Newbie to Plex

[Strayan_Hades]

Hi,

 

I just want some tips when starting up a plex server.

 

First one, video encoding.

Should i use h265 codecs, dts or ac3 audio and mkv or mp4?

 

Second, what are best settings for android tv plex app?

 

Third, how to prevent unnecessary trancoding of compatable formats that can be direct played.

 

Cheers.

 

[Rohime]

14 minutes ago, Strayan_Bass said:

Hi,

 

I just want some tips when starting up a plex server.

 

First one, video encoding.

Should i use h265 codecs, dts or ac3 audio and mkv or mp4?

 

Second, what are best settings for android tv plex app?

 

Third, how to prevent unnecessary trancoding of compatable formats that can be direct played.

 

Cheers.

 

By H265 i presume you mean in the files you are acquiring? 

Generally better to avoid them unless you have a hardware platform with native support - you dont want to software decode H.265 if you can avoid it.   KabyLake CPU has support if i remember right - before then doesnt.  If you are just using a streaming device on the TV end, then there are a few with H265 support, but check REALLY carefully before buying.   I think NVidia Shield is one that does.

DTS and AC3 are both fine, as above just make sure whatever device on TV end you are stream to support them (almost everything does).

I dont remember settings for unnecessary transcodes.   To be honest its a question better suited for the Plex forums.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, Strayan_Bass said:

Hi,

 

I just want some tips when starting up a plex server.

 

First one, video encoding.

Should i use h265 codecs, dts or ac3 audio and mkv or mp4?

 

Second, what are best settings for android tv plex app?

 

Third, how to prevent unnecessary trancoding of compatable formats that can be direct played.

 

Cheers.

 

One tip I read online. Dont just throw everything in to one big library. Its better to separate by franchise or genre or year. Just because if the libary gets too big, then you can slow down the navigation in plex. Ive been converting all my media to h264 and removing all subtitles and extra audio tracks to make the files smaller.