That perception have now changed with the HEVC hardware accelerated encoding support in the newer chipset generations. Plus the release of Plex Media Player* last year with Embedded Platform app.

* Plex Media Player is currently only available for Plex Pass users.
UPDATE November 30, 2016: Plex Media Player is now available for all Plex users

UPDATE October 21, 2017: Intel has released a newer generation of NUC series (identifier: NUC7XXXXX). They no longer support booting from (micro) SD card, as shared by one of the readers. Read Brian’s notes here.

A little background

For over a year, I had been using Minix Neo Z64 running Plex Home Theater as client to browse and play media library from my Plex Media Server on my TV. It had served its primary purpose well but I started to find some limitations from it:

1. It could only be installed with 32-bit version of Windows (or any other x64 based operating system) due to limited BIOS and drivers support. This means, I couldn’t install the next generation Plex Media Player which unfortunately required 64-bit MacOS or Windows.
2. No hardware accelerated for HEVC (H.265) video format. Its Quad Core Intel Atom processor were choking to handle 1080p H.265 encoded videos.
3. Even though it had built-in IR receiver, there was no Windows driver for it. I had to use Flirc USB to control it from my Logitech Harmony remote.
4. No gigabit ethernet port, only 100 Mbps.
5. No HD Audio (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA) passthrough when using PHT on Windows.

So the search was on to find a hardware that would be able to fill those gaps. There is one extra requirement though: it needed to be in the sub $200 budget because I only wanted it as Plex client, not server.

The hardware: Intel NUC5CPYH

A few options came into consideration, including NVIDIA SHIELD TV and AsRock BEEBOX N3150, but I finally decided to go with Intel NUC NUC5CPYH. Primarily because of the price point, at less than $130 (barebone, no RAM, no drive) it was still quite an amazing price. While some people might doubt its processing power because it is still running on Celeron processor, but it’s already based on Braswell chipset and Braswell comes with HEVC hardware acceleration support.

Here’s the list of components to get it up and running:

• Intel NUC5CPYH Barebone Kit – $128 [link]
• Kingston HyperX Impact Black 4GB 1600MHz DDR3L SODIMM – $25 [link]
• SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive – $10 [link]

You could go with SDXC or even hard drive/SSD instead of using USB flash drive, that one is completely up to your preference. For me, the SanDisk Ultra Fit just offered the best bang for the buck.

In addition, you also need a spare USB drive with around 1GB of storage and USB keyboard to copy and install the Plex Media Player for embedded platform image.

Plex Media Player for Embedded Platforms installation

To download Plex Media Player (PMP) for the Intel NUC, just follow these steps:

1. Go to Plex Downloads page
2. Click on Get an App button
3. Make sure Plex Pass Downloads is checked on
4. Under Choose your app, select Plex Media Player > Embedded Platforms
5. Click on Download button, then select Intel 64-bit

Plex Downloads Page (click to zoom)

Next step is to create the disk image for the USB stick by following the official tutorial.

After plugging both USB sticks (one with the disk image and another that will act as the computer’s drive) and keyboard to the Intel NUC, turn it on. The NUC should try to detect a bootable drive, in this case the USB stick with PMP disk image. Then you need to follow the on-screen installation process and select the other USB stick as the destination drive to where app will be installed.

After the installation is complete, you can unplug the disk image stick and reboot the NUC. It should load PMP and you can start using it immediately.

Setting DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD passthrough

Plex Media Player’s Audio Configuration Guide is a little bit vague in explaining how to enable HD audio passthrough. But for Intel NUC, the key is to select the right Device type and Device under Settings > Audio panel.

• Device type: HDMI
• Channels: 7.1 (depending on your audio receiver’s input/output capability)
• Device: HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0/HDMI Audio Out
• Normalize Downmixed Volume: No
• Show Advanced Settings: Yes
• Dolby Digital (AC3): Yes
• DTS (DCA): Yes
• Dolby Digital Plus (EAC3): Yes
• DTS-HD Master Audio: Yes
• Dolby TrueHD: Yes

Maximizing control from Logitech Harmony

If you own a Logitech Harmony IR remote*, Intel NUC5CPYH already has its own profile on MyHarmony application. Just add a new device and put these values:

• Manufacturer: Intel
• Device Model Number: NUC5CPYH

MyHarmony Add A Device screen

* Logitech remotes based on Harmony Smart Control hub such as Harmony Elite or using RF signal may require different configuration.

