Infuse vs Plex

[thisismyusername]

problem with plex is that plex relies always on the server side. all my media is on a nas and the nas cannot transcode movies while watching them - it is not powerful enough to do that, like majority nases arent.

Yeah, of course. I get that not everyone has a powerful server capable of handling transcoding when it's necessary and yes, products like infuse are great for them. I'm not saying plex is the solution for everyone as I know it definitely is not. My comment was in regards to people who do have powerful enough servers and are experiencing problems mentioned in this thread. I just don't see any of that.

I do have to admit that the one thing infuse really has over plex is the ability to handle the HD audio streams. I might have to checkout how well infuse can work with a plex server. That might be a good compromise for me as we still like to watch stuff on lots of different devices and thus plex is still a good fit. It still bugs me that after all these years, almost all streaming devices still don't support those codecs. Geez, I was running HTPCs 10 years ago that were capable of bitstreaming that stuff without any issues.

 

[HDFan]

nas cannot transcode movies while watching them

I stream 1080p from a Plex server on a WD PR4100 NAS, running multiple streams with no problems. I'm in a high cost electricity state so I don't want to have to pay for powering the computer and all of those disks.

 

[AidenL]

Infuse Pro for me - great app, responsive support.

 

[nagual]

Boy I missed my KODi on the server which I sold. Now I'am using Synology DS718+ with Plex, some of my movies plays fine but not all especially 4K titles. I also tried Infuse Pro, same result as Plex. Kodi is certainly a KING from my experience.

 

[Sill]

I've brought this up in multiple threads, but its still a valid point so I'm bringing it up here: Infuse doesn't have the security issues that I found with Plex.

• Infuse doesn't catalog anything it isn't directly pointed to. Plex will index things even if that particular search is specifically disabled. If you have proprietary photos or anything else NDA on your machine, don't install Plex on it.)
• Infuse doesn't require you to thread everything you do through the Plex cloud (why does Plex need to do this even for a client and server that are in the same room?)
• Infuse is easy to delete if you decide to do that, whereas Plex hides files in various locations that remain even if you follow their directions. Its not easy to get rid of Plex.

Also,

• Infuse does not require you to have an "Infuse account" to make use of their software, as Plex apparently does now. (Again, why should I need an account to stream stuff locally?)

 

[thisismyusername]

I might have to checkout how well infuse can work with a plex server.

In case anybody's considering going this route, I tried this out and I'm surprised at how well it works. It was trivial to setup and Infuse was playing stuff from my Plex server without any transcoding going on in the latter. It's nice to finally be able to once again take advantage of the HD audio streams in my movies. Plus, I have to admit the Infuse UI is really nice.

This seems to be a good solution for folks who use multiple platforms, including non-Apple ones (e.g. Roku) and like to have their metadata all in one place.

Infuse does not require you to have an "Infuse account" to make use of their software, as Plex apparently does now. (Again, why should I need an account to stream stuff locally?)

This is by far my biggest complaint about Plex and was almost enough for me to not go with it originally but oh well.

 

[priitv8]

It's nice to finally be able to once again take advantage of the HD audio streams in my movies.

How does it work out for you? I tried to get HD passthrough from Infuse, and as far as I can see, tvOS 11.3.smth has plugged that port. So the only thing I can get is internal decoding and multichannel PCM output to AVR.
Whis might otherwise be OK, but Atmos gets stripped.
I was pleasantly surprised, that Sony android TV's Video app, although extremely basic DLNA client, plays both HDR and Atmos (on DD+) via ARC.

 

[Michelasso]

How does it work out for you? I tried to get HD passthrough from Infuse, and as far as I can see, tvOS 11.3.smth has plugged that port. So the only thing I can get is internal decoding and multichannel PCM output to AVR.
Which might otherwise be OK, but Atmos gets stripped.

