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I'd love to switch to Jellyfin, but I'm still using Plex as their apps are ubiquitous...It comes pre-installed on most Smart TVs and is available on pretty much

I'd love to switch to Jellyfin, but I'm still using Plex as their apps are ubiquitous...It comes pre-installed on most Smart TVs and is available on pretty much every platform.

TameAntelope 5y ago
It seems like the author wanted to stick with open source. If that's not a concern, I think Plex wins handily.
silicon2401 5y ago
Does plex let you just play media from a device on the network? I'm a huge noob to the home media game. If I plug a usb hard drive into my router, can I download media from my PC to the hard drive, then play it on a plex device like a smart tv directly from the hard drive?
- 3np 5y ago
  If you have Plex running on that router, yes. Same for Jellyfin (which I recommend) and Emby - as long as you have a corresponding app/client, DLNA, or a web client. If you connect with several clients you can "cast"/remote between them seamlessly so you can play to your TV from your phone, for example. The library is centralized, though, so you need all the medial files on one place. Also, I'd recommend not running it on your router but on a separate device for various reasons (security, performance especially if you need to transcode). If you want to stream 4K without having to think about codecs you'll need decent CPU and GPU. For 1080p you should be OK with an integrated AMD or Intel, or even a decent SBC.
  - silicon2401 5y ago
    Thanks very much. I've been slowly trying to learn about NAS/home media stuff as I've gotten more into watching TV shows and movies, and your comment is making me lean towards plex/jellyfin/emby on a NAS to centrally store my media and stream it to devices.
GordonS 5y ago
I mainly use Plex, but every now and then there is a file that it won't play on my Samsung TV. Sometimes it will play the se file on another TV I have, an old Sony. I also have Jellyfin installed and serving up the same collection of media for exactly this reason - sometimes it plays stuff that Plex won't. But the Plex app on my Samsung TV is far superior to the generic DLNA app I use for Jellyfin (I can't even remember the name of it; I tried multiple, and none were even close to as nice as the Plex one).
heavyset_go 5y ago
There's an Android TV client that works well with Android TV, Chromecasts and the Amazon Fire Stick. There's also Roku, Samsung TV[1], LG webOS[2] and iOS/tvOS[3] apps in development if anyone wants to work on them. [1] https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-tizen https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-tizen [2] https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-webos https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-webos [3] https://github.com/jellyfin/SwiftFin https://github.com/jellyfin/SwiftFin

I'd love to switch to Jellyfin, but I'm still using Plex as their apps are ubiquitous...It comes pre-installed on most Smart TVs and is available on pretty much every platform.

TameAntelope 5y ago

It seems like the author wanted to stick with open source. If that's not a concern, I think Plex wins handily.

silicon2401 5y ago

Does plex let you just play media from a device on the network? I'm a huge noob to the home media game. If I plug a usb hard drive into my router, can I download media from my PC to the hard drive, then play it on a plex device like a smart tv directly from the hard drive?

3np 5y ago
If you have Plex running on that router, yes. Same for Jellyfin (which I recommend) and Emby - as long as you have a corresponding app/client, DLNA, or a web client. If you connect with several clients you can "cast"/remote between them seamlessly so you can play to your TV from your phone, for example. The library is centralized, though, so you need all the medial files on one place. Also, I'd recommend not running it on your router but on a separate device for various reasons (security, performance especially if you need to transcode). If you want to stream 4K without having to think about codecs you'll need decent CPU and GPU. For 1080p you should be OK with an integrated AMD or Intel, or even a decent SBC.
- silicon2401 5y ago
  Thanks very much. I've been slowly trying to learn about NAS/home media stuff as I've gotten more into watching TV shows and movies, and your comment is making me lean towards plex/jellyfin/emby on a NAS to centrally store my media and stream it to devices.

GordonS 5y ago

I mainly use Plex, but every now and then there is a file that it won't play on my Samsung TV. Sometimes it will play the se file on another TV I have, an old Sony. I also have Jellyfin installed and serving up the same collection of media for exactly this reason - sometimes it plays stuff that Plex won't. But the Plex app on my Samsung TV is far superior to the generic DLNA app I use for Jellyfin (I can't even remember the name of it; I tried multiple, and none were even close to as nice as the Plex one).

heavyset_go 5y ago

There's an Android TV client that works well with Android TV, Chromecasts and the Amazon Fire Stick. There's also Roku, Samsung TV[1], LG webOS[2] and iOS/tvOS[3] apps in development if anyone wants to work on them. [1] https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-tizen https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-tizen [2] https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-webos https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-webos [3] https://github.com/jellyfin/SwiftFin https://github.com/jellyfin/SwiftFin