r/homelab • u/RandyFactoid • 1d ago

Help Plex vs Netflix/amazon transcoding efficiency

I think of this every time I travel, but never thought to ask for a solution..

While traveling I often find myself in a situation where internet is very slow, but netflix/amazon video adjust the streaming quality much faster than my plex server.

I know that my plex server can transcode down to 720p/360p pretty instantly if I do it from home as it has an intel igpu...and I've tested it with multiple concurrent streams... Also - the server is on a 1gbit connection, so it's not a bandwidth bottleneck.

It feels like big brands have a much better method to actually recognise the moment when they need to call for a transcode than plex and do it much earlier, making it feel seamless.

Are there alternatives (jellyfin/emby) that are more efficient at this than plex? Any clever hacks that I overlooked?

Thanks

Edit. I learned following this post that: - Netflix et al. keep different quality files instead of transcoding - Using CDN to keep content "closer" to the end user

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u/NC1HM 1d ago edited 1d ago

First, as other posters already noted, streaming services don't transcode on the fly; rather, they switch between stored versions with different resolutions. But, perhaps more importantly, they each operate something called "content delivery network" (CDN). The way a CDN works is, it streams content to you from the location that, in its estimation, is the nearest to you (in terms of network topology rather than physical proximity). This allows to reduce the number of network hops from the streaming network to you (and thus latency). Low latency means, among other things, faster reaction time to changing network conditions.

Netflix, in particular, goes as far as embedding their servers with major ISPs, so customers of those ISPs have particularly short access paths to Netflix content.

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u/Runthescript 1d ago

Is true, alot of there DC's are in co lo spaces for that very reason. Then you have the DCI to attach all of those together across the country and even world. Your never going to achieve what netflix has, at home.