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On another site Emby vs. Plex lively discussion.


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ray-finkle

I thought we had explained this but it is purely to protect our investment and ensure our ability to continue to develop and support the platform.

 

Without some sort of limit you could simply share your key on the internet and everyone could get Emby Premiere for free.  

 

Can't the license just be tied to a hardware UID? This is extremely common.

 

In regards to the licensing model, I also agree it scares off a large amount of customers. I have been on and off with Emby for many years, most of which paying monthly to continually support the project because I like agree with benefits and ideology others have described. Lately, I've been using it full time and my only real complaint is that posters and metadata randomly (but often) do not load instantly.

 

I have always felt that if Emby were to simply ditch the device limit, and set the server license to $5-$10/month with no lifetime subscription option, the platform would really flourish. I'd gladly pay $10/mo perpetually. This team and product deserves to be compensated for their effort and it would be great to see development increase further.

 

Regardless of its validity, it's an amazingly huge sales turn off to have a licensing model that is difficult to understand, even for users actively using the system. 

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BAlGaInTl

Can't the license just be tied to a hardware UID? This is extremely common.

Yes it is. But what hardware UID? What about those that run Emby in a virtual environment? What about beta testers (myself included) that run multiple instances of Emby using the same premier key?

 

In regards to the licensing model, I also agree it scares off a large amount of customers. I have been on and off with Emby for many years, most of which paying monthly to continually support the project because I like agree with benefits and ideology others have described. Lately, I've been using it full time and my only real complaint is that posters and metadata randomly (but often) do not load instantly.

 

I have always felt that if Emby were to simply ditch the device limit, and set the server license to $5-$10/month with no lifetime subscription option, the platform would really flourish. I'd gladly pay $10/mo perpetually.

I'm not sure I agree. I like supporting Emby, but I got my lifetime license near the beginning of 2017 I think. I later augmented that with a $99 device limit increase (even though I didn't need it... it was purely to support Emby). I'm not sure it makes sense, and may have the effect of pushing users to systems that are free, or have lifetime licenses.

 

This team and product deserves to be compensated for their effort and it would be great to see development increase further.

On this bold point I definitely agree. I'm not sure that more $ would lead to more quality development. I want the Emby team to be compensated for their work... but I also don't want them to over-reach or get too big to remember the users.

 

Regardless of its validity, it's an amazingly huge sales turn off to have a licensing model that is difficult to understand, even for users actively using the system.

I'm not sure it's that difficult to understand. It can be (and has been) improved over time. I think this strategy is working for Emby, or we would have seen more changes to the pricing/licensing model.

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arrbee99

Probably completely the wrong place to post, and probably a wrong assumption as well, but unless somethings changed, think trial periods should be improved / more consistent. Do people still have to be told to sign up for a month for a proper trial ? Think this especially applies to Live TV, which generally needs a decent test to try out. Would think a standard 2 week free trial would be better.

 

Apologies if I'm completely out of date on this.

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BAlGaInTl

Probably completely the wrong place to post, and probably a wrong assumption as well, but unless somethings changed, think trial periods should be improved / more consistent. Do people still have to be told to sign up for a month for a proper trial ? Think this especially applies to Live TV, which generally needs a decent test to try out. Would think a standard 2 week free trial would be better.

 

Apologies if I'm completely out of date on this.

I agree with this as well. Maybe a system to generate a premiere key that's only good for x days and then expires.

 

I think more people are turned off from "trying" Emby because there is a cost to truly test it.

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thrillcat

I noticed you failed to mention the BIGGIE namely support, @@darkassassin07 experienced what caused many others to prefer Emby. Plex does not listen not its users, but much more so no even to its beta testers and Ninjas. For example with the very recent change in thetvdb site the devs here had within a day a solution. Just that in itself gives Emby the edge. In addition when it comes to supporting a corporation or an entrepreneur for me the entrepreneur always wins out because he has mouths to feed and don't have to answer to shareholders demands.

