Perspectives on my switch from Plex to EMBY

[adamglenKH 4]

After a frustrating 2 months of running PLEX on a QNAP TS453a (Celeron N3150) with 408 Family Movies, 150 Hi Bit Rate Movies, and 3.200 General movies (I have been collecting in digital format since 2010, I had too many DVDs). I could cope no more with the difficulties of running PLEX on my QNAP.

Plex took too long to close and if the machine was powered off before Plex had closed I was faced with a RAID Rebuild which took 23 hours. QNAP support was no help. I rebuilt the Plex metadata which took approximately 40 hours. But there was nothing I could do without a full system rebuild would work, which may have had no impact.

So, I decided to try Emby as an alternate. The QKPG install went fine although it is irritating that it does not include a Digital Signature.

I built the first two small libraries. Then I built the large library. I included files in batches so the date added could be managed. This took 13 hours. All files had a file name format of “Movie Name” (YYYY) – “Comment” sourced from their name in TMDB.

My previous rebuild in PLEX had shown around 60 mismatches which required manual correction. With EMBY around 4 did not achieve a match, and I used the Identify function using the IMDB tag to resolve.

Performance is good, it is better than PLEX drawing less demand on the server (I use Apple TV as my clients). It definitely has less closing lag than PLEX so I can allow QNAP closing routines to safely close the NAS. Because I use Apple TV I have no need for transcoding. 99% of files are MKV with Subtitles as I am partially deaf and the few avi or mp4 files are ensubbed.

My initial observations from highest to lowest impact are:

·         The “mark as watched” option in a Library is the most dangerous. This has no place on the main menu. It should be in Server Library maintenance. The same applies to the multi-select option to be applied to a Library for “mark unwatched”. It has such major impacts that it should be an option restricted to only users who have Library Maintenance permission.

·         The “Identify” function is excellent, far superior to PLEX.

·         The lack of an inbuilt “Duplicates” function is an absence sorely missed. This was the first method I used to identify metadata mismatches with PLEX. Yes, movies from different parts of the world have the same English movie name and year.

·         Plex is superior in that it allows a list of movies with a summary of the movie. This was my second manual method of identifying mismatches.

·         The Media Info available on display is excellent but The UI is clunky. It does not rescale according to the client’s display definition or allow a user the ability to rescale.

·         The UI is clunky as it does not allow me to restrict or order what is shown on the Home Screen. I don’t want to see the Latest in my two smaller libraries. They are seldom updated and it is just a waste of space on the screen. Plex allows me to combine new additions from multiple libraries in a single “Recently Added List”. That is pure convenience.

·         The UI on the client (both Windows 11 and Apple TV) as it does not allow me to control the size of the movie Poster. Plex also briefly summarizes the movies as I scroll across the Recently Added list.

·         I have yet to work out the metadata backup process but that will come. I do not use NFOs as I don’t want my library folder cluttered with NFO files.

·         Migration to a different Server seems fraught with difficulties. PLEX used to have this problem until they created a user-accessible folder that contained all the metadata. I will be moving from the QNAP so disenchanted that I am with both its app management and Help Desk support. The server is now 7 years old and although workable I cannot expect a support life for this device to be much longer although QNAP has not published an EOS date. When it does or the NAS starts failing, I will probably move to Synology. This causes me fear and trepidation. I have a Synology DS416 of the same age and have only used Synology support once whereas with QNAP I log approximately 5 support tickets each year. The quality of QNAP has degraded since I first started using the in 2005.

In summary.

The migration from PLEX to EMBY was comparatively easier. It was far easier than expected. I have now deleted PLEX from my server and will not go back to it again. I would rather use Infuse thick client than PLEX.

[Abobader 3464]

Hello adamglenKH,

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[arrbee99 1815]

My personal fave is that you can use css to make things look better, at least in a browser.

[justinrh 260]

1 hour ago, adamglenKH said:

The UI is clunky as it does not allow me to restrict or order what is shown on the Home Screen. I don’t want to see the Latest in my two smaller libraries. They are seldom updated and it is just a waste of space on the screen. Plex allows me to combine new additions from multiple libraries in a single “Recently Added List”. That is pure convenience.

Try Settings > Home Screen.

[justinrh 260]

1 hour ago, adamglenKH said:

The “Identify” function is excellent, far superior to PLEX.

I like the flexibility with Emby, but I also like the suggested matches that Plex gives - very nice.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

1 hour ago, adamglenKH said:

After a frustrating 2 months of running PLEX on a QNAP TS453a (Celeron N3150) with 408 Family Movies, 150 Hi Bit Rate Movies, and 3.200 General movies (I have been collecting in digital format since 2010, I had too many DVDs). I could cope no more with the difficulties of running PLEX on my QNAP.

Plex took too long to close and if the machine was powered off before Plex had closed I was faced with a RAID Rebuild which took 23 hours. QNAP support was no help. I rebuilt the Plex metadata which took approximately 40 hours. But there was nothing I could do without a full system rebuild would work, which may have had no impact.

So, I decided to try Emby as an alternate. The QKPG install went fine although it is irritating that it does not include a Digital Signature.