You should already be able to use the remote for basic commands. However if you really want to have more control, you need to create your own inputmap. To save you the trouble of capturing each of the Button Name from the default NUC5CPYH profile, you can refer to my notes below from my Harmony One remote.

Button Name     Harmony Button
==============================
KEY_SLEEP       Power Toggle
KEY_RED         Red
KEY_GREEN       Green
KEY_YELLOW      Yellow
KEY_BLUE        Blue
KEY_TUNER       LiveTV
KEY_TV          MyTV
KEY_VIDEO       MyVideos
KEY_AUDIO       MyMusic
KEY_CAMERA      MyPictures
KEY_RADIO       MyRadio
KEY_DVD         DVDMenu
KEY_INFO        Info
KEY_EXIT        Exit
KEY_EPG         Guide
KEY_VOLUMEUP    Vol+
KEY_VOLUMEDOWN  Vol-
KEY_UP          Ch+
KEY_DOWN        Ch-
KEY_MUTE        Mute
KEY_REWIND      Rewind
KEY_FASTFORWARD FastForward
KEY_RECORD      Record
KEY_OK          OK
KEY_LEFT        Left
KEY_RIGHT       Right
KEY_UP          Up
KEY_DOWN        Down

Now that you know which buttons are recognized as which by PMP, all you need to do is to create a custom inputmap file to your preference and upload it using SSH/SFTP to the NUC under /storage/.local/share/plexmediaplayer/inputmaps/ directory. By the way, the remote is recognized as LIRC.

Here is how I set mine:

{
 "name": "LIRC IR",
 "idmatcher": "LIRC*",
 "mapping":
 {
     "KEY_LEFT": "left",
     "KEY_RIGHT": "right",
     "KEY_UP": "up",
     "KEY_DOWN": "down",
     "KEY_MENU": "unknown",
     "KEY_DVD": "home",
     "KEY_SELECT": "enter",
     "KEY_OK": "enter",
     "KEY_BACK": "back",
     "KEY_EXIT": "back",
     "KEY_PLAY": "play",
     "KEY_STOP": "stop",
     "KEY_PAUSE": "pause",
     "KEY_SEEKFWD": "seek_forward",
     "KEY_FASTFORWARD" : "seek_forward",
     "KEY_SEEKBCK": "seek_backward",
     "KEY_REWIND": "seek_backward",
     "KEY_CAMERA": "step_backward",
     "KEY_RADIO": "step_forward",
     "KEY_SUBTITLES": "cycle_subtitles",
     "KEY_INFO": "host:toggleDebug",
     "KEY_NEXT": "step_forward",
     "KEY_PREV": "step_backward",
     "KEY_HOME": "home",
     "KEY_NUMERIC_([0-9])": "%1",
     "KEY_SLEEP": "host:suspend",
     "KEY_RECORD": "toggle_subtitles",
     "KEY_RED": "cycle_subtitles",
     "KEY_GREEN": "cycle_subtitles_back",
     "KEY_YELLOW": "increase_subtitles_delay",
     "KEY_BLUE": "decrease_subtitles_delay",
     "KEY_TUNER": "cycle_audio",
     "KEY_TV": "cycle_audio_back",
     "KEY_VIDEO": "increase_audio_delay",
     "KEY_AUDIO": "decrease_audio_delay"
 }
}

Once you done that, restart PMP. The final step is to reflect the changes on your Harmony devices and activities settings. You probably want to change the labels on the screen buttons.

Performance

This tiny device works like a charm! Thanks to hardware acceleration available on Braswell and newer chipsets, the NUC handles all video format I have been throwing at it like a boss.

It has no problems in handling 1080p HEVC (8-bit) videos. Over a dozen videos, only one which had one dropped frames occasion, but I think that was caused by network hiccup and not because the CPU/GPU was out of breath. Since this is an embedded app, I could not measure the hardware usage. What I can tell is the NUC never gets hot, or even warm, so it is certainly not stressed when decoding those movies.

