XBOX One + Plex = Amazing Home Theater System!

[sc302 Veteran]

On top of what hawkman states...If you subscribe to the plex pass, it supports multiple users and the content rating system.  If you have young users and do not want them watching mature content you can limit them to what content they can watch with plex. 

 

Take a look at plex features

https://plex.tv/features

 

kodi seems a bit basic when comparing to the plex features...I think the one "feature" in the plex features page (top row, right most feature) covers just about everything in the kodi about page:

http://kodi.tv/about/

[HawkMan]

plex still needs to implement the 3D features from Kodi though, which they where supposed to do when the imported the code from the last xbmc version(whatever it was called before they changed to Kodi)

 

Right now Kodi+PleXBMC is the best option. especially since I also like Kodi's ability to add file folders to your video browser.

 

Kodi also has better plugin support, or more plugins. like over here we have NRK and SVT plugins(Norwegian and Swedish "BBC") and so many other video streaming plugins. 

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

So in what ways is it better than Kodi?

 

I'm torn between the two, i like Kodi better on my HTPC's for the PVR support (I have my Kodi library synced using an SQL database).

 

However when out and about Plex is pretty awesome, Plex can stream to any web browser or mobile device anywhere in the world, transcodeing the media on the fly to best suit the bandwidth available at the time.

 

I have no problems streaming from Plex on my home server over 3g / 4g on my commute, its very rare i have to buffer (3g / 4g is very good here however).

 

Another benefit of Plex is if a friend also has Plex you can share media libraries, so not only can i access my own media i currently have access to 4 libraries from different friends too. You can get a Plex plugin for Kodi so you can take advantage of any content shared with you from within Kodi too.

 

It really depends on you as the individual which is best, i kind of wish i could merge both Plex and Kodi together. I use both and enjoy various features from each.

[HawkMan]

 

It really depends on you as the individual which is best, i kind of wish i could merge both Plex and Kodi together. I use both and enjoy various features from each.

 

PleXBMC

 

http://kodi.wiki/view/Add-on:PleXBMC

[Gotenks98]

I tried it once, but prefer Kodie (xmbc) on dedicated PC with my main storage on it connected directly to the tv.

^^^This, I have a similiar setup now but with a Raspberry Pi 2 running OpenElec Kodi. Its awsome.

[zerolimit]

I love Plex because its a simple/easy setup for XBOX One + Plex + Tv just amazing combo!

I watch tv and switch to Plex to watch movies or tv shows i have! easy use for my wife! and daughter!

Works on their iPad/iPhone at home and anywhere we go!

 

I have a old i5 computer in the closet that we didn't use running in the background. My electricity bill has minimal change. 

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

PleXBMC

 

http://kodi.wiki/view/Add-on:PleXBMC

 

I did try that a while ago, using the Amber skin. The plugin crashed a lot when browsing anything shared by Plex. It would sometimes work for a day then just randomly fail for no reason, so I eventually gave up with it.

 

I might have to try that again and see if I have any better luck as it was pretty nice when it worked!

[Mouettus]

You could just stream content from your Synology NAS to your X1 - this is what I do. It's the simplest solution in my eyes.

I don't own any game console I just have my NAS, my pc, my smartphone and my slow and buggy WD TV Live. I would buy something else than that box if anyone would care to bring DTS support.

[Bryan R.]

No doubt about it, Plex is awesome. Personally, my experience is on my Roku and Windows devices around my house. I watch all my movies and some TV shows through it as well as some of the extra channels such as Comedy Central, PBS, South Park, Pandora, etc.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Plex is nothing on Universal Media Server. Anything transcoding DTS is a crime these days as well. It's just sadly our only real choice on the new consoles. We need native DLNA support (DLNA 2.0 I believe) and fast. Unfortunately MS are probably going to want to control what applications you can use, and we're laughing at trying to figure out when Sony can be bothered patching in DLNA support.

 

Besides Roku, WDLive and any other good dedicated streaming device, on the console front the PS3 is still king.

 

edit: I've read UMS may support the Xbox One. If true then it's a far better and free option to Plex. http://www.universalmediaserver.com/comparison/

[Bryan R.]

Plex offers more than that comparison chart shows. So, where do you get the "Plex is nothing compared to..". Because it streams better? Admittedly I don't know much about UMS but their site doesn't do it any favors.

[HawkMan]

I don't own any game console I just have my NAS, my pc, my smartphone and my slow and buggy WD TV Live. I would buy something else than that box if anyone would care to bring DTS support.

 

ummm Xbox one has DTS Support....

