Yes, but if you ripped them into an iTunes format you could just drag them into iTunes and not need Plex.
Gary
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Official Plex App Now Available for New Apple TV
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Yes, but if you ripped them into an iTunes format you could just drag them into iTunes and not need Plex.
Gary
Download "Tuneskit". It will rip out the DRM of all iTunes movie purchases. It will also rip drm out of rentals if you're down for that sorta thing. Just rip out the movie and add it your plex folder. I've done all of my iTunes purchases this way.
I agree in some ways.
One big difference: You can share Plex outside the home which is handy. I've seen multiple people comment on this who have kids, the can see it at the other parent's when they are gone for the week/weekend or at the baby sitter's.
I've found it useful for somethings that I don't want to convert and save, I just throw it in the Plex share directory and it's on my TV moments later, I don't need to convert/drag to iTunes and I'm ready to go.
I think some people have a huge movie/video collection in other formats and they just as soon as leave them alone instead of converting them to an iTunes compatible format. Also this makes their huge collections accessible to other people at home who just want an easy way to access the files.
Gary
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When you say "shared libraries" do you mean a networked shared folder? If you've got the network speed, it'll do it.
Gary
My biggest complain about Home Sharingn is the UI. Unfortunately Apple has stuck with a list view vs a grid. Plex displays my same iTunes library (minus purchased movies) in a more visually appealing grid.
If Apple ever updates the Home Sharing UI, then I'd switch back right away.
I've been playing with Plex for a week now. (It's now running on my TiVo and Vizio TV)
It's kind of cool and really adds functionality to my TV and TiVo.
For those of you asking: It is kind of redundant if you have a process for converting files already working with your AppleTV.
There are lots of differences, but in general...
That said:
When I watch Blu-Ray .MKV files via Plex I can really see the difference between the files if I play them through Plex and through some other kind of media player (like a WD TV media box), sometimes it seems good enough, but other times it's pretty bad (and defeats the purpose of having the Blu-Ray files). If I just converted the files to iTunes in the first place, they seem like the are better that way too. But they're best if I just watch them on a device that is made to play them (but it's not as nice graphically, Plex is beautiful), hitting the buttons to change the input to the TV isn't much harder than finding the right app for Plex. Plus if I use a media player the fast-forward and reverse really seems to work (you see what's being ff/rev as it passes by).
Again these are my experiences with Plex in the last few days on my already existing devices.
Gary
It's kind of cool and really adds functionality to my TV and TiVo.
For those of you asking: It is kind of redundant if you have a process for converting files already working with your AppleTV.
There are lots of differences, but in general...
That said:
When I watch Blu-Ray .MKV files via Plex I can really see the difference between the files if I play them through Plex and through some other kind of media player (like a WD TV media box), sometimes it seems good enough, but other times it's pretty bad (and defeats the purpose of having the Blu-Ray files). If I just converted the files to iTunes in the first place, they seem like the are better that way too. But they're best if I just watch them on a device that is made to play them (but it's not as nice graphically, Plex is beautiful), hitting the buttons to change the input to the TV isn't much harder than finding the right app for Plex. Plus if I use a media player the fast-forward and reverse really seems to work (you see what's being ff/rev as it passes by).
Again these are my experiences with Plex in the last few days on my already existing devices.
Gary
Gary, I wanted to add to your statement to help avoid confusion...
You DO NOT need to "subscribe" to Plex to be able to share your library with others, or to view others' shared libraries. You DO need to create a FREE Plex account.
Plex does offer a paid subscription service called Plex Pass. But that is for other added benefits and is not needed for sharing libraries.
He's talking about shooting in 24 frames on a consumer video camera, not watching film back at its native resolution. God, don't confuse people anymore on this issue, they already don't get it!
To the best of my knowledge, Plex does not modify your files at all. Plex manages metadata in a separate database.
You can easily test this by placing a couple of your files in a separate folder of movies or TV shows, set up Plex to scan that folder, modify the information within Plex (such as thumbnail or description), and check the file status.
Fixed (in my post). I swear that's why one guy said he paid for the service, so his kids could access it remotely.
Thank you for the correction!!!
Gary
Sure thing...There is also a ton of confusion around paying for the Plex app itself. I am not going to even try to state what they charge (if anything) and what is/is not included because Plex seems to have various methodologies depending on platform.
I saw written somewhere (the Plex blog about this ATV release?) that some NAS devices that run Plex may need to be manually updated.
update: Here in the first paragraph. https://blog.plex.tv/2015/11/02/plex-on-the-new-apple-tv/
Gary
To be fair, you can sync content from the Plex server to your iPhone & iPad while on the local network and it will be stored on the device itself.
You can only do that with a Plex Pass which is paid for. I love my Plex Pass, for what it's worth.
YES. Now for the last piece of the puzzle.... Full support from the Harmony Smart Hub controller.
Oh, didn't realize that. I've had Plex Pass for so long I don't know what's exclusive.
I paid for Plex years ago and now it's apparently free but I don't have PlexPass and am not about to pay for it although some stuff looks cool. Still not a fan of them using their metadata and cover art. I spent way to much time perfecting my library and have 1000 plus movies and probably even more tv episodes.
Agreed, the Plex UI on the device is much better than Apple's list (which is a pain to scroll through with the touchpad). If only Plex could stream purchased iTunes content in addition to DRM-free files ...
I had the exact same system as you until about a few years ago when I switched to Plex. I'm saving only the MKV files now and letting Plex deal with converting as needed. It saves so much time and preserves the full quality (vs saving only the converted file from Handbrake).
As someone mentioned before, Plex does not alter your files in any way. So, it's safe to test anything you want. You can tell Plex where to get its metadata from. I don't remember what is the default option, but I have set it up to get metadata from the file first, so all my custom metadata (on mp4 files, set with Subler) show up as set by me.
Hope this clarifies things somehow.