plex home server

[CatXice]

Hi,

So i started ripping my own blurays today, to a plex server, i got everything up and running and got my mum to test it to make sure it worked and sure enough it did took me like 2hrs but know i got there in the end. This is my first time for everything so now i want to know how to make the quality of the streams the best they can be i am using my gaming PC to host the stream for when am away from home (can be weeks at a time) my pc has a 5800x and a 3080ti (founders) 32gb of ram in it and is running on ethernet so i should really only be limited by my internet speeds right? i am using mostly 1080p blurays but i have a handful of 4k's and i am using makeMKV for the ripping. so help me tech gods how do i get the best image quality i can!

thank you

[BiotechBen]

6 minutes ago, CatXice said:

Hi,

So i started ripping my own blurays today, to a plex server, i got everything up and running and got my mum to test it to make sure it worked and sure enough it did took me like 2hrs but know i got there in the end. This is my first time for everything so now i want to know how to make the quality of the streams the best they can be i am using my gaming PC to host the stream for when am away from home (can be weeks at a time) my pc has a 5800x and a 3080ti (founders) 32gb of ram in it and is running on ethernet so i should really only be limited by my internet speeds right? i am using mostly 1080p blurays but i have a handful of 4k's and i am using makeMKV for the ripping. so help me tech gods how do i get the best image quality i can!

thank you

Good bitrate on the content, setting the quality in settings to be "original", and making sure your ISP connection speed is such that it'll handle the stream. 

[Donut417]

44 minutes ago, CatXice said:

limited by my internet speeds right?

Specifically the upload speed. As DSL and Coax based internet are generally asymmetrical. The only symmetrical service is Fiber, and even then some providers dont offer symmetrical speeds.

 

45 minutes ago, CatXice said:

my pc has a 5800x and a 3080ti (founders) 32gb of ram

I use an i5 3570K, 16 gigs of DDR3 and Im able to have up to 3 streaming and a couple of transcodes going on the CPU with no issue. Nvidia is considered great for helping with the transcoding. So I dont see any issues. HOWEVER, if your media is in a format that what ever device your watching on supports, then you dont have to transcode, if you dont need trascoding then Plex can run on a potato.

 

 

 

[ZeusXI]

47 minutes ago, CatXice said:

Hi,

So i started ripping my own blurays today, to a plex server, i got everything up and running and got my mum to test it to make sure it worked and sure enough it did took me like 2hrs but know i got there in the end. This is my first time for everything so now i want to know how to make the quality of the streams the best they can be i am using my gaming PC to host the stream for when am away from home (can be weeks at a time) my pc has a 5800x and a 3080ti (founders) 32gb of ram in it and is running on ethernet so i should really only be limited by my internet speeds right? i am using mostly 1080p blurays but i have a handful of 4k's and i am using makeMKV for the ripping. so help me tech gods how do i get the best image quality i can!

thank you

Handbrake over makeMKV

[BiotechBen]

38 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Specifically the upload speed. As DSL and Coax based internet are generally asymmetrical. The only symmetrical service is Fiber, and even then some providers dont offer symmetrical speeds.

 

I use an i5 3570K, 16 gigs of DDR3 and Im able to have up to 3 streaming and a couple of transcodes going on the CPU with no issue. Nvidia is considered great for helping with the transcoding. So I dont see any issues. HOWEVER, if your media is in a format that what ever device your watching on supports, then you dont have to transcode, if you dont need trascoding then Plex can run on a potato.

 

 

 

You also need PlexPass to do GPU transcoding. Otherwise it's done on CPU.

[Alex Atkin UK]

48 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

Handbrake over makeMKV

Except they said they want the best quality.  Sure pre-transcoding can get better results, but then if you watch them locally its degraded compared to the raw rip that MakeMKV does.

 

You won't tell the difference on a phone, but you will on a decent laptop screen and especially on a TV.

[m9x3mos]

12 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Except they said they want the best quality.  Sure pre-transcoding can get better results, but then if you watch them locally its degraded compared to the raw rip that MakeMKV does.

 

You won't tell the difference on a phone, but you will on a decent laptop screen and especially on a TV.

I think this depends somewhat on the settings. Yes, technically it can be better but with the right settings even on a 4k monitor it should be indistinguishable from the raw version or darn close to it. 

[ZeusXI]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:41 PM, BiotechBen said:

You also need PlexPass to do GPU transcoding. Otherwise it's done on CPU.

Direct Stream is a thing

[m9x3mos]

1 minute ago, ZeusXI said:

Direct Stream is a thing

This is good while at home, but if you don't have good upload speeds you will have problems streaming that quality of content. 

[ZeusXI]

1 minute ago, m9x3mos said:

This is good while at home, but if you don't have good upload speeds you will have problems streaming that quality of content. 

