2024-08-25, 08:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 2024-08-25, 09:01 AM by presentabsence. Edited 3 times in total.)
If you are using a Synology DS920+ NAS you do not have Hardware with which to Accelerate.
In basic terms - if your client, web client via Firefox in this case, is not able to play the file you are attempting to play in its native format then the server must convert it into a version that your client _can_ play. There are other reasons that will initiate a transcode, but I suspect that's what is happening. Transcoding on CPU is a very resource-intensive process. Your NAS's poor little CPU will be working its ass off to convert the video faster than you can watch it. On traditional servers you can add hardware such as a graphics card and then configure Hardware Acceleration as mentioned above and offload the transcoding workload to that card instead... but not on a basic consumer grade NAS.
Alternatively, you have a limited few other options. The three that come to mind are first, consider using a Jellyfin client with broader compatibility, my understanding is somewhat dated as I don't come here often anymore but the web browser clients are limited in that regard. Second, disable transcoding in your Jellyfin server settings entirely (under Dashboard -> Playback), though be aware that if your client cannot play a video it will simply not play it (I think it gives you an error or something idk, been a long time since I've dealt with that). Or third... just let your NAS sweat trying to convert your video on CPU. You may find some files that simply cannot be converted fast enough to have an enjoyable viewing experience, though.
In basic terms - if your client, web client via Firefox in this case, is not able to play the file you are attempting to play in its native format then the server must convert it into a version that your client _can_ play. There are other reasons that will initiate a transcode, but I suspect that's what is happening. Transcoding on CPU is a very resource-intensive process. Your NAS's poor little CPU will be working its ass off to convert the video faster than you can watch it. On traditional servers you can add hardware such as a graphics card and then configure Hardware Acceleration as mentioned above and offload the transcoding workload to that card instead... but not on a basic consumer grade NAS.
Alternatively, you have a limited few other options. The three that come to mind are first, consider using a Jellyfin client with broader compatibility, my understanding is somewhat dated as I don't come here often anymore but the web browser clients are limited in that regard. Second, disable transcoding in your Jellyfin server settings entirely (under Dashboard -> Playback), though be aware that if your client cannot play a video it will simply not play it (I think it gives you an error or something idk, been a long time since I've dealt with that). Or third... just let your NAS sweat trying to convert your video on CPU. You may find some files that simply cannot be converted fast enough to have an enjoyable viewing experience, though.