 

As far as integrating other services is concerned, this is going to be one to keep your eyes on because the field of streaming services gets more and more crowded. If Disney no longer wanted to share their content with Netflix how in the world will Plex negotiate a deal for Disney's service or any other service to be integrated in the Plex Portal, what is in it for Disney? More likely Plex will be bought out by some huge corporation and then you have to deal with their support and their way of doing things and you are further removed from those that could listen to your requests.

Support with Emby is far more open.

 

Regarding the services, the feedback I’m seeing and feeling is that yes, PLEX users don’t feel heard by developers, and this is exacerbated by PLEX adding free movies and content rentals and sales, etc (which they announced last week).

 

PLEX users by and large don’t care about that. They want better control over THEIR content, not another catalog of free movies they already have access to via Netflix, VUDU and Amazon.

 

There are other better ways to access content you don’t own than the PLEX interface.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Support with Emby is far more open.

 

Regarding the services, the feedback I’m seeing and feeling is that yes, PLEX users don’t feel heard by developers, and this is exacerbated by PLEX adding free movies and content rentals and sales, etc (which they announced last week).

 

PLEX users by and large don’t care about that. They want better control over THEIR content, not another catalog of free movies they already have access to via Netflix, VUDU and Amazon.

 

There are other better ways to access content you don’t own than the PLEX interface.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The problem is that if you are not part of the "elite group" here, you will be destroyed by those "elite members"  One advice, be quiet and just read the forum. 

 

@@Luke i'm waiting for your answer of the PM more than a week ago. No answer, no explanation, you normally reply with another answer.

 

Thanks

Edited by Handbrake
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The CEO is talking crap. The plex forum is full of bugs that are never going to be fixed.

Sync doesn't work at all on android and nor does xbox playback or xbox live tv. These are all premium only features.

 

Xbox live tv and recordings playback is also broken with emby.

 

Emby also doesnt support my 2014 samsung tv (can't press enter on remote to select movies or tv shows and cant enter password or pin code for users that need to login as theres no on screen keyboard).

 

Overall, emby is better imho and people here on the emby forums are friendly.

 

Very rare to get a response from a plex dev on their forum.

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Emby also doesnt support my 2014 samsung tv (can't press enter on remote to select movies or tv shows and cant enter password or pin code for users that need to login as theres no on screen keyboard).

 

We do actually. We have an app in the Samsung store for 2014 units. The problem is that Samsung is no longer accepting submissions for these older models so we can't update it with new versions anymore.

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The problem is that if you are not part of the "elite group" here, you will be destroyed by those "elite members"  One advice, be quiet and just read the forum. 

 

@@Luke i'm waiting for your answer of the PM more than a week ago. No answer, no explanation, you normally reply with another answer.

 

Thanks

 

Hi.  We're sorry you feel this way.  We want to foster an open and friendly environment so please report any issues you have in interactions with other members.

 

Thanks.

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CBers

The problem is that if you are not part of the "elite group" here, you will be destroyed by those "elite members" One advice, be quiet and just read the forum.

 

 

@ (HRSCR) - There is no "elite group", as you call it, here.

 

Everyone is equal, although some just shout louder than others and some have been around a forums longer than others :)

 

Everyone has to respect each other, and each other's view, whether they agree with it or not.

 

As @@ebr said, if there are any members you are unhappy with, please let us know.

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FrostByte

Hi.  We're sorry you feel this way.  We want to foster an open and friendly environment so please report any issues you have in interactions with other members.

 

Thanks.

 

Isn't this the same guy with a new name who unwantingly jumped in on the exoplayer thread over on Github and called those of us with cropped media a bunch of morons who didn't know what they were talking about because HDR worked fine for him even though he wasn't actually using cropped media himself?  Then when he realized it was his mistake he couldn't be bothered with an apology.

Edited by FrostByte
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Charlie117

I used Plex for more than 5 years and still hold a lifetime premium key. I switched to Emby for general use a while back.

