Video streaming outside LAN - What is the best way?

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Video streaming outside LAN - What is the best way?

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1
NAS
DS720+
Operating system
  1. Windows
Mobile operating system
  1. iOS
Hi all,
Recently I have upgraded NAS to Synology DS720+ and would like to share videos online to 4K Smart TV`s (replacement for Netflix, Amazon Prime).
Locally I use Infuse Pro on Apple TV and no issues there.
My Internet connection is 1000/300 (Mb/s). I would like to stream to quite new TV`s: TCL QLED 55C815 and SONY KD-65XH90

On NAS I have condigured Video Station and Plex (single user).
Tested on 25GB video @ 1080p (H.264) 27998 kbps


Video Station:
On both TV`s it is shuttering. Only switching to low quality it is smooth.
Checked CPU usage during playback and it was around 50%
Low quality is generally not acceptable to watch...

Plex - from Synology package: (for test purposes logged on my single mail user)
By default it was starting playback with lowest possible resolution - not acceptable.
When I changed to higher one it was OK.
CPU usage was closer to 100%.


As I`m new to stream Videos from my NAS via Internet to SMart TV`s probably I`m doing something wrong.
Could you please suggest what`s the best long term option? (long-term I mean pay once instead on subscriptions if possible)
Generally do you stick to Video Station or Plex?
Are there any options I should set to have it working properly on 720+ ? Maybe there are any links to related articles ?
Are there any limitations I should be aware of and with this Hardware will not skip it?


I would appreciate any advice :)
 
With Plex be sure that you are not getting transcoding initiated from the client-side (outside TV). Those TVs need to have video quality set to "original". On top of this, if there is any transcoding happening (subtitles, audio from DTS to stereo etc), it will kill your NAS unless you have your Plex server running with Plex Pass to support HW transcoding.

Even then you need to careful that there is not something that is hitting your remote session and kicking in transcoding. With HW transcode your CPU will not feel the pain and it should work just fine without any problem.

Finally, when a remote stream starts, open up Plex Dashboard on the server page and check what is going on with the steam (audio and video quality and operations). Are they Direct Play, Direct Streaming, Transcoding, HW transcoding, etc...

Give more info and we can get to the bottom of it.

Can't suggest anything on the Video Station front, not using that.
 
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Tiny note to Rusty's answer: you can use "Disable video stream transcoding" to "Disable transcoding of the video stream in transcoder operations. With this set, the transcoder may still transcode audio as well as remux video." transcoding audio won't hit the cpu that hard and remuxing the video stream to another file container produces no load at all.
 
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@Rusty, could you please clarify why on this setup I should disable transcoding? We can assume I can upgrade Plex to Plex Pass. Will it still be because of DS 720+ poor hardware ? Or maybe something on Android TV`s side?

Does it mean that on each Video I want to share I should click "Optimize" and select 20Mb/s 1080p ? What I can see this is maximum I can set.

What should I pick on DS720+ under "Background transcoding x264 preset" ? I can wait little longer to offer better quality and lower file size.
 
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could you please clarify why on this setup I should disable transcoding? We can assume I can upgrade Plex to Plex Pass. Will it still be because of DS 720+ poor hardware ? Or maybe something on Android TV`s side?
You said that the DS720+ was hitting 100% CPU with software transcoding. If this gives smooth playback and nothing heavy needs the CPU then it's working. Without Plex Pass, the suggestion to disable video transcoding would then reduce the CPU load and allow other processes to run (better) but would stream the native video format. If you get a Plex Pass (try a 1 month sub to test and a lifetime pass when you're happy with Plex) then you get access to the DS720+'s hardware transcoding capabilities and the load should be much, much lower.

In Plex there is also an option to limit the bandwidth of streams to remote devices.

In VS the access to hardware transcoding is already available, but some audio track types aren't supported (even transcoded) and can cause issues: I'm remembering there was something about E-AC3 on, I think it was, Android. The DS video client should (I'm going from the iOS version) have settings to say how to use transcoding.

The vast majority of my video streaming is on the home LAN/WLAN so you're outside my experience, esp. the stream sizes you want to do. But you asked which of VS and Plex: I trained the family to move from iTunes based-Home Sharing to use DS video on the Apple TV HD/4K, but then we now use Plex and it's been better. I won't inflict myself to retraining the family if it isn't going to be worth it :)

Plex tagging is much easier than on VS.
 
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@Rusty, could you please clarify why on this setup I should disable transcoding? We can assume I can upgrade Plex to Plex Pass. Will it still be because of DS 720+ poor hardware ? Or maybe something on Android TV`s side?
@fredbert already summed it up, but essentially with your modest upload speed, you should be able to satisfy your remote streaming needs by using "original quality" settings and thus moving away from the transcode element.
Considering that you don't have Plex Pass it is no wonder your box is being hit that much. So either Plex Pass for HW transcode, or max quality with no transcoding (but you might feel it on the upload speed).

Does it mean that on each Video I want to share I should click "Optimize" and select 20Mb/s 1080p ? What I can see this is maximum I can set.
This will initiate a transcode on the NAS itself (again hitting your box while it's transcoding) to make a smaller, more optimized version of the file. That file will then be added to the library and your remote users will be able to choose that version over the original.
 
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Does it mean that on each Video I want to share I should click "Optimize" and select 20Mb/s 1080p
At 1080p you can easily obtain "optimized" transcodes at one-tenth that bandwidth. Plex nicely plays with your processor, so that even a 20Mb/s transcode "optimization" is throttled. With today's generous storage capacity drives, there is little reason not to store optimized transcodes for devices unable to play original content, or for times when streaming bandwidth, or data allowances (thinking cell access here) are metered.
 
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