Surely we have heard of Plex before. And we may have heard many good, and bad, things about this program. In order to clarify all the possible misunderstandings that revolve around it, today we are going to analyze the 7 most widespread myths about this program, seeing if they are true or if they could be false.
Myths related to Plex Pass
Plex Pass is, let’s say, “the paid version” of this multimedia center. In exchange for a subscription, or a fairly large one-time payment, we can have access to all the functions that this multimedia center offers us. None of the features offered by this subscription are vital to be able to use it, but rather they are additions that, although they can improve the user experience, many may not need.
It is necessary to be able to share the server
This is one of the most widespread myths within this multimedia center, and the truth is that it is completely false. The free version of Plex allows us to share our library with up to 100 friends at the same time, as long as the hardware of our computer, NAS or server can handle all the connections at the same time. Simply enter the settings and configure the remote access options to the server from there.
If you don’t pay you can’t connect from outside the network
Similar to the previous one, if we usually travel and want to access the Plex server from outside our local network, it is necessary to pay. Another myth that is totally false. Once we have configured our Plex server at home, all we have to do is enable remote access, and open the port on our router, to be able to connect to it and access all our content from anywhere. We just have to enter plex.tvlog in with our username and password and we will have our entire catalog.
You can only do transcoding if you pay
The ideal, whenever possible, is to make a direct transmission, since this way we have the best quality and everything works faster. But if the client does not support the original format, it does have to convert it “on the fly”, that is, in real time.
Plex Pass allows you to do hardware transcoding, that is, use the GPU to encode the video much faster thanks to the power of this chip. However, non-paying users can transcode, but only through software, that is, using the computer’s CPU (which is much slower and can cause problems).
Plex Pass supports more video and audio formats
Another myth widespread throughout the Internet that is also completely false. Both the free version of the server and the paid version support the same audio and video formats, which are the following:
- Formats: mp4, m4v, mkv, avi, etc. Does not support ISO.
- Video codecs: H.264/x264/AVC, H.265/x265/HEVC, DivX/Xvid, WMV, VC-1, mp4, etc.
- Audio codecs: AAC, AC3, DTS, DCA, mp3, vorbis, WMA, FLAC, etc.
Another thing is whether or not the client supports the codecs. If you play them without problems, the connection is made direct. Otherwise, it must be encoded. But under no circumstances do the compatible formats depend on whether we pay or not.
Other myths
In addition, there are also other myths related to the general operation of the media center, myths that, again, are false.
Series and movies are saved on Plex servers
Another of the myths more false than a 4 euro bill. All multimedia content must be saved on our hard drive, whether connected to the PC, a server, NAS, etc. But at Plex we don’t save anything at all. When we enter the web and access our server, the only thing we do is a bridge between our client and the home server. But the data has to be, no matter what, on our hard drive.
What is saved on the Plex servers is the metadata. That is, they will be able to know what we have or do not have on the server. But nothing else.
If we connect from home, the data is sent to the Internet
Another false myth. If we connect from home, the data transmission is always done through the LAN. That is, although the applications (for example, if we use an app on the TV, or on a console) need to connect to the Plex servers to access certain information (generally related to metadata), when we are going to play a file, the Playback is done directly from the local network, which guarantees always having maximum speed.
The client is responsible for transcoding incompatible formats
Finally, let’s talk about another false myth. Transcoding is always done on the server, and once the video is encoded it is sent to the client. Therefore, if we are going to use transcoding we must make sure that the server is powerful enough to be able to use this function. Or, if not, at least pay for Plex Pass so you can make use of hardware encryption.
But, be that as it may, the client never encodes the video, it is a mere receiver.