Cheapest/low power device to run Plex server?

dualmeister said:
It does have another small handy feature. A button that pops up which lets you skips the credits (like Netflix does).
I always wonder how it knows where the credits are.
Click to expand...
Jellyfin has the same thing (at no cost)

The server software, Jellyfin is better in every way than Plex (even with Plex pass).
In fact Plex is about the worst of all these apps, they've given up on the server because they are trying to become a streaming company.
Many of the server software bugs have gone unresolved, they aren't bothering with a lot of the asks from their customers, they aren't improving anything anymore, it is pretty much just kept together with duct tape at this point and they are happy for it to continue that way.

Example:
I'm having trouble playing back some H.265 and HDR content on Plex, plays no problem on Jellyfin (both were tested from web-app).
On Plex it hangs, on Jellyfin it transcodes (I had a plex pass while testing both).

The reason Plex is still widely used is twofold (IMO):
1. People don't know any better
2. Their client software runs on just about every device out there. Jellyfin's client software on web is excellent, Android TV is good, Apple TV is passable at best. Everything else non-existent to absolutely trash. Plex on the other hand has good client software on everything.

I'm not hating on Plex at all, they have their strength due to being the first and having been around for a long time.
But like many defacto monopolies, they've gotten fat and lazy and dropped the ball on making things better.
I used Plex for years upon years and having switched now to Jellyfin and Android TV it is better in every way, Plex pass features included.

If I didn't run Android TV, I'd not have switched however.
 
Gnome said:
Jellyfin has the same thing (at no cost)

The server software, Jellyfin is better in every way than Plex (even with Plex pass).
In fact Plex is about the worst of all these apps, they've given up on the server because they are trying to become a streaming company.
Many of the server software bugs have gone unresolved, they aren't bothering with a lot of the asks from their customers, they aren't improving anything anymore, it is pretty much just kept together with duct tape at this point and they are happy for it to continue that way.

Example:
I'm having trouble playing back some H.265 and HDR content on Plex, plays no problem on Jellyfin (both were tested from web-app).
On Plex it hangs, on Jellyfin it transcodes (I had a plex pass while testing both).

The reason Plex is still widely used is twofold (IMO):
1. People don't know any better
2. Their client software runs on just about every device out there. Jellyfin's client software on web is excellent, Android TV is good, Apple TV is passable at best. Everything else non-existent to absolutely trash. Plex on the other hand has good client software on everything.

I'm not hating on Plex at all, they have their strength due to being the first and having been around for a long time.
But like many defacto monopolies, they've gotten fat and lazy and dropped the ball on making things better.
I used Plex for years upon years and having switched now to Jellyfin and Android TV it is better in every way, Plex pass features included.

If I didn't run Android TV, I'd not have switched however.
Click to expand...
I only installed Jellyfin for my daughter. It took forever to play anything as the free app made you wait 15 seconds before a movie would start.

I personally have no reason to move away from Plex as it has never let me down (touch wood).
 
Gnome said:
Jellyfin has the same thing (at no cost)

The server software, Jellyfin is better in every way than Plex (even with Plex pass).
In fact Plex is about the worst of all these apps, they've given up on the server because they are trying to become a streaming company.
Many of the server software bugs have gone unresolved, they aren't bothering with a lot of the asks from their customers, they aren't improving anything anymore, it is pretty much just kept together with duct tape at this point and they are happy for it to continue that way.

Example:
I'm having trouble playing back some H.265 and HDR content on Plex, plays no problem on Jellyfin (both were tested from web-app).
On Plex it hangs, on Jellyfin it transcodes (I had a plex pass while testing both).

The reason Plex is still widely used is twofold (IMO):
1. People don't know any better
2. Their client software runs on just about every device out there. Jellyfin's client software on web is excellent, Android TV is good, Apple TV is passable at best. Everything else non-existent to absolutely trash. Plex on the other hand has good client software on everything.

I'm not hating on Plex at all, they have their strength due to being the first and having been around for a long time.
But like many defacto monopolies, they've gotten fat and lazy and dropped the ball on making things better.
I used Plex for years upon years and having switched now to Jellyfin and Android TV it is better in every way, Plex pass features included.

If I didn't run Android TV, I'd not have switched however.
Click to expand...
Does Jellyfin have iOS apps or what client of method do you use to stream the media?
 
dualmeister said:
I only installed Jellyfin for my daughter. It took forever to play anything as the free app made you wait 15 seconds before a movie would start.

I personally have no reason to move away from Plex as it has never let me down (touch wood).
Click to expand...
Oh snap, is the Jellyfin app a bit rubbish?
The Plex app is amazing on TvOS it’s so fast and really well designed, easy to use.
 
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dualmeister said:
I only installed Jellyfin for my daughter. It took forever to play anything as the free app made you wait 15 seconds before a movie would start.

I personally have no reason to move away from Plex as it has never let me down (touch wood).
Click to expand...
Long time ago?
Web-app or client app?
Like I said the clients are mostly crap, I would only consider it for the web-app and Android TV.
 
