Can they just write and release an app on the PS4?
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Plex confirmed for Xbox One
- Thread starter N7Commander95
- Start date
Can they just write and release an app on the PS4?
If it's the Plex Home Theater client, it shouldn't be transcoding anything, unless MS is preventing Plex from using ffmpeg or something. You'll still need a server to deliver the files though.
Currently Plex works on the PS4 (and presumably the Xbox One) through the web client surprisingly well. That does require transcoding.
If anyone wants to check out what to expect from Plex, they can grab the Win8 native Metro client right now, and have a go. This, of course, requires a server setup as well.
While this news IS huge (I have been begging on their forums since the last Build conference for an XB1 port), It's not all ponies and daffodils. There are still some harsh realities.
Metro apps are reliant on Microsoft libraries, and still, the MS libraries do not support MKV as a container. Probably never will.
This is where the magic of the Plex Media Server comes in. It's x86 only, no Metro bullshit. It doesn't care what the container is, it only cares what the streams inside are, and what the client connected to it can handle.
Win8 x86 and RT, and presumably Xbox One can all handle h/x.264 just fine. What's this mean? For compatible streams in compatible containers (MP4, WMV), Plex Media Server will simply stream this file to the client, and the client will play it 100% natively.
For compatible streams in incompatible containers (MKV), PMS will simply take the streams, wrap them up in a container that the Xbox One DOES like, and it will play it near-natively. No loss of quality. Very resource efficient on both the server and the client. Remuxing.
For incompatible streams, PMS will render each frame, then re-encode it into a compatible stream on the fly. This is very resource intensive on the server, but still pretty lightweight on the client. Transcoding.
There's a lot more mix-and-match with streams and containers that PMS deals with behind the scenes, but it handles it all very well.
So yeah, great news, but still not 100% perfect for someone, like me, who wants to move their PMS onto a NAS, and NOT have to have a PC running constantly. New NASs, Synology for example, have become pretty powerful, but would most likely still struggle to transcode a 1080p stream on the fly.
While this news IS huge (I have been begging on their forums since the last Build conference for an XB1 port), It's not all ponies and daffodils. There are still some harsh realities.
Metro apps are reliant on Microsoft libraries, and still, the MS libraries do not support MKV as a container. Probably never will.
This is where the magic of the Plex Media Server comes in. It's x86 only, no Metro bullshit. It doesn't care what the container is, it only cares what the streams inside are, and what the client connected to it can handle.
Win8 x86 and RT, and presumably Xbox One can all handle h/x.264 just fine. What's this mean? For compatible streams in compatible containers (MP4, WMV), Plex Media Server will simply stream this file to the client, and the client will play it 100% natively.
For compatible streams in incompatible containers (MKV), PMS will simply take the streams, wrap them up in a container that the Xbox One DOES like, and it will play it near-natively. No loss of quality. Very resource efficient on both the server and the client. Remuxing.
For incompatible streams, PMS will render each frame, then re-encode it into a compatible stream on the fly. This is very resource intensive on the server, but still pretty lightweight on the client. Transcoding.
There's a lot more mix-and-match with streams and containers that PMS deals with behind the scenes, but it handles it all very well.
So yeah, great news, but still not 100% perfect for someone, like me, who wants to move their PMS onto a NAS, and NOT have to have a PC running constantly. New NASs, Synology for example, have become pretty powerful, but would most likely still struggle to transcode a 1080p stream on the fly.
Because:
1. IR Blaster method of turning your TV is on fine. But what if your TV is already on? TVs don't have a separate on/off signal - it's all the same. If your TV is on and you turn your Xbox One on, your Kinect will send the signal to turn your TV on regardless - which will actually turn your TV off. The Kinect and Xbox One are completely unaware of the state of your TV - which is why it's dumb.
2. You have to rely on your TV's HDMI content detect for it to switch channels - which isn't a reliable method as many TVs only do that under specific circumstances. HDMI-CEC channel control will force its way through and switch to that input automatically. The Kinect IR Blaster doesn't even do that.
I don't care about controlling the actual system, it's the amount of control my Xbox has over my TV - which with the current way of how it does it - with Kinect, is really limited in comparison to the proper HDMI-CEC devices like the PS4 or Chromecast.
Or they can try out the web client on their Xbox One or PS4.
