Plex’s new Kodi plugin(engadget.com)
engadget.com
Plex’s new Kodi plugin
https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/01/plex-for-kodi/
5 comments
There is an unofficial plex pluging for Kodi (PlexBMC) that I've run for years. I've found that it actually works far better than the official Android Plex client, which is somewhat ironic.
There is a ton of overlap in the functionality of Plex and Kodi - what are the benefits (or the primary use case) of running both this way?
TL;DR: Server side transcoding of OTA HD recordings for playback over wifi. And "channels"
I have the plex server on my main media server, which also records OTA TV via an antenna. I often want to watch recordings on a tablet (older kindle fire) which is just on the edge of being able to playback 1080i (16Mb/s) content if everything is just exactly right with wifi. In my old house, with plaster walls, that was seldom the case. So I used the plex server-side software to transcode the video down to 3Mb/s and was able to reliably watch my recordings on my tablet from the other side of the house. These days, in a newer house with drywall, I'm finding less need to use PlexBMC, as the Kodi NFS access of the files works reasonably well.
The other thing that the plex server gives you is access to Channels (1) which don't exactly line up with Kodi's plugins. Even if they both support the same thing (say PBS or NFL Gamepass), there will be times when the Plex channel works, but the Kodi plugin does not. So it is good to have both. And, oddly, this is where the Plex Android client really falls down here. I've often had times when the Plex client simply refused to play channel content, but the PlexBMC Kodi plugin worked flawlessly.
(1) Channels are what the Plex folks call 3rd party plugins to provide access to on-line content, like PBS, NFL Gamepass, etc.
I have the plex server on my main media server, which also records OTA TV via an antenna. I often want to watch recordings on a tablet (older kindle fire) which is just on the edge of being able to playback 1080i (16Mb/s) content if everything is just exactly right with wifi. In my old house, with plaster walls, that was seldom the case. So I used the plex server-side software to transcode the video down to 3Mb/s and was able to reliably watch my recordings on my tablet from the other side of the house. These days, in a newer house with drywall, I'm finding less need to use PlexBMC, as the Kodi NFS access of the files works reasonably well.
The other thing that the plex server gives you is access to Channels (1) which don't exactly line up with Kodi's plugins. Even if they both support the same thing (say PBS or NFL Gamepass), there will be times when the Plex channel works, but the Kodi plugin does not. So it is good to have both. And, oddly, this is where the Plex Android client really falls down here. I've often had times when the Plex client simply refused to play channel content, but the PlexBMC Kodi plugin worked flawlessly.
(1) Channels are what the Plex folks call 3rd party plugins to provide access to on-line content, like PBS, NFL Gamepass, etc.
There's also a Plex client for Roku and AFAIK not one for Kodi. If you have a Roku device you'll want to be running the Plex server instead of Kodi.
Thanks - I may have to give it another look...went with Emby for my streaming needs, but it's starting to feel a little naggy...
I'm also curious. I'm using RasPlex (on an RPi3) as a client and it's working very well.
My understanding is that Plex has centralized media servers with one or many thin client where as Kodi is an all-in-one solution. You can run Plex server and client on the same box as well.
Plex's blog post: https://www.plex.tv/blog/plex-media-player-now-ambidextrous-...
> Both started life as offshoots of the famed XBMC software
Kodi is not an offshoot/fork, it's XBMC's new name.
Kodi is not an offshoot/fork, it's XBMC's new name.
How is better than streaming over DLNA w/ Plex+Kodi? Nicer interface?
Plex is proprietary, right? No thanks, will stick with Kodi.
Check out emby, it is opensource.
https://github.com/MediaBrowser https://emby.media/
https://github.com/MediaBrowser https://emby.media/
Thanks. Do you know if it supports Chromecast on the server side? I would like to be able to start a stream without using the Android app.
Do you review all the code in all the plugins you load to Kodi? Curious why you care so much about OS vs Plex. I haven't found anything that works as well as Plex for on the fly transcoding. DLNA on its own is terrible.
It's a software freedom thing. Proprietary software doesn't give users control over the software. Because Kodi is free software I can make the necessary modifications needed to make it work the way I want.