 

Compared to Emby, Plex has become a very commercially focused company with absolutely awful customer service. Getting a response from a Plex staff member on an issue or feature request is extremely rare in my experience. Emby on the other hand has always felt very open (even if the open source model was ditched) and an Emby staff member will likely reply to your question if requested in the post. This gives the feeling you're being heard at least.

 

On a more practical level, I left not too long after Plex introduced it's trainwreck of a new player called Plex Media Player. I still have nightmares about that awful UI and the numerous playback issues I got from it. Also back then, the Plex devs refused to listen to the numerous negative feedback given on their PMP project disaster. Still, I wish Emby had a client for macOS but maybe that will still happen someday.

 

If you look at basically any Facebook post made by Plex, you'll find a ton of negative comments from users being upset with Plex's extremely commercially focused direction into streaming partnerships and disinterest in improving the user experience playing owned content. 

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Gilgamesh_48

I used Plex for more than 5 years and still hold a lifetime premium key. I switched to Emby for general use a while back.

 

Compared to Emby, Plex has become a very commercially focused company with absolutely awful customer service. Getting a response from a Plex staff member on an issue or feature request is extremely rare in my experience. Emby on the other hand has always felt very open (even if the open source model was ditched) and an Emby staff member will likely reply to your question if requested in the post. This gives the feeling you're being heard at least.

 

...

Basically I feel the same. I started using Plex real early in its existence and now feel that Plex has abandoned all the things that made it great.

 

Unfortunately there are many companies that have evolved into the typical "Corporate Monster" as they made more money than they really needed. Another company that has outgrown the need or desire for good customer service is Roku. When they were in their first years they were both fun and easy to deal with but they have grown to the point where I deal with them as little as possible. I still find their hardware the easiest and best for me to use I just do not want to deal with them unless totally forced. I feel the same way about Plex but Plex does not make hardware or anything else I want to use so I do not have to deal with them at all.

 

Emby, so far, is really showing no signs of growing to "Monster" status and I hope they never abandon the good customer service I have so far experienced with them.

 

Keep up the good work Emby and don't let your success spoil you.

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vdatanet

I was a Plex user, now I'm happy with Emby. But Plex has better support for Apple TV. I have been tempted to return to Plex, in fact I have never left it at all, I keep it for testing purposes. At the moment I have solved Emby's lacks regarding Apple TV with other devices. But the temptation is always there.

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Dibbes

I was a Plex user, now I'm happy with Emby. But Plex has better support for Apple TV. I have been tempted to return to Plex, in fact I have never left it at all, I keep it for testing purposes. At the moment I have solved Emby's lacks regarding Apple TV with other devices. But the temptation is always there.

I just ditched Apple... LoL

 

Tried Plex, wasted three weeks on it and decided to buy a 2019 Shield TV... Now that I've gotten used to it, I haven't even turned on the Apple TV anymore... I've been positively converted

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vdatanet

I just ditched Apple... LoL

 

Tried Plex, wasted three weeks on it and decided to buy a 2019 Shield TV... Now that I've gotten used to it, I haven't even turned on the Apple TV anymore... I've been positively converted

Yes, The shield has made me stay with Emby. Great app for a great server. But I shouldn't have changed my device to use Emby, the Emby client for Apple TV is Emby's biggest weakness. 

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Charlie117

Yes, The shield has made me stay with Emby. Great app for a great server. But I shouldn't have changed my device to use Emby, the Emby client for Apple TV is Emby's biggest weakness. 

 

I'm a big fan of Apple computers and have been using their products for most of my life. However, the Apple TV has never gotten a place in my setup due to its very closed off and limited ecosystem clashing with my most basic needs for playing video and audio codecs as found on DVD and Blu-rays and other owned media. So I basically went with the Nvidia Shield for all my HTPC needs.

 

I was curious though, which tings do you think the Plex client does better than the Emby client on an Apple TV? I do have some family members with an Apple TV connecting to my Emby server occasionally.

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I was curious though, which tings do you think the Plex client does better than the Emby client on an Apple TV?

