So glad I built a PLEX server.
Have a look at Jellyfin, if you haven’t. I moved from Plex because of restrictions in HW decoding.
I moved over to Jellyfin because to pay for Plex Premium just to be able to stream my own videos was too much.
The Jellyfin app is much faster for me on TVs too. Plex was always chugging like it was trying to load too many thumbnails at once. Jellyfin doesn’t seem to have this problem.
Jellyfin never worked great for me on my older tablet and chromecast. Always struggled with either unsupported codecs or just buffering to hell. My plex server is also on somewhat limited hardware and jellyfin could never transcode fast enough, where plex has no issue.
Do you mean hardware encoding, because that’s what’s paywalled in Plex.
I personally migrated from a Jellyfin ecosystem to a Plex with Lifetime Pass one when building my current server - while both are highly capable media servers, Plex has, by far, the better clients.
You migrated to a closed source for profit app to get away from the enshittification of streaming companies?
You don’t believe Plex will go down a similar path?
You are aware that this isn’t a lifelong commitment, right? A Plex license doesn’t make using it mandatory. In fact, had you read a bit further, you’d have seen that it’s no commitment at all, and I’m still running and maintaining a Jellyfin server simultaneously, reverse proxy and all. Not just as a fallback, but also for the things it still does better.
I migrated my household use to Plex, though, because this evil “closed source for profit app” offers an on-device user experience that is as good, if not better, than that of a commercial streaming services. This makes the rest of the household use it happily, instead of seeing it as an inferior alternative.
Jellyfin’s user experience is simply not there yet, not even close. Its clients, if available at all for the system in question, are (mostly) functional, but certainly not fun.
I had the money to spend on the evil “closed source for profit app” and it made my family’s life a little better for it - are you sure that trying to shame me for that was the right reaction?
Yes, it’s been a while since I made the jump, I misremembered. I also found the Jellyfin apps to work better than Plex on my LG TV. Plex was so slow in comparison. Things might have changed since then, though.
Yup much easier to use Plex, couldn’t stand jellyfin
Jellyfin requires a reverse proxy or similar to be reachable from outside the network, once that’s set up, the usability gap between the two becomes a lot smaller. And Jellyfin does, still, have some benefits over Plex - first and foremost: it doesn’t require an active Internet connection and an “ok” from a central server to fully function - it also has fewer restrictions when it comes to sharing content and a better plugin ecosystem.
Again, I think both are highly capable servers and I’m running both in parallel, even after migrating most of my personal use to Plex.
It’s the clients where it all falls down, sadly. Jellyfin’s are, even after all these years, clunky, ugly and unpleasant. The choice of supported devices and systems is also quite limited. This is where Plex shines: they have a, generally excellent, client for pretty much everything you would ever want to play your media on.
To be fair there are workarounds to getting Plex to play locally without Internet (I had to look this up because I didn’t believe you lol) but you have to set it up on the server with internet… I originally started with jellyfin but it was too clunky for me overall, Plex was way more elegant. Also I’m pretty sure Plex deprecated plugins entirely.
Plex killed their official plugin repository, but plugins are, technically, still supported. There just isn’t much life left in that ecosystem after Plex strangled it.
Ironically, it’s probably Jellyfin’s thriving plugin-ecosystem that’s holding back its clients - since anything with a native UI can’t really be used with any plugin that extends the UI feature set and vice versa.
Oh, and all “workarounds” that I know of for “offline” Plex involve essentially disabling user auth for certain IPs - which is insane. Plex simply doesn’t support local auth, it’s not an offline-capable solution. That (and some other restrictions) is why I’m still running and maintaining Jellyfin as a fallback.
That’s true, I’m considering having jellyfin spun up for local playback just in case now. Thanks
I’m very glad to have been using Plex/Jellyfin for years, since before HBO Max and Disney+ etc were even a thing. It really is a much better experience.
Been managing one since about 2014 and increasing/updating… it’s immensely refreshing never dealing with these companies’ garbage “updates.”
Same. It’s been a much more satisfying investment and has made streaming the content I actually want infinitely easier.
“New Features” ah yes. Actually it’s an upgrade to a new features plan. They are doing you a favor. The new plan is completely free and you even gain streams from other platforms, also free. Yarr!!!
🏴☠️
I canceled my subscription right after I got that email. I don’t use it enough anyway. I’ll just sail the high seas if a new show that I want to watch ends up there.
That’s what happened to me too. I got that email and was like “oh shit, I’m paying $16 for HBO and I can’t even get 4k?” Cancelled.
Oh shit I didn’t know that last part.
That was an easy cancel.
I didn’t notice Atmos was gone until now. I have an ok Atmos system that works pretty great on the titles that support it. I love Atmos.
I get it free with my Internet service so I’m not cancelling, but I’ll never subscribe.
Right? Who’d want to pay 16USD a month for DVD quality video? You’d get more value digging out of the Blu-ray Bargain Bin once a week.
DVDs are 480, but your point stands. It’s straight too expensive to not include 4k.
This is not shrinkflation. This is fleecing.