Okay, I'm lost here. Would they be required to use the MS libraries to decode video? How would that even be enforced? ffmpeg can decode an internal buffer for blitting to the screen, the only way MS could prevent that is to tell them they can't use ffmpeg for licensing reasons.
LOL. Truer words were never spoken.
True, but most of the apps cost ~$5 once and go on sale regularly. XBL is $60 a year (although it too goes on sale semiregularly to maybe $50? I dunno, I haven't bought it in years).
As is the case with pretty much every app on Xbox, if you already pay for XBL Gold for multiplayer, it's a great value add. If you don't pay for XBL gold, it continues to be a tremendous rip off to pay for it just to get another app that is already on virtually every other device available for ~the cost of XBL gold.
Or they can try out the web client on their Xbox One or PS4.
Okay, I'm lost here. Would they be required to use the MS libraries to decode video? How would that even be enforced? ffmpeg can decode an internal buffer for blitting to the screen, the only way MS could prevent that is to tell them they can't use ffmpeg for licensing reasons.
He's just saying that the media server will need to transcode instead of serving the file native.
I think he's just saying the XB1 is unlikely to ever have native .mkv support, streamed or otherwise, but Plex can get around that by remuxing/re-encoding server side.
Winterfang
Banned
What is Plex?
Garrett 2U
Member
Everyone needs to stop being happy about an awesome app coming to a service that they are already paying for!!!!!!!!!
Pilot License Extension
Off topic, but as a grammar nerd speaking to the grammar police:
It's not unusual to swallow the "n" prior to a hard consonant sound like a word-final "t." I imagine that the word "dominate" as a substitute for "dominant" is meant to be pronounced with a short "i" sound rather than a long "a," which would make it a near homophone for "dominant" (probably pronounced "dom-in-it" rather than "dom-in-ait"). Think for example of how most people would pronounce the word "predominant." Most people pronounce it without the "n" sound making it closer to a non-word like "predominate."
These sorts of spelling and grammatical shifts are common. If it weren't for "mistakes" like this, we'd all be writing in Anglo-Saxon. And who knows but that in another 50-100 years, everyone will be saying/writing "dominate" instead of "dominant."
Thanks, but I guess I'm still lost. The Plex Media Server (the bit running on your PC) shouldn't have to transcode anything for the Plex XB1 client, although it clearly has to for the web client. Again, unless there's a licensing issue (and it's entirely possible) with ffmpeg and the GPL, I don't see how the Plex XB1 client wouldn't be using it's own libraries (ffmpeg and such) for opening containers.
Or put it another way, I don't see how Metro forces you to use a video codec. I could see how it might encourage it by making it a lot easier to use if you just use the ones provided by MS. If this whole deal supports C++ and you can draw arbitrary bitmaps to the screen, ffmpeg and native container support should all still work.
Nobody does that.
You make the conclusion that plex will be behind a gold subscription despite the fact that no announcement or rumour confirms this. Admittedly I was not aware of these mechanics being announce despite how expected they are, and I thank you for the info. This still does not provide evidence of plex behind a paywall other than to say, the final decision is up to microsoft.
This comment only serves to be inflammatory. Your most recent comment that I am replying to does not.
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
It will probably cost money, so I'd like to think not
Winterfang
Banned
I'm not sure I get it. Is it like a place to watch the movies you digitally own?
Ploid 3.0
Member
Yeah when in doubt, assume it'll require gold. A lot of apps on 360 require money from you and it still need gold. I doubt I could even use web plex on my 360 because I don't have gold. What can it do without gold other than offline games? I'd love to make it a plex stream box, something, it even has a kinect with it.
Yeah, it organize your media files and you can add channels to it like NBC, Southpark, The Daily Show, etc. You can access the media through your home network on different devices, or you can access the media remotely (I never tried this).
Yeah, it organize your media files and you can add channels to it like NBC, Southpark, The Daily Show, etc. You can access the media through your home network on different devices, or you can access the media remotely (I never tried this).
anotherdoof
Member
Something to note. Since the Xbox One has a BluRay drive, it will also have Cinavia protection so movies with this protection will not play through Plex.
What? No. Plex is a streaming solution. That's literally what it's made for, streaming.
It's not a megaton unless you pirate a lot of anime.
What a dumb thing to say.
