Streaming MKV's, how are you doing it?

OP, both plex and mediabrowser are back ends and function as library tenders for whatever media you have stored. They also both do transcoding, which is what some people refer to when they say "stream." If you transcode you most likely lose your audio format (dolby digital, DTS-MA, etc) and your video will have its quality altered. People transcode in order to get media down to a bitrate that both the end device (such as a cell phone) and the network (such as a WAN connection where you're watching a video from a hotel that's stored on your server) can handle. Most people do not transcode (that I know of) within their household. I'm unsure of how plex handles transcoding vs. simply using something along the lines of samba to read the file, but mediabrowser usually prefers to just "direct" you to the file which is shared over samba, then you can play it directly from where it is stored as though it were on the same computer as it's playing on. This is the same as simply navigating your network to the media on the other PC and playing it from there.

Plex does the same thing. It only transcodes if the target device doesn't support it or networking issues.
 
Been Plexing now for 3 years. I love it because I can use many different clients. Some good examples are Roku 3, iOS, and PC. Also ANY computer with a web connection can stream off of my server (at 720p max however). I also have decent upload on my DSL connection so I can stream on the go (i can get decent quality via HSPA+ and even better on LTE). When I travel I grab my Roku 3 and plug it into a TV and as long as the internet there is decent ~2Mbps, I can watch stuff off of my server. I share my server with several friends since I have a pretty large library. And yes, Plex, can send the video/audio as is via what they call "DirectPlay", or it can transcode.
 
Being as this thread has many posts from Roku 3 users who stream .mkvs via Plex, I'd like to point out that Plex is overhauling their Roku app. You can check it out if you have a Plex Pass.
 
Yup, new Roku interface FINALLY. Should come out something like the Amazon interface, though I haven't pulled the beta yet myself (too lazy lol). I do like the sync feature for PlexPass though for when I'm on a flight, sync a couple movies ahead of time and plex takes care of editing the file for mobile devices and transferring them.

On the topic though, Plex can separate the video and audio stream and only transcode the part that won't work on the end device. There's a bunch of terms that get thrown around, but basically Direct Play sends the file unedited, and Direct Stream is used when you have the wrong file container (for the end device) or if you need to do a partial transcode. So it's not always either or, you can have partial.
 
I'll still take Universal Media Server over Plex any day but I use HTPCs more. I used to use UMS with my PS3 but not so often these days.

Plex might work if it would actually be compatible with media files. I've tried multiple versions on multiple PCs over the years (most recently around 6 months ago) and it always has problems with a LOT of my files. To me, Plex is completely useless and it boggles my mind how you guys have positive experiences with it. PS3 Media Server (which Universal Media Server is based on) used to have problems with some of my files but never as badly as Plex and they seem to have fixed the issues with every single file I previously had issues with a while back.

Complete opposite here. Plex plays everything I have ever thrown at it. Every other media player I have tried felt lackluster compared to Plex. I run it on a a dedicated server (soon to be upgraded) and it has been amazing for over 2 years now. I primarily use it with my HTPC, Roku 2 XS, and various android/iOS tablets. It's especially nice when i'm traveling.
 
Let me ask you Plexxers this - any of you using it with a PS3? Maybe it just has poor support for that device? If I remember correctly, for me, it would list my files but any time I'd try to open one it would say the file was "corrupt" when it clearly wasn't. That was the problem that I would get with old PS3 Media Server versions, too, but only occasionally.
 
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Plex has worked amazing well for me for the following platforms:

Server:
FreeNAS
OS X
Windows (virtualized and native)
UnRaid


Theater:
RasPlex (Raspberry Pi Plex Home Theater)
Chromecast
xbox 360
Apple TV gen 2/3 (streamed from iPad app)
android / iOS
Windows
OS X
DNLA through a Samsung Smart TV (plex has a built in DNLA server)
Chrome / Safari / Firefox / IE

Had a PlexPass Lifetime thingy for about three years. Well worth the money. I have a ton of different media formats, to include MKvs


BUT! To answer the PS3 question: nope, I have never played it back via a PS3 v___v
 