Will also give a shout out to Jellyfin. Used to use Plex but didn't like the direction it was headed. Jellyfin is what Plex used to be.
 
airborne said:
Oh snap, is the Jellyfin papa bit rubbish?
The Plex app is amazing on TvOS it’s so fast and really well designed, easy to use.
Click to expand...
This in a nutshell was my main problem with Plex:
1696875362153.png

My other problem was with some series.
Foundation I have in 4k HDR and Plex refuses to play it (except direct stream).
Jellyfin didn't have any problems transcoding it.

My GPU shouldn't be the problem.

I didn't mind so much that it couldn't play the videos.
What annoys me most is, the load icon spins forever, I go into the logs and it complains about unsupported codec (I believe the chroma depth was the issue, YUV 4:4:4).
Ok so you can't transcode it, but then give me an error, not infinite spiny icon
 
Gnome said:
This in a nutshell was my main problem with Plex:
View attachment 1599656

My other problem was with some series.
Foundation I have in 4k HDR and Plex refuses to play it (except direct stream).
Jellyfin didn't have any problems transcoding it.

My GPU shouldn't be the problem.

I didn't mind so much that it couldn't play the videos.
What annoys me most is, the load icon spins forever, I go into the logs and it complains about unsupported codec (I believe the chroma depth was the issue, YUV 4:4:4).
Ok so you can't transcode it, but then give me an error, not infinite spiny icon
Click to expand...
Why do you need to transcode? Just use direct play and then there are no problems.
 
airborne said:
Does Jellyfin have iOS apps or what client of method do you use to stream the media?
Click to expand...
Their iOS support is weak. Do not recommend at this time, IMO. I'd try again in a year. (it has improved a LOT in the last year, but still not there from what I've heard)
When you say stream media?

Not 100% sure what you mean, but if you mean, wifi vs wired, I'm using wired at present.
If you mean transcode vs direct play, I do both.

My TV is using an Nvidia Shield Pro which is able to direct play nearly everything.
But I have other devices in the house with either smaller screens or browsers that don't support the codecs and those transcode.
(or 4k on a cellphone is hardly useful)

I've downloaded my entire library (24 TiB) in x265/H.265 (mostly RARBG, which has very good rips in x265) in either 1080p or 4k HDR or Dolby Vision.
Either way all of them are playing back fine on all the clients.
Especially the chroma correction option Jellyfin has for transcoding of DV/HDR has been useful for that
 
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Speedster said:
Why do you need to transcode? Just use direct play and then there are no problems.
Click to expand...
Ultimately it is up to the device whether it can Direct Play, post above details the problem :)

1696876074666.png

Let's say I have a lot of media for "testing" purposes
 
Gnome said:
Their iOS support is weak. Do not recommend at this time, IMO. I'd try again in a year. (it has improved a LOT in the last year, but still not there from what I've heard)
When you say stream media?

Not 100% sure what you mean, but if you mean, wifi vs wired, I'm using wired at present.
If you mean transcode vs direct play, I do both.

My TV is using an Nvidia Shield Pro which is able to direct play nearly everything.
But I have other devices in the house with either smaller screens or browsers that don't support the codecs and those transcode.
(or 4k on a cellphone is hardly useful)

I've downloaded my entire library (24 TiB) in x265/H.265 (mostly RARBG, which has very good rips in x265) in either 1080p or 4k HDR or Dolby Vision.
Either way all of them are playing back fine on all the clients.
Especially the chroma correction option Jellyfin has for transcoding of DV/HDR has been useful for that
Click to expand...
I was referring to how good the Jellyfin app is on iOS and tvO, it seems they are not great.
Are there alternative clients for Jellyfin or use VLC as a client?
 
airborne said:
I was referring to how good the Jellyfin app is on iOS and tvO, it seems they are not great.
Are there alternative clients for Jellyfin or use VLC as a client?
Click to expand...
I just tested the iOS app (Jellyfin Mobile) on my Macbook Pro (ARM CPU which can also run iOS software).
Seems ok to me, so maybe give it a try and see if it works for you.

Ultimately only you can decide if it is good enough
 
Is there anyway to watch your Plex content on the actual device that is running the Plex server?
I'm using my main PC to run the server and every now and then I want to watch something I have started watching on Plex previously on the TV or iPad but I can't see anyway to do that
 
airborne said:
Is there anyway to watch your Plex content on the actual device that is running the Plex server?
I'm using my main PC to run the server and every now and then I want to watch something I have started watching on Plex previously on the TV or iPad but I can't see anyway to do that
Click to expand...
You probably just need to open the Plex app on the server (different to the server app).
 
airborne said:
Is there anyway to watch your Plex content on the actual device that is running the Plex server?
I'm using my main PC to run the server and every now and then I want to watch something I have started watching on Plex previously on the TV or iPad but I can't see anyway to do that
Click to expand...
 
airborne said:
Ok that worked, well http://127.0.0.1:32400 is what I used.
I can use the native Plex server app to access everything but is there any windows apps that can access the Plex server so I don't need to open a browser?
Click to expand...
Stable genius that I am.. Plex makes their own Windows app to access the server, works great and uses the same familiar interface as all the other Plex apps:
www.plex.tv

Downloads

Click here to Download the Plex media server for Windows, Mac, Linux FreeBSD and more free today.
www.plex.tv www.plex.tv
 
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