Transcoding with TS-451

[DonaldStott]

I bought the new higher spec TS-451 in the hope it would be powerful enough to do on-the-fly transcoding.

Can't figure out how to enable this despite my best efforts.

Hope someone can help - thanks.

[Antioch]

I have the same frustrating issues with on-the-fly the transcoding (I have an TS-851).

When using the QNAP built-in DLNA Media Server, I can only see the video being transcoded on my Sony Bravia TV. Audio is not working.

The work around I have using is to enable Plex Media Server's DLNA server instead. This seems to be able to transcode quite well.

Hope this helps.

On a side note, I installed the Twonky Media Server package. However, on-the-fly transcoding doesn't work at all.

[DonaldStott]

Thanks for your response.

I turned off the QNAP built-in DLNA Media Server as it seemed to replicate Twonky which, as I now know, doesn't support on-the-fly transcoding.

I'll have a go at installing Plex and let you know how I get on.

Just trying to avoid the creation of huge transcoded files for every video I have and I also don't want all those annoying thumbnails that QNAP seems to love to create for you?!

[QNAPJason]

Hi DonaldStott,
Please install HD Station and the CodexPack app to enable hardware transcoding for FIle Station, Video Station, and QNAP DLNA server.

[Antioch]

Hi Jason,

I installed HD Station and also the Codex Pack app. As mentioned above, the video worked ok, but no sound was available using QNAP DLNA Server and played on a Sony Bravia TV.

thanks

[Antioch]

Hi DonaldStott,

Ok.. I have been messing around with the built-in DLNA, Twonky and Plex servers and on-the-fly transcoding doesn't seem to work, except that the Plex DLNA servers does (albeit intermittently). However, recent tests using Serviio seems to be working fantastically. Have tried with quite a number of H264 files in MKV containers have been successful - video, sound (DTS/AC3) working perfectly.

If you want to try, go here for instructions how installing Serviio: http://forum.serviio.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5324

Have fun and good luck!

[rainmaker002]

I thought I'd revive this thread. I have a TS-451 and while I can get plex to transcode 720p content, it stutters and I get to 100% cpu usage with 1080p content. The x51 series is advertised as being able to transcode "full-hd" on the fly so I'm finding myself a bit disappointed. I have seen the recommendation for Serviio and installed it, but have had limited success. Depending on the mkv file, I can get audio (sometimes it is the wrong track, sometimes there is no audio) using Avia as the media renderer on android devices. It also doesn't seem to be able to keep up with all the files I've tested and again, stuttering.

Is there a solution to transcode 1080p on the fly I'm missing? I have only briefly fiddled with the built into transcoding option, because one of the options missing in the android app is the ability to send content to a Chromecast which is my main playback device right now.

[parkerc]

Hi

I'm having the same issues, has there been any development ?
What is the recommended way to transcode HD video on-the-fly? (Without losing Audio etc.)

[rainmaker002]

I am not really an expert, but I ditched Serviio and Plex for 1080p transcoding. Because neither can utilize Quicksync (which I understand is necessary for the celeron processor in the TS-451 to transcode high-bitrate files) they will not play back more than 720p content smoothly. The QFile app for Android also has pretty mixed results, and like I said, does not support Chromecast so is not helpful for playback on a tv/home theatre.

I installed BubbleUPNP and upgraded ffmpeg (there are instructions on the BubbleUPNP website on how to compile ffmpeg on the qnap device). This does the trick. BubbleUPNP is able to transcode JUST audio rather than trying to transcode video too (which the TS-451 can't do without choking). When you're just trying to transcode audio there is more than enough horsepower so to speak. The BubbleUPNP app for Android does support Chromecast so it's great for playing back on tvs.

Note that you really do need to upgrade ffmpeg for this to work- the built-in ffmpeg is very old and BubbleUPNP can't use it to transcode audio.

The interface for BubbleUPNP isn't as nice as Plex- it's basically a file browser. But, for movie playback it is fine. I still use Plex for 720p playback because the interface is so much better.

Hope that helps.

[parkerc]

Hi @rainmaker002

So just to be clear, you are just using bubbleupnp to transcode audio, not video ?
You still use Plex for video?
Or did I misinterpret something?

[rainmaker002]

BubbleUPNP will allow you to only transcode audio rather than trying to transcode video too, so the CPU power of the TS-451 isn't a limitation for 1080p content when streaming to your Android or Chromecast device. It will play smoothly (I have yet to see a single stutter which includes a high bitrate action movie).

Plex will transcode both- so it is only useful for 720p content.

Both BubbleUPNP and Plex are servers and clients. So, you will be using BubbleUPNP to play back your content if you want to always have smooth playback. I still use Plex as a client and server for 720p content just because the interface is far superior to BubbleUPNP (which basically looks like a file browser).

[rainmaker002]

BubbleUPNP will allow you to only transcode audio rather than trying to transcode video too, so the CPU power of the TS-451 isn't a limitation for 1080p content when streaming to your Android or Chromecast device. It will play smoothly (I have yet to see a single stutter which includes a high bitrate action movie).

Plex will transcode both- so it is only useful for 720p content.

Both BubbleUPNP and Plex are servers and clients. So, you will be using BubbleUPNP to play back your content if you want to always have smooth playback. I still use Plex as a client and server for 720p content just because the interface is far superior to BubbleUPNP (which basically looks like a file browser).

[parkerc]

BubbleUPNP will allow you to only transcode audio rather than trying to transcode video too, so the CPU power of the TS-451 isn't a limitation for 1080p content when streaming to your Android or Chromecast device. It will play smoothly (I have yet to see a single stutter which includes a high bitrate action movie).

I'm so sorry @Rainmaker002, I'm still not getting it

If BubbleUPnP is only doing the Audio, What transcodes the video?

And how are those two streams combined, so you have both sound and picture on your chosen playback device ?

I'm obviously missing something very obvious.

[rainmaker002]

You don't need to transcode Video when playing to the Chromecast. The chromecast supports the video in a typical mkv file natively, so no transcoding is required to get full 1080p. The only thing that NEEDS to be transcoded is the audio (because the chromecast only supports AAC). So BubbleUPNP transcodes just the audio, and not the video.

It's probably best for you to install it and give it a whirl. It only took me a couple of minutes to figure out. The only trick is to make sure you update the ffmpeg version, and there are instructions on the BubbleUPNP website on how to do that.

[nsfw]

I ended up here because I just wanted to know how to play media on my chromecast from the 451. Don't really need transcoding. But the interesting thing was to see how old ffmpeg is. I compiled the latest and greatest from git source but wonder if there is any special handling when ffmpeg runs into raw photos when it does thumbnail creation that the compiled from source wouldn't be able to handle without some special flags.
But anyways... still trying to figure out how to just send a video to my chromecast. Doesn't show up in qairplay & chromecast. Synology had this built into their mobile app and you could just launch a movie from your couch.