I like simple and free. Currently testing free VideoStream Chrome extension on a fanless Core M Windows tablet to stream 1080p content to Chromecast dongle over WIFI (dual-band Archer C7 v2 dedicating 2.4GHz 802.11n radio for Chromecast and 5GHz 802.11ac for tablet). Works fine and looks great so far. You probably don't need it but there's a ~$35 lifetime subscription to support the developer that adds Android phone remote control, subtitle customization, playlist, etc.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/videostream-for-google-ch/cnciopoikihiagdjbjpnocolokfelagl?hl=en-US
 
I have a 30tb zfs array using FreeNAS and Plex. 170 movies, all Blu-ray rips and zero issues streaming to my HTC. I also have a bunch of anime, which is a mix of rips and Linux isos. No problem there either.

Haven't tried the 360 or PS3 clients, but android app and Web player are great.
 
Plex!!! 1 6tb hgst hdd in my main computer that runs 24/7 no issues streaming even on computers at work when I'm bored. Need to get a backup hdd just incase this crashes but so far I'm good. 204 bluray rips, 200 dvd rips, and some tv shows and extras. I recently had to convert all my mkv's to mp4 thanks to a roomate having to have the latest apple toy. Now I get to run two servers.... itunes and plex. LOL
 
Now I'm starting to feel like my 9TB array is small, lmao.

Haven't tried streaming to PS3 as I don't have one. But seeing as how there's no problems streaming to literally any other device, the issue must be with your PS3 or your specific setup (not too far fetched).
 
Plex!!! 1 6tb hgst hdd in my main computer that runs 24/7 no issues streaming even on computers at work when I'm bored. Need to get a backup hdd just incase this crashes but so far I'm good. 204 bluray rips, 200 dvd rips, and some tv shows and extras. I recently had to convert all my mkv's to mp4 thanks to a roomate having to have the latest apple toy. Now I get to run two servers.... itunes and plex. LOL

Why didn't you just make your roommate download plex? It's like a $5 app on iOS and it's totally worth it. Then you wouldn't have had to convert anything.
 
Why didn't you just make your roommate download plex? It's like a $5 app on iOS and it's totally worth it. Then you wouldn't have had to convert anything.

This, plex and mediabrowser can transcode anything for you, no reason to re-encode anything.

9TB will feel reasonable when you look at what some people do.
 
Have not found anything that works without hassle except a windows PC. Since we are starting to be able to get them smaller and smaller it is the only way to go.

I would move away from MKV to MP4 and just use something like ATV... BUT then I can't use my HDHomerun. It is limitations like this on all these streaming devices (each one has its own quirks) that do not make them feasible for a true all in one.

Now, Silicon Dust gets on ATV with an EPG and I go all-in.
 
Another Plex user here!

For years I used SageTV (since around 2008 I think), but the family's desire for streaming options (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) as well as SageTV being bought by Google years ago (but just now announced to be released as open source), we needed something different. I played around with a couple different options, and settled on Plex with Roku devices.. and the family has been happy with the transition. As others said, Plex just works for me. If the format is supported by the client device, it direct streams, but otherwise seems to transcode everything else just fine. This makes all our movies/shows available on the Roku's, tablets, phones (even over 4G when I'm at work), etc. This helps add a lot of flexibility that we were missing under SageTV.

The downside is TV recordings.. and I'm still working on that piece. I've got it set up to record via WMC and watch shows on our XBOX as an extender... but the interface is absolutely painful compared to being used to SageTV. Then either way I still have to take the recording and convert it (either manually or automatic) which is a hassle.

The one thing I don't want is to go back to an actual PC connected to the TV. Been there, done that. It was a constant battle with the family because either the system needed patches, the remote had issues, wife didn't want keyboard in the living room, the application crashed while I was away so she had to restart or wait for me to fix it... blah blah blah. TV needs to be simple and easy, enough that the inlaws can walk in, pick up a remote and use it. SageTV with extenders was that for me.. SageTV with a computer... not so much and I don't think Kodi/MediaBrowser/Plex/etc. on a TV would be much different.
 