It's a media server and client. It'll stream and transcode your local videos/photos/music to a plex client or DLNA compatible client. There are Plex clients for various devices such as the Chromecast, Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android or a web client and soon to be Xbox One.
You can sync or stream your videos to your iOS or Android client, it'll convert them into appropriate formats depending on your quality settings and manage storage by optionally deleting played files.
Some TVs have distinct ON inputs. Mine for instance. If my tv is already on and I turn my XBox One on, my TV does not turn off.
Kinect just sends a channel up/down/number input to whatever cable box you are using. Simple.
Not everyone has HDMI-CEC capable televisions. Everyone has IR capable televisions. Also, HDMI-CEC has issues on occasions when chaining things through receivers and such. Would be nice for them to have HDMI-CEC capabilities for those that would rather use it though.
AgentP said:
Its like XBMC, but better.
1. I don't use a cable box.
2. Not an excuse not to include it. Most modern TVs support it - and when implemented properly it's more ideal than an IR blaster.
IR is too much of an unknown. There are no standard codes across manufacturers or often even models - HDMI-CEC is a standard. My PS3, PS4 and Chromecast all work better WITH my TV than my Xbox One because of support for HDMI-CEC.
It was an incredibly dumb move to decide not to include proper support for it.
lol, well, changing channels using XBox is irrelevant for you then.
What? Why? :/
blazeuk
Member
MS should invest in creating something that offers what XBMC does, with a dedicated team and money behind it they could actually push into the kind of market they wanted. Obviously it's not something they seem too interested in because of what an actual full feature media centre could potentially do to other services they want to push (charge for).
I use XBMC so for the most part consoles really are all about gaming for me, whatever else they try to offer just isn't as good as the alternatives. XBMC does have it's problems and it's not easily accessible to most people but that just means there's plenty of room to create something which would be a realistic option as a media centre. Getting Plex is a good start for those interested though.
I use XBMC so for the most part consoles really are all about gaming for me, whatever else they try to offer just isn't as good as the alternatives. XBMC does have it's problems and it's not easily accessible to most people but that just means there's plenty of room to create something which would be a realistic option as a media centre. Getting Plex is a good start for those interested though.
Would you have anything going into HDMI-In on the Xbox? If so, what? Trying to get a feel for your setup.
You really think someone would buy a $500+sub machine to use Plex alone?
You're missing the point - this has nothing to do with the HDMI input on the Xbox One.
Say I'm watching broadcast TV or I'm on another input. My Xbox One won't change my TV to the input of the Xbox One via HDMI-CEC or IR Blaster when I turn it on (In fact - the dumb IR blaster will turn my TV off!). All my HDMI-CEC devices handle this just fine (PS3, PS4, Chromecast, etc) - my Xbox One, an device apparently built to be good at media, can't.
I thought you were talking about changing channels using the Xbox, only reason you would want to do that is if you had your tv going through your XBox.
But that's clearly not true... as explained in my example. I want my Xbox One to tell my TV to switch to the right input. Something the Xbox One cannot do via HDMI-CEC and the IR Blaster has no idea which input the Xbox One is on so it can't do it either.
You wouldn't HAVE to switch input if you had TV going through the XBox. That is the whole point.
I actually can't put anything through my Xbox One. The only broadcast TV I watch on the TV with my Xbox One is Freeview HD and Freesat HD (UK services) - they're on built in HD tuners in the TV. I have no input to my TV except for satellite cables and TV aerials. The Xbox One does not accept those.
Like I said - the Xbox One is the odd device out here. All my other devices handle this fine.
natively maybe? But you can play them over DLNA on PS3 maybe 360? (after live transcode) Or even on WiiU(and other consoles probabaly?) through Plex Web.
I run everything through my Sony receiver and the receiver doesn't have HDMI-CEC. I wish my PS4 had IR.
This post should not be overlooked. Cinavia is the reason why I ditched the PS3 as my media player in the first place and built dedicated HTPC's.
Delusibeta
Banned
File type of choice for video piracy.
so WiiU is still the best console for streaming "certain media". Totally forgot about Cinevia issues, since i haven only been using my WiiU for the pasts year or 2.
Then yep, the Bone's way of doing things is not for you.
That's fine - I'm not saying they shouldn't have included the IR blaster. I'm saying they shouldn't be relying on the IR blaster and have proper HDMI-CEC support too like pretty much everything else does these days.