Plex is nothing on Universal Media Server. Anything transcoding DTS is a crime these days as well. It's just sadly our only real choice on the new consoles. We need native DLNA support (DLNA 2.0 I believe) and fast. Unfortunately MS are probably going to want to control what applications you can use, and we're laughing at trying to figure out when Sony can be bothered patching in DLNA support.

 

Besides Roku, WDLive and any other good dedicated streaming device, on the console front the PS3 is still king.

 

edit: I've read UMS may support the Xbox One. If true then it's a far better and free option to Plex. http://www.universalmediaserver.com/comparison/

 

ummm. Plex is an media center app on your xbox.. there is NO transcoding. it runs everything in your plex library directly, like the plex app. or like XBMC/Kodi (which it's based on) runs out of it's own library.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

ummm Xbox one has DTS Support....

 

ummm. Plex is an media center app on your xbox.. there is NO transcoding. it runs everything in your plex library directly, like the plex app. or like XBMC/Kodi (which it's based on) runs out of it's own library.

 

Plex can and does transcode when it needs to. Changing DTS to AC3 is transcoding. Most video files tend to be fine as long as they're correctly encoded h264.

[HawkMan]

Plex can and does transcode when it needs to. Changing DTS to AC3 is transcoding. Most video files tend to be fine as long as they're correctly encoded h264.

 

Can and does, but doesn't do it when it doesn't need to. which it what it does when DLNA streaming to "unsupported" devices or mobile devices.

 

When you stream from the plex server to an actual plex app it doesn't need to transcode. Now if only they would get out of the "beta" phase and allow non subscribers to buy the xbox app.

[IXNet]

I use it too on wd tv live. But you need to be wired because the wifi on this unit is slow as ....

 

All other point are good working great so far.

[HawkMan]

In general you always want to have your video streaming wired. otherwise it will hog a lot of the available wireless bandwidth and clog up your wireless connection for other devices. 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Can and does, but doesn't do it when it doesn't need to. which it what it does when DLNA streaming to "unsupported" devices or mobile devices.

 

When you stream from the plex server to an actual plex app it doesn't need to transcode. Now if only they would get out of the "beta" phase and allow non subscribers to buy the xbox app.

 

Yeah it does if the video or audio source isn't supported.

 

You cannot stream DTS to the Xbox One - https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/203824396-What-media-formats-are-supported-

 

Even MKV has to be remuxed, but that's okay as remuxing isn't transcoding.

[Jub]

Once it supports DTS MA, if ever, I'll get an X1 and give it a shot. Maybe. Kodi is just so... good.

[Dinggus]

I had sort of backed MediaBrowser (now Emby) by having bought all the mobile apps and donating to them.  I think with the release of the Windows 10 SDK we'll see an Emby app soon.

 

Even now I use it with IE on the Xbox and it works pretty great.

 

I liked MediaBrowser, but for some reason after an update, it stopped working (OSX Version). It would show on my Xbox One, but no files and then it started showing 2 MediaBrowsers with just movies.

[Mouettus]

I use it too on wd tv live. But you need to be wired because the wifi on this unit is slow as ....

 

All other point are good working great so far.

why would you use plex on a wdtv live if it supports everything right out of the box?

 

furthermore, the wifi N on the unit is enough to stream 10-12gb mkv's from my network

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I prefer the PS3 with Universal Media Server myself. I did try Plex and the One (and the One with Universal Media Server as well) but unfortunately the One was converting the audio before it got to my receiver. So .mkv files with DTS Audio, the One insists on converting the audio and not letting it just pass through. Even though the audio that makes it through is 5.1, it is not the pure stream, so I decided I would rather have the pure stream.

Shame too as I do Watch TV using the One, so was hoping this would not be the case, but apparently it is just how the One handles audio, it will not pass it through without converting it.

[zerolimit]

I think the MKV and DTS support from Plex is really the only thing hurting the XBOX One Media Center besides that it works great. 

[Defcon]

If you have an Xbox1 that's great, it reminds me of the time I used to  use Xbox 360 just for Netflix, because it had a great app. Nowdays, you can get a much nicer client with a dedicated box such as an Android box, cheap Windows on a stick, Fire Tv etc, all running OpenElec which will play back anything, and on the backend use either Emby (my preference) or Plex.

 

Its a good time for HTPC, that's for sure. Windows 10 with native support for mkv and subtitles is also great news.

[Higgjose]

Does Xbox one stream 3d across dlna? Can't find any info on forcing it to recognize as 3d.

[zerolimit]

I've done 3D without a Problem. I have also tried AppleTV4, PS4 and XBOX One and works perfect! I deft recommend you guys use either the XBOX One or the AppleTV