The one thing I don't want is to go back to an actual PC connected to the TV. Been there, done that. It was a constant battle with the family because either the system needed patches, the remote had issues, wife didn't want keyboard in the living room, the application crashed while I was away so she had to restart or wait for me to fix it... blah blah blah. TV needs to be simple and easy, enough that the inlaws can walk in, pick up a remote and use it. SageTV with extenders was that for me.. SageTV with a computer... not so much and I don't think Kodi/MediaBrowser/Plex/etc. on a TV would be much different.

A combination if the right motherboard, a quality MCE remote, EventGhost, Kodi, and some Windows tweaks made my PC to TV experience pretty seamless. I'm even able to power on the box with my remote.

The only time I ever have to break out the keyboard is to open up Steam (which is the biggest reason I have a PC to TV setup).

Given that fact, I can still see why Plex is so appealing. Most of the effort is in the backend, whereas with other options, a lot of the effort is in the front end.
 
Have not found anything that works without hassle except a windows PC. Since we are starting to be able to get them smaller and smaller it is the only way to go.

I would move away from MKV to MP4 and just use something like ATV... BUT then I can't use my HDHomerun. It is limitations like this on all these streaming devices (each one has its own quirks) that do not make them feasible for a true all in one.

Now, Silicon Dust gets on ATV with an EPG and I go all-in.

But if I am right here a MP4 is a compressed format right? I aint willing to compress NOTHING.

Storage is cheap and I dont burn through thousands of movies anymore, so why compress if you can just snatch up another HDD...

Which is likely what I will do. Just add a 6TB external do the WD.
 
Another plex user. Use my main rig as a media server and stream to various AppleTV's and PS3's in my place. Also convenient having remote access to my content (streaming music in my car for example). Awesome piece of software. Never once had an issue with it playing any content
 
But if I am right here a MP4 is a compressed format right? I aint willing to compress NOTHING.

Storage is cheap and I dont burn through thousands of movies anymore, so why compress if you can just snatch up another HDD...

Which is likely what I will do. Just add a 6TB external do the WD.

Well, you need to read up and learn about what you are trying to do just a bit before diving into it. Promise it'll help you out a lot.

MP4 and MKV are just containers. They can contain a full bit for bit encode just the same as an encode that's been compressed to any degree. Same on the audio end. That's where the similarities really end though. MKV can do a LOT more than MP4 can, though MP4 (probably due to the fact that it CAN'T do as much) is more supported by common devices. That said, MOST all high end electronics can handle the MKV container.

Where you have your issue with needing on the fly transcoding (or possibly just a remux) is when you have a video or audio file in the container that your device can't read. That can be anything from having an .h265 file that you can't play to simply being too high of a bit rate or profile for your end device.

The big benefit of Plex to a large number of users is that you don't have to worry about the details of which device can play what and having to make all your videos a certain way. Plex simply modifies on the fly what ever needs to be changed without any user interaction what so ever. Pair Plex with a Roku 3/Fire TV (or sticks of both) and you have a full HD capable setup (though there are some quirks, for the price of the setup I have found, as have many others, the easy and performance is COMPLETELY acceptable).
 
+1 for XBMC/Kodi with a central media server. Works awesome.

Which is exactly what Plex is...

Plex started as a fork of XBMC.

Another Plex user here!

The one thing I don't want is to go back to an actual PC connected to the TV. Been there, done that. It was a constant battle with the family because either the system needed patches, the remote had issues, wife didn't want keyboard in the living room, the application crashed while I was away so she had to restart or wait for me to fix it... blah blah blah. TV needs to be simple and easy, enough that the inlaws can walk in, pick up a remote and use it. SageTV with extenders was that for me.. SageTV with a computer... not so much and I don't think Kodi/MediaBrowser/Plex/etc. on a TV would be much different.