I mean, not exactly. I direct stream outside of home from how I converted my stuff. 1080p direct stream remote.

 

And I dont have the best uplink

[ZeusXI]

3 minutes ago, m9x3mos said:

This is good while at home, but if you don't have good upload speeds you will have problems streaming that quality of content. 

2.1 mbps for a 1080p movie. not even transcoding. Just direct remote.

[m9x3mos]

1 minute ago, ZeusXI said:

2.1 mbps for a 1080p movie. not even transcoding. Just direct remote.

1080p with low bit rate will be fine. 

High bit rate 4k from Blu-ray not so much. That could be in excess of 20mbps.

Only recently have I been able I do above 10 with Comcast. 

[ZeusXI]

2 minutes ago, m9x3mos said:

1080p with low bit rate will be fine. 

High bit rate 4k from Blu-ray not so much. That could be in excess of 20mbps.

Only recently have I been able I do above 10 with Comcast. 

No point remote streaming 4k if you are using a phone or a tablet due to the resolution. Also, you shouldn't be streaming if you are needing that bandwidth. Even on my 8 core 16 thread mini pc, cpu transcoding I can get 3x 4k streams to 1080p.

 

[m9x3mos]

1 hour ago, ZeusXI said:

No point remote streaming 4k if you are using a phone or a tablet due to the resolution. Also, you shouldn't be streaming if you are needing that bandwidth. Even on my 8 core 16 thread mini pc, cpu transcoding I can get 3x 4k streams to 1080p.

 

On a phone you are right. He didn't say what too.

Plex pass will allow transcoding. 

[ZeusXI]

46 minutes ago, m9x3mos said:

On a phone you are right. He didn't say what too.

Plex pass will allow transcoding. 

Even if its laptop. 1080p direct stream is fine. I don't personally see a point in a 4k screen for a laptop. 

[CatXice]

41 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

Even if its laptop. 1080p direct stream is fine. I don't personally see a point in a 4k screen for a laptop. 

 

1 hour ago, m9x3mos said:

On a phone you are right. He didn't say what too.

Plex pass will allow transcoding. 

my in home streaming is wired up to 2.5g and 1g ethernet for for my home cinema thats currently 92" 1080p but next year i think i will upgrade to TCL's 98" 4k TV for that setup and my monitor on my desktop is the alienware QD-oled the g sync one (the one ploof has) but outside the home my mum has a normal like £400 4k tv and then i have my phone and my wifes phone my internet has a max upload of 19mb/s realistly am only going to ever have 1 outside the home steam at a time 

[m9x3mos]

2 hours ago, CatXice said:

 

my in home streaming is wired up to 2.5g and 1g ethernet for for my home cinema thats currently 92" 1080p but next year i think i will upgrade to TCL's 98" 4k TV for that setup and my monitor on my desktop is the alienware QD-oled the g sync one (the one ploof has) but outside the home my mum has a normal like £400 4k tv and then i have my phone and my wifes phone my internet has a max upload of 19mb/s realistly am only going to ever have 1 outside the home steam at a time 

In that case I would say either encode your videos to about 15. Or with Plex pass it will automatically transcode to what you connection is able to handle. 

I have used it a lot for a while so I got the lifetime version to support the project as well. 

[CatXice]

9 hours ago, m9x3mos said:

In that case I would say either encode your videos to about 15. Or with Plex pass it will automatically transcode to what you connection is able to handle. 

I have used it a lot for a while so I got the lifetime version to support the project as well. 

ye am just paid for our yearly holiday so a bit broke now XD till payday which i think am going to get the lifetime pass then
obvs when streaming in home the 4k movies pull like 80mb/s but thats really a non issue as its not transcoded at all just raw 

 

[Jarsky]

If you want ultimate quality, then you want to Remux your blurays. Forget about Handbrake. 

• Rip the BluRay disc (e.g DVDFab)
• Use BDInfo to inspect your Playlist files and stream codecs (typically MPEG-4 AVC, DTS-HD MA or DDA Audio, and Subtitles)
• Open the BluRay in tsMuxer and use the info you found from BDInfo to select the files you need to Demux
• MKV Merge your .264 (Video), .dts (Audio) and Subs into a MKV container

Heres a general how to example https://www.dvd-guides.com/guides/blu-ray-rip/256-remux-blu-ray-to-mkv

 

It's fast to do as you arent encoding, and its lossless from the source. 

Downside is the filesize is as large as your BluRay. 

 

As far as Plex, for the best quality Direct Stream and Direct Play are your best quality (no transcoding) if your end device and internet upload can support it. 

If you do need to transcode then CPU (Software) will give you the highest quality (GPU is more efficient but not as good as CPU).