I am not sure if it's available yet, but according to James in the Infuse forums Infuse devs have been working on adding Atmos as soon as tvOS 12 beta 1 was out. If I understood correctly on tvOS 12 there should be an "Atmos" option, then Infuse, set on auto, should automatically detect it and send the Atmos stream to the AVR.

 

[schlotz]

All of the above is just a small smattering of the debate that raged over on the plex forums. Most having issues (and there are a ton of them) stemming from Plex's initial decision to stay with the built in apple player. Infuse and others wrote their own. Plex has stayed with their decision which has and continues to create problems. Infuse a few months ago took up the challenge to have their client support the Plex Media Server. It's already up, running and being updated very regularly from user input. Needless to say the migration to Infuse's client has been strong. YMMV

 

[thisismyusername]

How does it work out for you? I tried to get HD passthrough from Infuse, and as far as I can see, tvOS 11.3.smth has plugged that port. So the only thing I can get is internal decoding and multichannel PCM output to AVR.

It worked as well as Infuse is able to at the moment. That is, it decoded the HD audio to PCM and sent that. Infuse can't bitstream TrueHD and DTS-MA since the AppleTV doesn't support it. While I'd love to see my receiver's TrueHD/DTS-MA lights come on, decoding to PCM and sending that instead is just as good and certainly better than what Plex does so I'm happy.

I can't comment on Atmos since I've never tried it.

All of the above is just a small smattering of the debate that raged over on the plex forums. Most having issues (and there are a ton of them) stemming from Plex's initial decision to stay with the built in apple player. Infuse and others wrote their own. Plex has stayed with their decision which has and continues to create problems. Infuse a few months ago took up the challenge to have their client support the Plex Media Server. It's already up, running and being updated very regularly from user input. Needless to say the migration to Infuse's client has been strong. YMMV

Yeah, I can see a lot of Plex users doing what I did and switching over to Infuse for their primary movie watching while still using Plex on the backend. I'll still use the Plex client for at least LiveTV and whatnot. It's really nice being able to use both seamlessly.

 

[DNichter]

I've used Plex for over 10 years, really love it. Always works, easy to maintain, good features that are constantly being updated. I feel like they are a solid platform to invest in. I have a QNAP NAS that stores my media and the Plex Media Server.

 

[mrex]

I stream 1080p from a Plex server on a WD PR4100 NAS, running multiple streams with no problems. I'm in a high cost electricity state so I don't want to have to pay for powering the computer and all of those disks.

i said my nas cannot transcode. pr4100 is newer and better than dl2100 for sure, but i dont own it. dl2100 cant transcode. while plex needs running the server on nas like in your situation, vlc for example doesnt need a server to run behind.

 

[HDFan]

the nas cannot transcode movies while watching them - it is not powerful enough to do that, like majority nases arent.

Sorry, didn't read as "my nas". I was trying to make the point that more and more NAS units are supporting plex.

 

[mrex]

Sorry, didn't read as "my nas". I was trying to make the point that more and more NAS units are supporting plex.

yes, nowadays many nases are targeted to consumers and contain atleast intel i3 cpu rather than atom or so. and even if you dont have intel i or so, the old nas will probably stream the content just fine if it doesnt need to transcode the file while watching meaning the video file is already in a suitable format. however i keep my files as they are and using matroska containers (mkv for a video). even my dl2100 can run plex, but it doesnt have enough power to transcode on the fly.

 

[schlotz]

Lets put it this way: regardless for who the Plex client works or does not work for, Infuse spent the time to review the comments on Plex's forum and determined that there was a significant amount of outstanding issues that have not been addressed by Plex in the 3 years their client has been available. Within a few short months of that Infuse had an available beta client that addressed most of these issues. They have been continually refining their client with many migrating over from the plex client to Infuse. Use what works for you is the best advise.

 

[rich1574]

So over the last couple of days I have been trying Infuse. Up until now I have been using Plex server on my iMac with Plex app installed on my Apple TV 4k. The Infuse client seems to be working really well and I particularly like the more granular description of the video and audio being played. My question is should I stick with the Plex server install or change this to something else assuming there is a tangible benefit. I am assuming that with the Infuse client the Plex server should not be doing any transcoding.