The NUC Blog says that it should be able to handle 4k HEVC videos. My TV is not 4k yet, so not something I wanted to try, but good to know that it has some future-proofing.

Audio passthrough is perfect also. I can finally see the HDSUR. icon showing up on my Yamaha YSP-2500 Soundbar.

Mission accomplished. The Intel NUC5CPYH is a wonderful upgrade from Minix Z64 for a small budget dedicated HTPC.

Reader’s tip: Stuttering Issue

In case you are seeing stuttering with during video playback, and not related to audio output configuration, you may want to try enabling Allow Display Mode Switching under Settings > Video. Thanks for the note, Joe!

Shop for your Plex Media Player setup

The post Intel NUC as Plex Media Player Client: Setup Guide appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

However if you are still contemplating and need justification in making the decision, I hope this post could help you settle with the dilemma. Note that I am not endorsed by Plex whatsoever and the content is purely my own point of view.

1. Supporting the developers

As a free application, Plex is already amazing. It is a result of countless hours of development and concept designs. These all take dedication and commitment and require financial support to keep the great job going. By subscribing, you are ensuring that the application will be continuously developed with all new features and improvements over the years.

2. Mobile Sync is awesome

Not everyone uses super high-speed Internet connection on their home that allows them to stream the content from Plex Media Server flawlessly anytime and anywhere. This is where Mobile Sync, a Plex Pass-only feature comes in handy as you can download your favorite movies or TV shows to your portable devices for watching them offline. Even if you have a very good broadband plan at home, you probably still cannot stream your movies when you are on a plane or travelling abroad.

3. It is a high quality software with fair pricing

Plex Pass starts at $5/month which seems high for something that you believe you can use without the added features. But even if there are 1 or 2 Plex Pass features that you think will be good to have, then it is still worth it. Why? Because you are getting a quality app. Consider how much time you’ll save over time just because you have those features built-in on your media ecosystem, instead of trying to find workarounds that may or may not work. If you go with the Lifetime subscription, in my calculation, after 5 years you’d be only spending $0.08 a day which is practically nothing.

4. It costs only a fraction of your media hardware setup

Just consider it. You probably invested $500+ for a good media server (ie. Mac mini or good NAS), a few hundred bucks more on the hard drives, then you have a few tablets and media players (Apple TV, game console, streaming devices, smart TV, etc) which could easily total in more than $1,000. Not to mention you need to replace or upgrade these components every few years. When you compare that to $150 for a lifetime of subscription, you will only spend less than 10% on the software that can make bring your entertainment experience to a higher level.

5. Plex is actively developed

Nothing bums customers out for paying a premium only to get occasional updates. This has not been the case for me, at least during 1.5 years after signing up to my Plex Pass Lifetime subscription. I constantly receiving news of new worthy features which are available for Plex Pass subscribers at first. It’s a geek’s dream. I never feel like I paid for an application which had been done before signing up, instead it was for new ones in the future.

There you go. That would be my top 5 reasons for subscribing to Plex Pass. Please feel free to share your comments below.

About Plex

Plex gives you instant access to your media collections—your home videos, photos, music, TV shows, and movies—so you can quickly find and stream what you want to any device, any time.

Platforms include Macs, PCs, smartphones, tablets, Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles, Smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Nvidia Shield, and more. Whether it’s your movie and TV collection or your music library, Plex makes your media look beautiful by automatically adding movie posters, plot summaries, cover art, and descriptions. Plex also allows you to share it all with your friends and family.

http://plex.tv |

Recommended Plex players/clients for your home

The post Why you shouldn’t hesitate to get Plex Pass subscription appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

For years, my Mac minis had been the primary device for both Plex Media Server and Plex Home Theater (the player). Started with the old 2010 Mac mini with 2.4GHz Core2Duo processor which served me well for over 3 years. Then as Plex functionality grew, C2D processor no longer held up to directly convert my movie files and stream it to mobile devices. I then upgraded it to Mac mini 2012 with 2.3GHz Quad Core i7 processor, which has been able to handle multiple devices without breaking a sweat.