I built the first two small libraries. Then I built the large library. I included files in batches so the date added could be managed. This took 13 hours. All files had a file name format of “Movie Name” (YYYY) – “Comment” sourced from their name in TMDB.

My previous rebuild in PLEX had shown around 60 mismatches which required manual correction. With EMBY around 4 did not achieve a match, and I used the Identify function using the IMDB tag to resolve.

Performance is good, it is better than PLEX drawing less demand on the server (I use Apple TV as my clients). It definitely has less closing lag than PLEX so I can allow QNAP closing routines to safely close the NAS. Because I use Apple TV I have no need for transcoding. 99% of files are MKV with Subtitles as I am partially deaf and the few avi or mp4 files are ensubbed.

My initial observations from highest to lowest impact are:

·         The “mark as watched” option in a Library is the most dangerous. This has no place on the main menu. It should be in Server Library maintenance. The same applies to the multi-select option to be applied to a Library for “mark unwatched”. It has such major impacts that it should be an option restricted to only users who have Library Maintenance permission.

·         The “Identify” function is excellent, far superior to PLEX.

·         The lack of an inbuilt “Duplicates” function is an absence sorely missed. This was the first method I used to identify metadata mismatches with PLEX. Yes, movies from different parts of the world have the same English movie name and year.

·         Plex is superior in that it allows a list of movies with a summary of the movie. This was my second manual method of identifying mismatches.

·         The Media Info available on display is excellent but The UI is clunky. It does not rescale according to the client’s display definition or allow a user the ability to rescale.

·         The UI is clunky as it does not allow me to restrict or order what is shown on the Home Screen. I don’t want to see the Latest in my two smaller libraries. They are seldom updated and it is just a waste of space on the screen. Plex allows me to combine new additions from multiple libraries in a single “Recently Added List”. That is pure convenience.

·         The UI on the client (both Windows 11 and Apple TV) as it does not allow me to control the size of the movie Poster. Plex also briefly summarizes the movies as I scroll across the Recently Added list.

·         I have yet to work out the metadata backup process but that will come. I do not use NFOs as I don’t want my library folder cluttered with NFO files.

·         Migration to a different Server seems fraught with difficulties. PLEX used to have this problem until they created a user-accessible folder that contained all the metadata. I will be moving from the QNAP so disenchanted that I am with both its app management and Help Desk support. The server is now 7 years old and although workable I cannot expect a support life for this device to be much longer although QNAP has not published an EOS date. When it does or the NAS starts failing, I will probably move to Synology. This causes me fear and trepidation. I have a Synology DS416 of the same age and have only used Synology support once whereas with QNAP I log approximately 5 support tickets each year. The quality of QNAP has degraded since I first started using the in 2005.

In summary.

The migration from PLEX to EMBY was comparatively easier. It was far easier than expected. I have now deleted PLEX from my server and will not go back to it again. I would rather use Infuse thick client than PLEX.

Well you have discovered, pretty much what I did several years ago. Plex is usually "prettier" and "flashier" than Emby but it is much harder to get reliable performance from Plex than it is Emby.

When I was running Plex I had a number of disagreements and debates with their admins and they never even presented reasonable arguments for their side and they always did exactly as they wanted with complete disregard for user's needs or wants.

I then switched, mostly, to Emby and I have had many disagreements with Emby's admins. But the difference is that Emby actually listens to me and tries to explain why they are doing things they way they are. I even "won" a few of those disagreements and Emby actually implemented some of my ideas.

I still disagree with Emby at times and even fight with them some BUT they listen.

[darkassassin07 652]

2 hours ago, adamglenKH said:

The “mark as watched” option in a Library is the most dangerous. This has no place on the main menu. It should be in Server Library maintenance. The same applies to the multi-select option to be applied to a Library for “mark unwatched”. It has such major impacts that it should be an option restricted to only users who have Library Maintenance permission.

 

I'm curious as to what you mean by this/why it's a concern.

 

The watched status is a per-user data point. Why does it matter if a user wants to mark media as watched? It's completely separate from your watched status.

[adamglenKH 4]

16 minutes ago, darkassassin07 said:

I'm curious as to what you mean by this/why it's a concern.

 

The watched status is a per-user data point. Why does it matter if a user wants to mark media as watched? It's completely separate from your watched status.

Thank you. It puts a new perspective. Does that mean that the watched status is according to the user logged on? We are a small household and perhaps I need to create a separate user logon for each user. With PLEX we only had one userid.

[adamglenKH 4]

1 hour ago, justinrh said:

Try Settings > Home Screen.

Thank you. I have done that and it is now usable. It is just my unfamiliarity in configuring the UI.

[darkassassin07 652]

11 minutes ago, adamglenKH said:

Thank you. It puts a new perspective. Does that mean that the watched status is according to the user logged on? We are a small household and perhaps I need to create a separate user logon for each user. With PLEX we only had one userid.

Yes, the same way individual netflix users have their own watch status. Its per-user, so each person can keep track of what they've watched.

[adamglenKH 4]

1 hour ago, justinrh said:

I like the flexibility with Emby, but I also like the suggested matches that Plex gives - very nice.