 

[PhoenixDown]

Most of my content is purchased through iTunes (and a few in VUDU that aren't MA). Would Plex or Infuse allow me to better organize my movies? I hate the way the Apple TV handles this today.

 

[Andrewtst]

Just setup both yesterday.

I only used Plex for easier fill in the movie metadata. That it.

All the playback I use infuse client login to Plex because infuse no need transcode and can playback any movie I throw in include 4K HDR content. The Plex wise every 5 mins playback will throw me transcode error in my Apple TV 4K. I also install Plex in my another Android TV Box and I actually didn't face this transcode error issue in my Mi Box.

To be honest Plex interface in View Movies interface is not done nicely as in Android TV OS, the design in tvOS just waste the background.

Plex Interface in Apple TV 4K (tvOS) v/s Mi Box (Android TV OS)

Plex Main Interface

Plex Movies Catalog

View Movies Interface

Infuse also much more user friendly with ability to direct search subtitle and switch subtitle during playback. The subtitle switching in Plex is very troublesome where you need to stop playing the movie and went out to previous screen and click the setting button to change it.

Infuse Interface

I give Infuse 4 star, will be 5 star if infuse have PC apps to do metadata match.

Plex wise is 1 star because it is consider unplayable in tvOS.

 

[jetjaguar]

weird .. plex on apple tv 4k direct plays all my 4k hdr remuxes with no issues whatsoever

 

[niteflyr]

Most of my content is purchased through iTunes (and a few in VUDU that aren't MA). Would Plex or Infuse allow me to better organize my movies? I hate the way the Apple TV handles this today.

Neither Plex or Infuse will play copy protected content. If iTunes is your major content provider, stick with iTunes and/or Home Sharing on ATV computers app.

 

[priitv8]

The subtitle switching in Plex is very troublesome where you need to stop playing the movie and went out to previous screen and click the setting button to change it.

I think you can change them also during playback, via the drop-down HUD, just like tvOS standard player.
How do they fare on Atmos front? Infuse used to have audio passthrough to HDMI but that feature has become defunct in recent tvOS versions.

 

[Andrewtst]

I think you can change them also during playback, via the drop-down HUD, just like tvOS standard player.
How do they fare on Atmos front? Infuse used to have audio passthrough to HDMI but that feature has become defunct in recent tvOS versions.

Plex did not follow tvOS design, you can't change the subtitle by pulling down the drop-down HUD from top.

 

[priitv8]

Plex did not follow tvOS design, you can't change the subtitle by pulling down the drop-down HUD from top.

True, my mistake. The drawer still descends but it belongs to tvOS and the subtitle settings have no effect on what Plex app is doing.

 

[syeetie]

I haven't had any issues with plex on apple tv 4k.
I have heard about the new characters of the Xbox One.

 

[d5aqoëp]

It worked as well as Infuse is able to at the moment. That is, it decoded the HD audio to PCM and sent that. Infuse can't bitstream TrueHD and DTS-MA since the AppleTV doesn't support it. While I'd love to see my receiver's TrueHD/DTS-MA lights come on, decoding to PCM and sending that instead is just as good and certainly better than what Plex does so I'm happy.

I can't comment on Atmos since I've never tried it.

Totally wrong. PCM audio doesn’t have the correct positioning as it was intended on a True ATMOS setup. I played the same ATMOS file on ATV 4K and Nvidia Shield TV. The Shield TV sounds outstanding with correct ATMOS passthrough using KODI. The sound positioning is phenomenal. Comparatively, Infuse on ATV 4K sounds flat.

What you wrote is a PR speak from Infuse team as they are helpless with ATMOS and DTS HD passthrough. They want to sell their app that’s all. Hopefully Golden Master of TVOS 12 changes this.

If one has some serious Audiophile level Audio hardware then, ATV 4K and Infuse will not give them what they want (At this point of time)