Why do I need Plex or Kodi

[Guest]

P. S. I am not judging Plex or Kodi I am genuinely interested in knowing about this as i am very very new to this field. 

So apart from the convenience that all of my media is on one single application why do I need Plex or Kodi. Googling around a bit these applications are in categories of media players which basically allow you to watch the media content you own whether be it movie, pictures or songs. But where do you obtain such media in a legal way to watch and enjoy. Because all of the movies and music are not streamable a lot of it is but not all so how do you obtain these. And in a perfect world if let's say a streaming service like Netflix has everything you can possibly stream in a simple user interface will there still be any point to Plex and kodi. 

[Dedayog]

"And in a perfect world if let's say a streaming service like Netflix has everything you can possibly stream in a simple user interface will there still be any point to Plex and kodi.  "

 

This makes no sense at all.  If Kroger had all the food you needed, why would you need a garden?

 

Plex/Kodi play all YOUR stuff, no matter how you got it.  They provide a Netflix-like interface to organize and catalog it, making it nice and easy for you to peruse and then pick something to watch or listen to.

 

They have streaming services as an additional service but their main use is what I said above.

 

Uhm, where do you obtain legal media to watch and listen to?  Burn your CD's and DVD's to your computer or server, for example.  Download purchases from the internet, etc.

 

Go to Walmart and buy $1000 worth of $5 DVDs

[mamamia88]

2 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

"And in a perfect world if let's say a streaming service like Netflix has everything you can possibly stream in a simple user interface will there still be any point to Plex and kodi.  "

 

This makes no sense at all.  If Kroger had all the food you needed, why would you need a garden?

 

Plex/Kodi play all YOUR stuff, no matter how you got it.  They provide a Netflix-like interface to organize and catalog it, making it nice and easy for you to peruse and then pick something to watch or listen to.

 

They have streaming services as an additional service but their main use is what I said above.

 

Uhm, where do you obtain legal media to watch and listen to?  Burn your CD's and DVD's to your computer or server, for example.  Download purchases from the internet, etc.

 

Go to Walmart and buy $1000 worth of $5 DVDs

Go to goodwill on half price day and buy $100 worth of 50 cent dvds.

[Guest]

I have no experience with Plex or Kodi but I am gravitated towards Plex. But I had no idea what so ever where to get the content for it and looks like it has to be the hard way with cds :c

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Caroline said:

 

I use VLC

Where do you get full quality versions with crime. It's only 720p and sometimes 1080p and on 4k TV it looks like dog poop

[Tristerin]

37 minutes ago, Caroline said:

idk 

lolol

[Dedayog]

47 minutes ago, Agent Crimson said:

Where do you get full quality versions with crime. It's only 720p and sometimes 1080p and on 4k TV it looks like dog poop

Upscaling on a 4K screen is fantastic.

 

My PLEX looks great with 720p or 1080p content.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, jstudrawa said:

Upscaling on a 4K screen is fantastic.

 

My PLEX looks great with 720p or 1080p content.

I don't know man I have a LG Qledled 55inch 4k and a 75 inch Oled 4k and 1080p and 4k content is noticeable differenciable I dont know if i am picky but I can clearly see if the difference in content. And I know streaming also does not have all 4k content I am still whiney

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, Agent Crimson said:

I don't know man I have a LG Qledled 55inch 4k and a 75 inch Oled 4k and 1080p and 4k content is noticeable differenciable I dont know if i am picky but I can clearly see if the difference in content. And I know streaming also does not have all 4k content I am still whiney

Maybe go into your settings.  70 Inch LG here, not OLED tho. MAybe that's your difference.  But I can't see OLED not upscaling properly.

[Tsuki]

i use plex because it lets me watch and record live ota tv. and i can watch all my media from my phone, or laptop while im at work. and my i can share my library so my friends can watch everything at their house too.

plex also now has its own movies and tv that they host which is pretty cool.

[Roswell]

1 hour ago, jstudrawa said:

Maybe go into your settings.  70 Inch LG here, not OLED tho. MAybe that's your difference.  But I can't see OLED not upscaling properly.

Native 4K just looks way better. 

[Donut417]

4 hours ago, Agent Crimson said:

Plex

Plex has a lot of features:

1) its can do on the fly transcoding if your server has enough power 

2) You can use it as a DVR 

        For example: Using an HDHR to capture OTA TV signal and Plex can record TV

3) It works on mutiple devices. Windows, Linux, MacOS, Phones, Tablets, Firesticks, Roku's, ect. 

4) I doesnt only do video, you can also share music, it also allows you to upload pictures from mobile devices and such. 

5) Its a DIY solution. Plex servers can be about anything. Raspberry pi's, Intel NUC's, Old Gaming PC's, you can use off the shelf NAS, or if you run a Free NAS system there is an option to install Plex. A plex setup is very customisable and you build it to suit your needs. 

 

My family uses plex because running and wiring up a Outdoor OTA antenna is not really in the cards. I get great reception in my bedroom and I can use the HDHR to capture up to 4 streams at a time. With Plex, my mom, dad and me can set up our own recordings. Eventually Id like to digitize more of my DVD's and maybe Blurays if I ever get a Bluray disk drive. 

[Dedayog]

48 minutes ago, Vitamanic said:

Native 4K just looks way better. 

Uhm, correct?

[Roswell]

25 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Uhm, correct?

/shrug

 

You replied to a guy saying he could clearly see a difference between native 4K and 1080p and said to check his upscaler options.