A dilemma was faced when I needed a better working station as my Macbook Air was no longer enough to serve for web development jobs I had been doing in my home office. Initially I was thinking to buy an iMac with Fusion Drive, but then I had an idea to use my i7 Mac mini instead since it actually had a superb processing power. The idea was, it would still run Plex Server since I would not watch movies and working at the same time. The challenge was to find a suitable device to replace the Mac mini for the player as I had to move it out from the bedroom. The simple solution would be to buy another Mac mini, but was very uneconomical and unpractical because I did not need another server. So the search began…

Requirements

Considering Plex’s excellent multi-platform adoption, I could easily buy a Chromecast for less than $40 and install Plex app there. But I needed more than just a video streamer. It would be playing high definition media files and connected to my Yamaha YSP-2500 soundbar, so certain requirements were needed:

• handles 1080p movies
• supports Dolby Digital and DTS encoding
• good design
• space saving
• silent

There were a few contenders at the time, including Intel NUC, Roku and Raspberry Pi 2. All seemed like good options, but did not qualify to all the specifications.

Enter MINIX NEO Z64

After a thorough market research, I discovered about MINIX NEO Z64 and it was the closest one to meet all my requirements. It comes in two flavors: MINIX NEO Z64A which is basically an Android TV box and shipped with Android Kit Kat 4.4 and MINIX NEO Z64W is actually a micro PC shipped with Windows 8.1 Bing Edition. The MINIX Z64A retails at around $130 and came with and IR remote, while the Z64W is slightly more expensive at $160 due to the Windows 8.1 license and it does not come with IR remote.

The MINIX NEO Z64

The coolest thing is, you can install Windows on MINIX Z64A and vice versa, following the instructions provided by user Gadget Friendly on MINIX forums.

Under the hood these models have the same hardware specifications:

• Intel Bay Trail (Intel Z3735F, 64-bit) CPU
• Intel HD Graphics GPU
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB eMMC ROM
• 2 x USB 2.0 ports
• MicroSD slot
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• 1 x Headphone jack
• 1 x HDMI port
• 1 x Ethernet jack

First Impressions

I decided to order Z64A because I wanted to try Plex for Android first. I had only known Plex on Mac OS X and iOS environments, but both Android and Windows versions were new territories for me. I was not sure if there would be limitations as Plex player compared to my Mac mini.

MINIX NEO Z64 Box Front

In addition, I also bought the MINIX NEO A2 Lite which is a wireless keyboard and air mouse. This was necessary for me and is highly recommended to make your life easier when required to type during inital setup, browsing or searching for anything. Otherwise you would be stuck with the on screen keyboard. The A2 Lite works on both the Android and Windows OS versions.

Some sellers sell both MINIX NEO Z64A and A2 Lite in a bundle which could save you some bucks.

The Z64A came with the following inside the box:

• 1 x MINIX NEO Z64
• 1 x Remote controller (remember: the remote is not included on Z64W)
• 1 x AC power charger
• 1 x HDMI cable
• 1 x USB cable
• 1 x user manual

MINIX NEO Z64 Box Content

The main device is well built with very compact form and is have strong resemblence with the Apple TV, except for the wi-fi antenna. At its price point, there was nothing to complain about the build quality, if not better than I had expected. I had seen Android TV set top box with ugly casing and finish.

MINIX NEO Z64A with Plex for Android

Installation was very straightforward: just plug it to a power source and TV, some initial setup then I was ready to go. As a standalone media player, the Z64A came with Kodi which is another excellent multi-platform media manager and player so you could easily use it independently. However my quest was to make it work with my Plex Media Server and I did not want to bother migrating years of media collection to a different system, so the next step for me was to install Plex for Android from the Google App Store.

Plex for Android TV Interface

Unfortunately Plex for Android did not really work well for me because of the native support of the media formats. Many of them could not direct-play and had to be transcoded by Plex Media Server on-the-fly. This lead to one very particular problem: it lost the original media file’s quality in particular the surround audio encoding (DD/DTS). I could not accept this.

