Plex Hardware Transcoding for Synology NAS

[Enquiries]

Hi, thanks for the great article explaining software/hardware transcoding for Plex with the glorious chart of the various Synology NAS models. I recently bought an 1821+ and ripped all of my Blu-rays and UHD Blu-rays. I would like to use the "Watch Together" feature in Plex to watch some content live with a friend in another city. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to want to work since he's using the PS5 as his Plex client. I am trying to talk him into getting an Amazon Fire stick or something similar that is super inexpensive for him. In the meantime, I am considering getting a hardware transcoder for the NAS. I don't know if I should get a graphics card that will fit internally or get an external transcoder to save the open slot for a 10Gbps network card later on. FYI, I have 1 Gbps up and down internet from my ISP. Everything is wired on the LAN with Gigabit ethernet switches, etc. Thanks!

[ed]

Certainly! With the Synology DS1821+ featuring a Ryzen CPU, it's important to note that it can handle local streaming of 1080p content without the need for transcoding. For your specific requirement of streaming 4K HDR content and utilizing the "Watch Together" feature in Plex, introducing an Nvidia Shield TV into your setup could be a viable solution. The Nvidia Shield TV offers excellent compatibility with Plex and can handle 4K HDR content playback without requiring transcoding. However, if you're keen on transcoding 4K content directly on your NAS, considering a NAS like the QNAP TVS-h674 would be beneficial. The TVS-h674 not only supports transcoding 4K content but also allows for GPU card upgrades, offering flexibility and future-proofing for your media streaming needs. This setup ensures smooth playback of your media files while accommodating future expansions or enhancements.
https://nascompares.com/nas-builder/