My version of PLEX sometimes gives selections to choose from but on most occasions does not and if it does and if you have a movie where there are multiples of that name and year of release (common with non-mainstream movies) then it is guesswork regarding which to choose.

I bundle my SRT files into an MKV container and when I save I check TMDB name by doing a file search. That is critical as the TMDB release date can differ from the IMDB release date. It is also necessary for non-English movies as they will have a different English name and if i use the non-English name it will not get resolved in TMDB although it will get resolved in the IMDB.

[adamglenKH 4]

1 minute ago, darkassassin07 said:

Yes, the same way individual netflix users have their own watch status. Its per-user, so each person can keep track of what they've watched.

Thank you. I live in Cambodia and although I tried Netflix for a month it is geolocation restricted on many shows. Cambodia, as a Least Developed Nation is exempt by WTO (Berne Convention) from many copyright restrictions. Because of this some service providers restrict the availability of media which rather defeats the purpose of the Berne Convention exemption.

[adamglenKH 4]

2 hours ago, arrbee99 said:

My personal fave is that you can use css to make things look better, at least in a browser.

That is fine but I am a dumb user all though with a long IT background. I avoid personal customization and at age 71 my programming skills are stuck in Assembler, Cobol, Pascal, and Fortran. I never needed to learn new programming skills as my job role changed.

[arrbee99 1815]

2 minutes ago, adamglenKH said:

That is fine but I am a dumb user all though with a long IT background. I avoid personal customization and at age 71 my programming skills are stuck in Assembler, Cobol, Pascal, and Fortran. I never needed to learn new programming skills as my job role changed.

Utterly, entirely up to you of course, but there is a css section in the forum, from which, if you spot something you fancy you can just copy and paste into the Emby server, where there is a box to paste it. Save and refresh.

[ebr 16169]

12 hours ago, adamglenKH said:

my programming skills are stuck in Assembler, Cobol, Pascal, and Fortran

Ha!  I haven't seen anyone mention Pascal in a long time.  All my college projects were completed in "Turbo Pascal" - a fantastic environment for its time.

Welcome to Emby and let us know if we can help with anything else.

[adamglenKH 4]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

Ha!  I haven't seen anyone mention Pascal in a long time.  All my college projects were completed in "Turbo Pascal" - a fantastic environment for its time.

Welcome to Emby and let us know if we can help with anything else.

Yeah, 1982.... In the UK I wrote an FEP for a Sys360 in Pascal that allowed repair shops to order any part for Panasonic Consumer product or back order from Japan. It used Videotex in a dial up client server model. An elegant language with incredible functionality but that was a time when the max disk size we could afford was 20Gb so had to compress ASCII to 7 bits by stripping the first bit off each character.

I think life is easier now.... and now I volunteer teaching Law in Cambodia - just as frustrating but more satisfying

[csadoian 36]

On 5/28/2023 at 5:23 PM, Gilgamesh_48 said:

When I was running Plex I had a number of disagreements and debates with their admins and they never even presented reasonable arguments for their side and they always did exactly as they wanted with complete disregard for user's needs or wants.

I then switched, mostly, to Emby and I have had many disagreements with Emby's admins. But the difference is that Emby actually listens to me and tries to explain why they are doing things they way they are. I even "won" a few of those disagreements and Emby actually implemented some of my ideas.

I still disagree with Emby at times and even fight with them some BUT they listen.

My experience with Plex vs Emby is very similar to yours.  I tried Plex for a time, but I found the developers didn't seem to give a damn about what their users thought.  My impression was from them was, "if you don't like the way Plex works, then stop using it".  So I did.  Came to Emby in 2017 and was pleasantly surprised to see the developers actually communicate with their users in the support forums and listen to our comments and suggestions.  A month or so after I installed my Emby server I was so impressed with the product and the support that I bought my lifetime Emby Premier plan.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

18 minutes ago, csadoian said:

My experience with Plex vs Emby is very similar to yours.  I tried Plex for a time, but I found the developers didn't seem to give a damn about what their users thought.  My impression was from them was, "if you don't like the way Plex works, then stop using it".  So I did.  Came to Emby in 2017 and was pleasantly surprised to see the developers actually communicate with their users in the support forums and listen to our comments and suggestions.  A month or so after I installed my Emby server I was so impressed with the product and the support that I bought my lifetime Emby Premier plan.

I have been continuously surprised and amazed by Emby's developer's openness and willingness to help.
The recent problems have simply underlined the openness of Emby. Plex has had a few similar issues but it was hard to find out about them and even harder to find out if I was effected. Back when I used Plex they had a couple of similar problems and not even once did I find out until well after any damage was done.
Fortunately the issues with Plex did not hurt my server(s) at all but that is, probably, because my LAN is well isolated and I do not allow any form of remote access. The same goes for the recent Emby issues. The difference is with the Plex hack(s) I only found out in time to check for damage but the timeliness of Emby's response allowed me to check and be sure that my Server(s) are safe well before any damage was done.

I do not always agree with Emby and I somewhat dislike the actions that it appears Emby will take down the road but I hope they will rethink just how tight they need to force security. But whatever is decided I just cringe when I think what Plex would do if the same thing happened to them.