Then for a short time, I managed to live by using Kodi by adding the PleXBMC plugin. It allowed me to connect to my Plex Media Server while using Kodi’s media player which supports more formats including Dolby Digital and DTS. But this set up was not meant to last also. First I had to settle for losing the nice Plex interface, then it took extra few steps to open up my media library, finally the plugin had few bugs which prevented me to connect to Plex Server from time to time for no obvious reason.

The time came to test the Windows version of MINIX Z64.

MINIX NEO Z64W with Plex Home Theater

Following the instructions given, I have to say anyone who have done clean install of Windows on their PC before should not face much problem. Just a reminder that you need to purchase your own Windows license when upgrading from Z64A and while the CPU is 64-bit, MINIX NEO Z64 only supports Windows 32-bit version. MINIX also officially provided the BIOS conversion files and Windows drivers.

Next step is to install Plex Home Theater for Windows (32-bit version). Nothing special about it, just like installing other Win application. Upon first launch, I was asked to connect to Plex account and it detected my Plex Media Server immediately. Happy to say, PHT has very consistent interface between the one for Mac OS X and one for Windows.

Plex Home Theater Interface

The tricky part is with the hardware setup. PHT requires you to set the right hardware support in order for it to work smoothly. In particular the audio, you want to make sure your audio system actually supports any of the preferences options, whether it is for Dolby Digital, DTS, DTS-HD and so on. Failing to do this and you might get stuttering playback. It took a few attempts for me to got this part right.

Movie Playback

Once all set, I played some of my favorite movies. The MINIX Z64 + PHT were able to play all the movies on my media library. Most of them are in MKV format with DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 or 7.1 audio. Surround channels were distributed accurately and it had no problem handling up to 1080p resolution.

Some other reviewers mentioned that the Z64 was able to handle 4K videos. I haven’t tried this myself because I do not have 4K TV and while the CPU is able to decode 4K video, it would be pointless if the HDMI port is not version 2.0 which is required to deliver the output to UltraHD TVs.

Another interesting subject is the latest buzz in digital video format: HEVC h.265 support. H.265 format allows even better compression for HD movies. Unfortunately it is hardware dependant and Intel Bay Trail does not have the hardware support. It would be awesome though if MINIX could release future products with CPU that is compatible with HEVC H.265. They have the NEO X8-H Plus, but it only comes with Android OS option therefore no PHT.

Drawback: Networking

Since my Plex setup relies so much on good networking to stream from my home office upstairs to my bedroom, this is the only element that I am quite disappointed with MINIX NEO Z64. The wireless connection is not that good despite the external antenna. I ended up having to buy TP-LINK RE200 AC750 Wi-Fi Extender and connect it to the ethernet port to get the best and most consistent network connection.

IR Receiver on Windows

You would probably interested to know that the IR receiver is not working when running under Windows. I still cannot understand why MINIX has not created the driver to support it. But the A2 Lite keyboard works flawlessly, so it is not a deal breaker.

Using It as Plex Media Server

While NEO Z64 has just the right hardware to play common media formats, I would not recommend it to use it as Plex Media Server. Particularly if you are planning to use it to serve multiple devices that require transcoding. It does not have enough beef and you still need to invest on a better machine for the server.

Conclusion

Getting into the third month with the Z64W + PHT setup, I am very happy with it. It is a solid replacement for the player. Compared to $500 Mac mini, it is a huge money saver with only 1/3 of the price plus it uses less energy. The concept of releasing a product that allow customers to select between Android and Windows is very interesting. I hope MINIX will continue the development of this product line and improving a few shortcomings mentioned above.

Update November 2015:

Late October 2015 Plex officially introduced Plex Media Player as the successor of Plex Home Theater. Currently it is only available for PlexPass users and in 64-bit version for Windows 7+. Since MINIX NEO Z64 only allows you to install Windows in 32-bit version, unless Plex Media Player will be available for the 32-bit OS, you may not be able to install it ever. However I am going to keep my fingers crossed. Besides, Plex Home Theater is still a very solid and mature application and I have no doubt it will still be able to play most files served from Plex Media Server for many years to come.

Gallery

The post Geek Review: MINIX NEO Z64 for Plex player appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.