I have had mine set up for about 5 years now, using Windows 7/MC7/MediaBrowser. I have had no problems with WAF, or anybody else figuring it out. I turned off Automatic Updates (as that has a tendency to break things), I set it up to auto-login, and boot directly into MC7. I customized the MC7 interface to show only what I wanted. As for a remote, I got an IR receiver that just plain works. For the remote, I use a Harmony, and can program any button to do whatever command I want.

Yes, it was a hell of a lot of work to get it set up properly. However, once I did get it configured the way I wanted, I have not touched my basic config for the entirety of that 5 years. I only have to break out the keyboard if I want to do something on the internet. Or sometimes if I feel the need to refresh my MediaBrowser pictures.

I got it easy enough to use that my 70 year old Father-In-Law (whose extent of computer use includes some VERY light web browsing and Solitaire), and my 6 year old figured out how to use it without me. When you have it configured right, MC7 looks almost exactly like any other system with a guide. THAT, my friend, is the key. Make it look and act similar enough, and it will be accepted.
 
I recently upgraded my home system to Kodi from Frodo XBMC. I like the interface for it much better than Plex, so I choose to use it in my house. It runs primarily on a dedicated HTPC connected to my receiver. Also to a couple desktop PCs. Watched lists are maintained via a mySQL database. Media is fed from a 30TB server in another room via SMB. I use a Logitech remote with a USB IR receiver and honestly getting that to work seamlessly with XBMC was the hardest/most time consuming part of the whole setup.

I also run Plex Server for the family/friends and so I can access my media when outside of my house. The family and friends couldn't care less whether anything is compressed, and I just want access to my media when traveling so Plex works well for this. When I'm home Kodi handles everything in untouched forms. This also allows me to maintain a separate watched list from the family/friends, although Plex's new user system seems to solve this issue too.
 
Yeah, the new users in Plex make it like the updated Netflix interface almost. The Amazon Plex interface is currently a ton better than the roku, but it's not really that bad.
 
All MKVs are stored on the ZFS file server.

I stream them to the Micro-ITX HTPC that I built for $185.

Quad Core AM1 5350 (with onboard HD 8400), MSI board (with HDMI), 4GB DDR3, 60GB SSD, Rosewill ITX case with PSU.

I run Kodi on the HTPC to stream from the file server and it works great!
 
JRiver here. Tried XBMC and Plex for awhile, but once I tried JRiver I was hooked on the audio options and zones settings. Not to mention it handles everything codec related for you.

My JRiver setup will automatically switch to FFDShow and SVP while playing any media tagged as anime. Otherwise it's playing media with JRiver's madVR built in codecs.

On the audio side, everything is bitstreamed to the receiver unless I have a rule setup to upconvert 2.1 on a specific folder or something.

While that stuff is cool, the real selling point for me was music. JRiver handles music in theater view better then anything else I tried. Browsing music is fast, making and editing playlists in theater view - or connected to the library via another computer in(or out of) the house is easy.

Although, I'll admit I haven't touched Plex/Kodi in 2 years or so...maybe it's improved.

If I had any complaints about it-

-The theater view, although nice looking, is kinda dated
-setup isn't very intuitive...you pay for the customizability with a learning curve. Kinda like foobar in this regard.
 
I use Universal Media Server on my desktop PC and a Samsung Smart TV to play the videos.
 
I have a Windows server (Win7) in the basement with all my storage, videos and HTPC apps. I use quiet, low powered clients on the TV's. That could be a Raspberry Pi, Sage extender, NUC, whatever.

I run SageTV, Squeezebox LMS and Plex on the same server. Plex is awesome for what the OP wants. I was never an XBMC or MythTV fan as I don't want to have to tinker too much or the WAF goes down. As to the lossless audio/video, I assume he simply needs to pick the right client platform. The Chromebox might do it, and an Intel NUC would be even better, albeit a lot more expensive.
 
I have not read the rest of this thread. That said, I also use a WDTV Live. OP just move your data to a CIFS share and forget streaming. Mount the share with your wdtv and play from network. This is NOT streaming so please let's use the correct terminology. Streaming is only good for playing on devices not fit to watch quality content on anyway. Seriously watching quality content on screen sizes < 50" is lame.

