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From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

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Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#291

Post by pwinnski »

Vrondi wrote: post #279
irusensei wrote: post #174

I’ve stopped using Plex-like stuff. I don’t really need it because transcoding isn’t as relevant as it was before. Pretty much every device I own can play h265 without CPU overhead. What I’m doing is basically a Samba file share + Infuse/Kodi. Thats it. You pretty much get the same results. Infuse can sync between devices using cloud sync and trackt, which can be used through a hide-my-mail account. Kodi can sync wat…

Yeah, I haven't needed transcoding since I was watching stuff streamed from my PC to my PS2. The entire existence of Plex, I've been confused about why so many people thought they needed transcoding, because even low end devices can play most media just fine without it for many years now.

Maybe I can help with your confusion: zero percent of the reason I use Plex is for transcoding. It's a wonderful library-management tool with sharing for remote users and clients for every platform.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#292

Post by onlycoffee »

aikinai wrote: post #199
KyeRussell wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expecting that the typical user wants to use a streaming service, and deprioritising development of tools/components that target other workflows, is not user-hostile. It is clearly the way things are, and the nerds are being dragged kicking and screaming.

Amen. I'm 100% in the old-school, self-managed local media camp, but I'm well aware that I'm an extreme minority and can't expect mass-market companies to cater to my use case. I'm probably one of the last 1,000 people still using Apple Home Sharing, but honestly I can't even believe it's still working. There must be someone on the inside that uses it at home and keeps fixing it whenever the architecture shifts aroun…

> I'm 100% in the old-school, self-managed local media camp, but I'm well aware that I'm an extreme minority and can't expect mass-market companies to cater to my use case.

We are now the Eloi and mass-market companies are the Morlocks.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#293

Post by onlycoffee »

philistine wrote: post #262
abawany wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend VLC - works well on windows, ios, macos, and android and frankly improves over the native players in each without unnecessary frills.

VLC’s UI and shortcuts make it a poor macOS citizen. IINA, which is custom-made for Mac, is a much better fit.

MacOS dumb UI choices like a global menu make it a a poor UX OS. VLC has it right.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#294

Post by pwinnski »

z9znz wrote: post #224

I don't really understand storing lots of common media. Storing your own photos I get, since only you have them. But how many times do you watch the same movies/shows over again? Storing music makes a bit more sense, at least if you had the original media and it was ripped well. But that doesn't take much space at all; nowdays you can easily fit a huge music collection on a small storage device or even just in your p…

You might not have noticed how many shows and movies have disappeared from streaming services over the last few years, but many people have.

At the end of 2016, Netflix has 4335 movies, in May 2021 they had 3622. If what you wanted to watch was one of those 713 movies, you might have been inspired to think, hey, maybe I don't want to rely on byzantine licensing agreements.

In addition, while several people are fixated on transcoding on this page, for reasons unclear to me, one hugely popular feature of Plex is sharing libraries with others, so you can grant your parents access to your library. It's not necessarily just "you" watching movies and show over again.

True story: Friday night I was at happy hour with former coworkers, and I brought up the movie _Attack the Block_. Turns out it's not available on any streaming service. Not a single one! You know where it is available? My Plex sever.

And that movie is worth watching again.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#295

Post by onlycoffee »

NickRandom wrote: post #270
Liquix wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all commercial software is the devil, but money is the root of all evil. Rember Big G's old slogan before they were beholden to shareholders? Given Plex already employs multiple dark patterns in an attempt to obtain your email address, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't slide down the same slippery slope if they got bigger.

