Introduction
This page is going to provide all the details about Plex and hardware transcoding and accelerated streaming.
For now it’s a placeholder/draft.
Plex Documentation on Hardware Accelerated Streaming
Here is the Plex documentation on using hardware-acecelerated streaming.
Some quotes from the documentation.
Hardware-accelerated decoding
Video files with H.264, HEVC, MPEG-2, and VC-1 encoded video can take advantage of hardware-accelerated decoding. When hardware-accelerated decoding is not compatible with a video file, Plex Media Server will automatically use normal software decoding. Exact capabilities will depend on what you’re using for the hardware-accelerated decoding (e.g. Intel Quick Sync Video vs an NVIDIA GPU). You can refer to that vendor documentation for specifics.
Hardware-accelerated encoding
Plex Media Server uses hardware-accelerated H.264 encoding when available. When hardware-accelerated encoding is not available, Plex Media Server will automatically use normal software encoding. Exact capabilities will depend on what you’re using for the hardware-accelerated encoding (e.g. Intel Quick Sync Video vs an NVIDIA GPU). You can refer to that vendor documentation for specifics. Some additional notes:
Intel Quick Sync Video
Intel Quick Sync Video is a hardware-based technology in Intel processors for fast video encoding, decoding, and processing. It offloads tasks to the integrated GPU, supporting popular codecs like H.264, H.265, and AV1. Quick Sync enhances video editing, streaming, playback, and transcoding with high efficiency and low CPU usage.
AMD Video Core Next
AMD Video Core Next (VCN) is AMD’s hardware-based video processing solution integrated into its GPUs and APUs. It replaces earlier technologies (UVD and VCE) and provides efficient encoding and decoding for codecs like H.264, H.265 (HEVC), VP9, and AV1 (in newer versions).
NVIDIA NVDEC
NVIDIA NVDEC (NVIDIA Video Decoder) is NVIDIA’s dedicated hardware decoder for video processing, integrated into their GPUs. It provides efficient, hardware-accelerated decoding of video streams, offloading tasks from the CPU to enhance performance in playback, streaming, and other media applications.
Supported Hardware Lists
Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix for Plex
Plex Media Server Hardware Transcoding Cheat Sheet
Conclusion
Ultimately Plex likes Intel Quick Sync video.