Shrinkflation is a scheme that takes subtlety to pull off. There’s some level of artistry involved in increasing prices in a way that is unnoticed by the customer.
This is so unsubtle it doesn’t even deserve to be called shrinkflation.
Total bullshit
Way to go to fight against piracy 🤡
I get mine free through ATT. Got the same email today.
Addition: Guess I shouldn’t complain too much since it’s free anyway
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My understanding is that it is built into the price of the tier. I wonder if it could be argued that they are in breach of contract since it is included in the agreement when signing up.
Yarr harr fiddle dee dee
I’ve definitely made a return to dark waters.
Can’t say I ever left.
Now there’s a show that needs a revival.
Time to pick up a DVD player and look around for some movies for sale.
What’s that? Are those sea shanties I hear being sung over the horizon?
I really don’t want to have to go back to torrenting, but it seems that’s the only option if they keep pushing like this. I’m a camera operator, I work in the industry, my livelihood depends on movies being made. But racketeering the viewers is not how you’ll sustain an industry. Sure it’ll raise your quarterly report but it will damage your business deeply. Producers are cutting themselves a slice bigger every day, both from the viewers and the workers (look at the writers and actors strikes). We can’t make art in a system dictated by instant guaranteed returns and viewers aren’t stupid enough to pay hundreds of dollars to watch the same low effort shit over and over. The film industry NEEDS TO CHANGE!!!
The film industry NEEDS TO CHANGE
Agree, and I’d add that it’s not just the film industry. It’s mostly the same shit all throughout entertainment industry as a whole. Take video games for example - each year there are assumingly AAA titles coming out half cooked at release and yet they cost more than they ever have. Thank you very much, I’d much rather just wait a year for you to fix all those bugs and I’ll buy the game at 80% off if it’s any good.
I blame it on investors quarterly reports. Movies and games take years to make. For a movie is usually 1-2years pre production 2-4 months filming 1-3 years post production. So you will see a net loss for all this time. Same with games. It’s years in the making but they want quarterly returns not possible.
Well, what do they expect? Of course there won’t be much (if any) revenue before release. If you built trust in the audience that you ship quality products from day 1, maybe more people will preorder, but the way it is now it’s rather the opposite.
Yep. But the divide between the people providing the funds and the people making the product is very real.
I also work in the industry, light tech, and I went back to torrenting like a year ago. Feel pretty good about it. I actually had a paramount plus subscription that I cancelled after working on a paramount show. Fuck those guys.
“Thank you for being loyal, here’s how we are going to fuck you over”
I solved it by cancelling and getting a raspberry pi, installing Plex media server, and just pirating the movies and shows I wanna watch
I did the same thing but went with LibreELEC+Kodi. And it even works with the TV remote.
Why’d you choose that over the pi+plex?
I’m using pi+libreelec+kodi.
Why kodi over plex? No special reasons, kodi does everything I need and with the addons support it gives me a lot of options(torrents+streaming).
Have been using kodi since it was called xbmc in the OG xbox modding scene. Never used Plex, so I just went with what I knew.
Ohhhh I had xbmc like a decade ago, before I gave up on the aye matey lifestyle, so I’ll probably choose that over plex as well. Thanks for the info. I’m looking up libreelec now, but I was just assuming it was some other hardware solution in my last comment.
I had xbmc like a decade ago, before I gave up on the aye matey lifestyle
Same thing here.
I was just assuming it was some other hardware solution
Yeah I though so. LibreELEC is a Linux distro with just enough OS to run kodi.
Thanks, one last question… What rpi do you recommend?
I’m using a rpi4 model B 4GB.
Works pretty well for my needs. At least until now I don’t feel like it’s underpowered.
It plays 4K video from my main PC with no problems or stuttering. But I mainly use it for 1080p.
Just curious is a raspberry pi powerful enough for streaming on multiple devices in 4k? Thinking of doing a setup and sharing with my family and friends. I anyway have a pi available
Yes, but only via direct play, it’s not going to be doing any transcoding at all watchable level.
I host anywhere from 1-6 streams at a time on a custom built server… I’d doubt you’re going to get what you’re asking without a much bigger build. It doesn’t take a crazy build for plex but if you ever need transcoding the pi can’t do it. My most recent iteration was ~$1300 but the price was mostly storage.
From my understanding pi doesn’t have the greatest hardware for streaming so I wouldn’t trust it for multiple devices at 4k.
It’ll only work if you can direct play everything and depending on your ISP upload speed, you may need to transcode any remote streams in which case a Pi will probably burst into flames. A comparable option would be a micro form factor office PC like an Optiplex with a recent gen Intel processor. The iGPU in these works great for transcoding.
If you want something more serious you can do a custom built PC with a Fractal Design case (Define 5, 6, 7 or Node series) which are made to hold a ton of 3.5" drives. Again here all you really need is a newer Intel CPU and SATA ports (and/or an LSI SAS card).
Yeah sounds like it might be a fun project to try it out with a pi but it’s not realistic for sharing outside of my household
What a weird way to thank someone
It’s more like “thanks and goodbye“ and maybe a little bit of “don’t you dare show your face around these parts if you know what’s good for you” sprinkled in for good measure.