 

I'm just pointing out that that native 4K just looks better, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your TV if you can tell the difference.

[Dedayog]

1 hour ago, Vitamanic said:

/shrug

 

You replied to a guy saying he could clearly see a difference between native 4K and 1080p and said to check his upscaler options.

 

I'm just pointing out that that native 4K just looks better, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your TV if you can tell the difference.

I was saying that upscaling looks decent, as he mentioned his looks like "dog poop".

 

Huge difference in being able to tell non-native 4K vs 4K rather than looking like shit.

 

Upscaling properly will produce good to very good images.  That's why I told him to check.

[mamamia88]

Why don't you need it? It's great. 

[mamamia88]

7 hours ago, Agent Crimson said:

Where do you get full quality versions with crime. It's only 720p and sometimes 1080p and on 4k TV it looks like dog poop

RARBG has an option to sort by 4k and above. Not sure I'm allowed to say that. 

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, Agent Crimson said:

will there still be any point to Plex and kodi. 

Netflix does a bit of compression on the 4K streams. I mean you only need 25Mbps for 4K, HOWEVER reading over at the Plex forums and it has been stated that streaming 4K off a Plex server you can see network usage over 100 Mbps. Because Blurays offer the best quality you can do. So if you do a high quality rip from a 4K disk, your pretty much going to have better qualtiy than streaming from Netflix. 

 

There is also the other issue. Data caps, streaming 4K uses a lot of data. You know what wont use your data? Streaming from a Plex server on your network. Well it does use a bit of data, for TV guide info if you use the DVR part and to get info about movies, but your talking a miniscule amount of data. 

[TetraSky]

You can always buy a Blu ray or DVD and rip it on your PC for personal usage (which is legal in Canada, regardless of the FBI warning as long as you don't share or profit from it) to get a digital copy of it... This has the advantage of higher quality overall, though it might not be distinguishable depending how far you sit from the TV and how you've ripped it.

 

As for songs, I know for a fact that you can download them legally on the Google Play Music Store. Dunno about digital movies, but there's likely ways to download them legally, too.

 

Then there's the whole home videos thing that you can make yourself. Like of your wedding, your vlogs, whatever happens in your bedroom with your partner... etc etc.

 

They are useful softwares (Personally I prefer Universal Media Player) if you have a use case for them. I usually don't but when I do, it's easier to just sit in the living room, open up the server and be able to watch something quickly, instead of copying it on a USB drive and playing it on the smart TV without even being sure if the damn TV can read that specific video container with the right codecs and what not.

[mamamia88]

Oh and I personally bought plex pass because of the mobile sync feature. It's much easier than finding a usb cable and copying a shit ton of content over to a tablet the day before going on vacation or something. Why pay for wifi on a plane when you could just make sure the files are on the device prior to leaving? Just hit a button and it copies it all or transcodes it. Oh and yes I know streaming is a thing but, have you ever tried streaming a movie while travelling by car in the mountains of California? Because I was in a place called Temecula and my phone was practically useless when we were going that way. I know heaven forbid I look out the window 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, mamamia88 said:

Oh and I personally bought plex pass because of the mobile sync feature. It's much easier than finding a usb cable and copying a shit ton of content over to a tablet the day before going on vacation or something. Why pay for wifi on a plane when you could just make sure the files are on the device prior to leaving? Just hit a button and it copies it all or transcodes it. Oh and yes I know streaming is a thing but, have you ever tried streaming a movie while travelling by car in the mountains of California? Because I was in a place called Temecula and my phone was practically useless when we were going that way. I know heaven forbid I look out the window 

I know the feeling man. So basically I had an extra server laying over it is a Dell edge server 2017 haven't really got in depth into it got a sick deal on it and was wondering what to do and had an idea let's check plex out but I was stuck if I really needed it and how to get media for it. Need would be a strong word for my condition but I am gonna give it a try for the content I think I will search the web. Can I copy like a blu ray to my pc and not lose the quality on it? I have a asus blu-ray drive from like 2015

[Dedayog]

5 hours ago, Agent Crimson said:

I know the feeling man. So basically I had an extra server laying over it is a Dell edge server 2017 haven't really got in depth into it got a sick deal on it and was wondering what to do and had an idea let's check plex out but I was stuck if I really needed it and how to get media for it. Need would be a strong word for my condition but I am gonna give it a try for the content I think I will search the web. Can I copy like a blu ray to my pc and not lose the quality on it? I have a asus blu-ray drive from like 2015

You can rip a Blu-ray in its native resolution np.  I think Windows Media Player can even do it, but not sure.  Myriad of other ones can, probably google them easily.

[mamamia88]

7 hours ago, Agent Crimson said:

I know the feeling man. So basically I had an extra server laying over it is a Dell edge server 2017 haven't really got in depth into it got a sick deal on it and was wondering what to do and had an idea let's check plex out but I was stuck if I really needed it and how to get media for it. Need would be a strong word for my condition but I am gonna give it a try for the content I think I will search the web. Can I copy like a blu ray to my pc and not lose the quality on it? I have a asus blu-ray drive from like 2015

If the client supports the Media and has enough bandwidth available to stream the original quality it will look the same. A PC with a wired connection or any device like a Roku Ultra connected with Ethernet would be my first choice. If the client doesn't support it it transcodes on the fly

[mamamia88]

1 hour ago, jstudrawa said:

You can rip a Blu-ray in its native resolution np.  I think Windows Media Player can even do it, but not sure.  Myriad of other ones can, probably google them easily.

Make MKV is what I use