PLEX for the Apple TV has it's basic player functionality on order and looks polished (especially for Live TV).

So Plex has (compared to Emby's current stable):

  1. automatic match Content to Dynamic Range....
  2. automatic match Content to Frame Rate....
  3. play HDR content....
  4. use Apple TV subtitle settings, for subtitle size and color display in Plex
  5. grid style program guide for Live TV
  6. see what's "On Now" while you are watching a Live TV channel without stopping playback
  7. start a recording while you are watching a Live TV channel from Info panel without stopping playback
  8. and more...

1, 2 and 3 are basic features Emby still is missing in current stable, 4, 5,6 and 7 are extra features Emby is also missing.

Current beta has 1,2,3,5 in the works, so lets see when that is polished enough and ready for stable release :rolleyes:

 

After 3 years of trying Emby on the Apple TV, I'm also making the switch to the Shield Pro, which for weeks already, is sold out in my region (stock expected in February) B)

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vdatanet

I was curious though, which tings do you think the Plex client does better than the Emby client on an Apple TV? I do have some family members with an Apple TV connecting to my Emby server occasionally.

 

Regarding audio, it has great improvements, DTS, DTS-MA HD & TrueHD. Since Apple TV is not compatible with these codecs, Plex client application decodes and sends them as LPCM to your AVR.

Edited by vdatanet
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Gilgamesh_48

I think that the last part of this thread has made me very happy that I made a basic rule for myself that I would allow nothing "Apple" any place in my environment if I could at all prevent it. I have, ever since Apple was spawned from the depths of the abbess, adhered to this self imposed rule and I have seen so many instances where something did not work correctly on Apple devices or even where Apple refused to allow useful apps on their devices that I am VERY glad that Apple is banned from my life.

 

Emby works very very well on every device I have and I am very happy with that fact.

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+1. No apple here.

 

I use xbox for emby but live tv and tv recording playback is totally broken so have to use my phone (android).

 

Hopefully they'll fix xbox live tv soon.

 

It doesn't work on plex either. The Microsoft-provided embedded player was the issue with plex and plex want interested in fixing it.

Hopefully emby will fix it.

Edited by jxb1234
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Charlie117

I think that the last part of this thread has made me very happy that I made a basic rule for myself that I would allow nothing "Apple" any place in my environment if I could at all prevent it. I have, ever since Apple was spawned from the depths of the abbess, adhered to this self imposed rule and I have seen so many instances where something did not work correctly on Apple devices or even where Apple refused to allow useful apps on their devices that I am VERY glad that Apple is banned from my life.

 

Emby works very very well on every device I have and I am very happy with that fact.

 

To each their own of course. I'm personally similarly happy to have avoided anything Microsoft wherever possible in my environment.

 

But with regards to the Apple TV, it appears from the above that it works very decent when used with Plex as client. So any problems with Emby on the Apple TV would indicate a software issue on the Emby side and not a hardware of software issue on Apple's side. Besides that, there really aren't that much decent or even good media players available on the market besides the Nvidia Shield TV. Most smart TVs are underpowered and offer a bad overall experience, the PS4 and Xbox One are a complete jokes as clients for Emby in my experience and most of the chinese Android TV boxes are not even worth considering. So in the end, you're basically left with the Nvidia Shield TV and the Apple TV as capable streaming devices, including proper licenses for streaming Netflix, Amazon Prime and others.

 

To make this a bit more on topic again, this all does give me the impression that Emby's developer resources are spread rather between over all the clients they need to maintain, let alone improve with new features. 

 

 

Regarding audio, it has great improvements, DTS, DTS-MA HD & TrueHD. Since Apple TV is not compatible with these codecs, Plex client application decodes and sends them as LPCM to your AVR.

 

Interesting. Are you saying the Apple TV is unable to bitstream DTS, DTS-MA HD & TrueHD, but the Plex client is capable of decoding those formats and then sending the multichannel LPCM to the AVR instead of bitstreaming?

Edited by Charlie117
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