I have friends that use wireless with this exact same WDTV setup, love it and swear it works perfectly. I personally loathe wireless for anything beyond the most basic of web surfing and would never consider it for full time AV. Even in an apartment one can run wire anywhere and still not violate the lease or end up with visible cables. It just takes time, planning and perhaps patience to get it right. There is no valid reason not run a wire, or six, to your AV stack.
 
^^ Is this an early April fools joke post? Can't tell if serious.
 
I have not read the rest of this thread. That said, I also use a WDTV Live. OP just move your data to a CIFS share and forget streaming. Mount the share with your wdtv and play from network. This is NOT streaming so please let's use the correct terminology. Streaming is only good for playing on devices not fit to watch quality content on anyway. Seriously watching quality content on screen sizes < 50" is lame.

I have friends that use wireless with this exact same WDTV setup, love it and swear it works perfectly. I personally loathe wireless for anything beyond the most basic of web surfing and would never consider it for full time AV. Even in an apartment one can run wire anywhere and still not violate the lease or end up with visible cables. It just takes time, planning and perhaps patience to get it right. There is no valid reason not run a wire, or six, to your AV stack.

Maybe you need to read a definition:

stream·ing
&#712;str&#275;miNG/Submit
COMPUTING
noun
1.
a method of transmitting or receiving data (especially video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady, continuous flow, allowing playback to proceed while subsequent data is being received.

So yes, what you are doing is streaming.

Second, not everybody has a 50"+ screen mounted at every viewing location. My 8 y/o and 5 y/o would beg to disagree as to the viability of watching movies on a 8" tablet.
 
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Server (46TB/23TB useable) running Win 8.1 Pro - SMB share over gigabit network - HTPC running Kodi on top of Win 8.1 Pro
 
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Plex (on top of Windows Server 2012) to Amazon Fire TV clients...
NFS share to my Kodi client..
*knock on wood*.. all is working well
 
Maybe you need to read a definition:



So yes, what you are doing is streaming.

Second, not everybody has a 50"+ screen mounted at every viewing location. My 8 y/o and 5 y/o would beg to disagree as to the viability of watching movies on a 8" tablet.

Playing a file from a network share is not streaming. If you think it is you are simply wrong and there is nothing more to it. As far the player is concerned it has the whole file just as would a local file. That is the determining factor in streamed vs unstreamed media. At least make an effort to understand something before you post a definition. Further, if I were interested in the opinion of a indiscriminant user, your offspring does not have a WDTV plugged in to their 8" tablet and further still it is highly unlikely any video they are watching falls into the category of "quality content." It is however good that you're training them early to accept mediocre content as clearly that is becoming more and more the norm as it more convenient and convenience is far more important than quality.


OP- Again my suggestion is simply keep the WDTV and move your data to a CIFS share whether it be a NAS, a server or another PC. There is no need to add in a transcoding layer as you've already pointed out the WDTV plays the media natively. As for wired vs wireless. I have my preferences but pointed out I know several using the WDTV wirelessly having no issues. Obviously radio performance will depend on your environment.
 
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No one is arguing with a dictionary. Kelvarr does not understand the definition he posted nor apparently do you. Streaming plays a portion of the data while the another portion is in transit. Playing a file, whether it is local or remote, the application has access to all the data. I'm sorry neither you seem to understand the difference. It may seem like a semantic difference but it is in fact a very significant difference in the way the data is handled by the player.
 
Another Plex user here.

Plex running on a Xenon server.

Streams to both phones, roku boxes, HTPC, and laptops. Works great! Easy setup, nice interface, and remote viewing (over WAN) works well too.
 
So you are saying that even though a 40 gig video file is in a separate computer, it's not streaming? Lan vs wan makes no difference, you still don't have the file in the player itself so you are forced to stream it from the source unless you copy the whole thing over before playing it. Your player does not have access to an entire file even in a Lan. If you want to see how this is true, slow your network to 10 mbps, start the stream, then click half way through the movie and you'll see it buffer as it had to collect the data to actually play.
 
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