As a side note - the original quote isn't in fact 'money is the root of all evil' rather the quote says 'it is the lack of money that is the root of all evil'. A subtle difference I'll grant you but one that makes a huge difference to understanding and empathy imo. [Edit to Expand] The original Hebrew text says it is the 'desire to possess money' that has somehow become mistranslated into 'love of money' rather than…

Wrong. deckiedan and swat535 have it correct. Scarcity of money isn't evil, being poor isn't evil. People survived fine for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years before the concept of money existed. It's about the evil of coveting what your neighbor has so bad it can lead to evil actions.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#296

Post by PenguinCoder »

Vrondi wrote: post #279
irusensei wrote: post #174

I’ve stopped using Plex-like stuff. I don’t really need it because transcoding isn’t as relevant as it was before. Pretty much every device I own can play h265 without CPU overhead. What I’m doing is basically a Samba file share + Infuse/Kodi. Thats it. You pretty much get the same results. Infuse can sync between devices using cloud sync and trackt, which can be used through a hide-my-mail account. Kodi can sync wat…

Yeah, I haven't needed transcoding since I was watching stuff streamed from my PC to my PS2. The entire existence of Plex, I've been confused about why so many people thought they needed transcoding, because even low end devices can play most media just fine without it for many years now.

I use Jellyfin and my primary device for watching content is a Roku TV. It has to transcode quite a few different formats. Roku TCL TV apparently has issues playing certain MKV and AVI files. Regardless of transcoding settings in jellyfin, the Roku _refuses_ to play any MKV with S_TEXT/UTF8 subtitles. Errors out on playback. Using ffmpeg to JUST remove the subtitles via `-vcodec copy -acodec copy -sn`, the resulting copied codecs file plays just fine on the Roku.

Pretty annoying though.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#297

Post by PenguinCoder »

dylan604 wrote: post #89
russelg wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't want to pay for Plex then you don't have hardware transcoding. This is of course free in Jellyfin.

Who has hardware for transcoding any more, and what hardware is modern for that? Last dedicated hardware encoder I used was bad old days of MPEG2 for DVDs, but that went the way of the dodo when MPEG2 went native to the CPU. Never used hardware for h.264/5. I guess there was a board for J2k doing realtime lossless, but that was 2010ish. So I'm legit curious what hardware transcoding looks like today, and that Plex ch…

I use hardware transcoding, and don't want to pay the 'Plex Tax' for doing so. It was pretty simple to configure Jellyfin with hardware transcoding. I use an Nvidia Quadro P400, which can transcode nearly anything thrown at it.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#299

Post by digitalnomad91 »

thejman5200 wrote: post #27
digitalnomad91 wrote: post #15

I actually run Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin. I would like to only run Jellyfin, but unfortunately some devices will not have jellyfin, but will have plex and/or emby. The main reason I personally still use Plex (or sometimes Emby) even though I am running Jellyfin with all the exact same stuff -- is because Jellyfin sucks at live TV / iptv. It's interface is complete trash and I can't seem to get a good "guide" going lik…

How do you manage the metadata between all the services? Seems like a huge headache to keep them all correct and updated

It's all automated for each one, and yeah they write the metadata into the folder. I have Radarr/Sonarr/Prowlarr + Ombi + rtorrent, which pretty much automates everything. I just type in what I want and it shows up in all 3 a minute or two later. Sonarr also keeps track of TV schedules, so if it's a new show that is still airing it automatically shows up when a torrent of it becomes available.

Re: From Plex to Jellyfin Media Server

#300

Post by snoopy_telex »

dylan604 wrote: post #124
snoopy_telex wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a GPU to get smooth 4k sources streaming to my devices.

Why are you having to do realtime transcoding for streaming to devices? Why not just have a streaming version? Transcode one time at whatever speed, then it's ready for you whenever you want it anytime after that? Not that you can't do whatever you want to do with your own gear or anything. I've just never understood the desire for realtime encoding for everything

Really, I have multiple end profiles that are possible.

1. My phone 2. My wife's phone 3. My Tablet 4. My TV

They each have different screen geometries and even my tablet has two profiles really, local streaming at home or playing downloaded media on trips.

So I could transcode everything to 5 different formats and store it, or just transcode on demand and not worry about it.

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