- #Cheap 4k hdr capable plex media server build 720p#
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#Cheap 4k hdr capable plex media server build install#
Overall, for the asking price, the AS5202T has the features that Plex demands, and it can also perform other NAS jobs alongside that requirement.įirst appearing in 2019, the Nvidia Shield Android TV Pro is effectively the guts of an Android phone placed inside a streaming box that comes with a handy remote control.Īs this is Android, you can install applications from the Google app store, including Plex, and use it to output content to a 4K HDR TV. However, the usefulness of these LAN ports is undermined by there being no M.2 SSD cache slots, making the reading and writing of the physical hard drives the bottleneck in this solution. Where this unit is better specified is with dual 2.5GbE LAN ports and the inclusion of a single HDMI 2.0 out. Our only reservation about doing this is that the USB ports that connect these boxes are only USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbit/s) spec, where they needed to be Gen 2 (10Gbit/s). This unit comes barebones, the two drive bays can accept 2.5 or 3.5-inch drives, and you can add another twelve drives using the Asustor AS6004U expansion boxes. The memory capacity can be expanded up to 8GB by removing the 2GB and installing two 4GB of SoDIMM DDR4 in the available slots. Other factors we consider are the cost of the NAS, expansion potential, and if the NAS has HDMI out.Īsustor has been snapping at Synology’s heels for some time, and the AS5202T is a prime example of how it can offer something cheaper and better than the market leader.Īlso known as The Nimbustor 2, this NAS utilizes the Intel Gemini Lake Celeron J4005 CPU clocked at 2GHz combined with 2GB of DDR4-2400 memory to deliver the performance Plex requires. Alternatively, if the NAS supports SSD caching, it will help the overall performance of the file system.įor those unsure whether a specific NAS device can be used with Plex and, if it does, what level of transcoding to expect, Plex has created a compatibility list worth referring to.
A conventional hard drive can only operate at around 150-200MB/s, but place four drives in a RAID 5 array, and the overall speed of reading and writing could easily be increased to 500MB/s or more.
#Cheap 4k hdr capable plex media server build full#
Some processors are sufficiently powerful enough to stream some video resolutions without hardware accelerated transcoding, but having an associated GPU is a massive advantage for those wanting to use Plex to its full potential.Īlongside the sufficient processing power, the NAS also needs plenty of RAM to cache the processing, and obviously, it needs a good number of drive bays to hold the content and boost the performance of the drive system. Hardware transcoding is rapid enough to work with a live stream without pre-processing.
#Cheap 4k hdr capable plex media server build software#
Some NAS include extra hardware built to transcode, whereas lesser systems use is entirely dependent on software solutions.Ī software transcoding will work fine if the NAS has time to pre-process the files, assuming they are not required in real-time. And this needs to be done quickly enough to allow the stream to play smoothly.
#Cheap 4k hdr capable plex media server build 720p#
Re-encoding the stream for the client display ensures the best performance, typically by not streaming 4K video to a phone with only a 720p screen.ĭuring this operation, video files must be decoded, scaled, have audio reintegrated, and then re-encoded. During transcoding, video is reorganized from the source encoding and resolution into one that the receiving device requires.
Plex is a very powerful tool, but it requires a level of performance from the NAS that’s generally considered to be above entry-level devices for those that wish to transcode video. How we picked the best NAS for Plex in 2022
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