is problematic on it.

lchiu7

6470 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1389067 17-Sep-2015 14:14

I've been after a silver bullet for years, never found one though.

WDTV Live is great for supporting pretty much any file, but is disappointing in almost every other respect.

Was playing with Raspberry Pi 2 last night, not overly impressed but haven't had a really good play with it. And I know Netflix is problematic on it.

At the risk of going OT I tried to get Netflix running on the Pi and got nowhere. I am sure it can be done but there are much better solutions out there including the Roku and even apps on a smart TV.

I built Kodi on a Pi out of academic interest but that's all it was. It would not be my main device for anything to do with video streaming.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

dwknight

74 posts

Master Geek

#1389073 17-Sep-2015 14:27

There is an app on iOS called Infuse which can play un-remuxed mkv files both on the device and via streaming to the current Apple TV via Airplay. They have already announced that the app will be coming to the new Apple TV, so I don't see any need for remuxing your files if you plan on getting a new Apple TV.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1389244 17-Sep-2015 18:59

Like you, I love the compatibility of my WD Lives, but find their interface and other functionality increasingly below par.

I have a small android box (Minix X8H) which I haven't had the time to make much use of yet. However, it seems zippy and versatile, and comes with an optimised version of XBMC pre-installed.

My NAS supports Plex. Once I get around to scraping the metadata for the disks I have ripped to the NAS, I'm planning to try the PleXBMC, which should integrate Plex and full metadata etc with the android box. If that works, it's a couple more android boxes for the other rooms, and the WD units will be pensioned off.

However, given other things on, I suspect it will be a Christmas project.

(I'm also very interested if anyone has tried to use PleXBMC on an android box)

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#1389564 18-Sep-2015 09:45

dwknight: There is an app on iOS called Infuse which can play un-remuxed mkv files both on the device and via streaming to the current Apple TV via Airplay. They have already announced that the app will be coming to the new Apple TV, so I don't see any need for remuxing your files if you plan on getting a new Apple TV.

If this allows streaming from PC direct to the new Apple TV then I'll definitely be interested.

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