PC or Streaming Box

[CmdRiker]

im not sure i have a response for all that

when you run an operating system, it does a job, you want to run an operating system that does the job you want
in the windows world it's 1 operating system for workstations, 1 for servers
in android there's 1 for tv and 1 for phones and 1 for tablets

having an operating system be versatile is good but not if you only need 1 job to do, you don't run windows on a router (i hope) because windows has way more than is needed to do a simple job of being a router

conversely you wouldnt run dd-wrt (a router os) on a desktop and expect it to do web browser things

when building an HTPC it has 1 job so it makes sense to use an OS that is tailored for that 1 job

Yes I get the functions of an OS, what I want to understand is where does the actual decoding of the bitstream happening ie: at the NAS, or the OS, Kodi, JF , the RXT3060 video card etc. My point is that I want to ensure I configure a system that is most "appropriate" for the signal path for maximum performance and functionality. And the other thing I was curious about is, what is the use of Kodi if I'm going to install the JF add-on to access my media? should I no just run JF and forget about Kodi if all I need is access to my NAS media ?
Cheers

[tmsrxzar]

in kodi; as long as hardware acceleration is enabled it is decoded on the video hardware
if not hardware acceleration then ffmpeg
ffmpeg is still used in both instances to demux the elementary streams but the end point changes depending on hardware/not hardware

i am not as familiar with "jellyfin client for linux" but i assume it does the same, as far as on windows i believe it uses mpv as it's core so probably the same but with different options compiled into the ffmpeg core

neither instance occurs on the NAS or the OS outside of video drivers which are technically OS but more so hardware

(hardware in this instance refers to video card/RTX3060)


where the differences are is that Kodi is a more mature codebase and so is my go to, when i use Kodi everything is done by my video hardware and the audio is "passthrough" to my audio hardware which means not decoded at all until it hits the processor external to the device

if you want an in depth look at what Kodi brings to the table you only need to look at the code tree for the video player core https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/tree/master...ideoPlayer


JF add-on in kodi ONLY accesses the files but the playback is all done by Kodi in the methods listed above


note i am not trying to push kodi here and i have no end goal interest in your use of kodi, it was intended as a suggestion for you to try out and see how you like the way it works which would have taken less time than i am spending explaining all the differences


my devices run android, android video players do not have the features Kodi on Android have so with Kodi i can do 80Mbps 4K Dolby Vision Video with either DTS:X or TrueHD passthrough and it Does Not have to be transcoded on my server to do that

with CoreELEC i can put the same thing as libreelec on an android box (dependent on box) and get the same features as well as the reduction in garbage that android brings

CoreELEC does not run on x86/x64 so for you it would be LibreELEC which offers the same package but for your platform

LibreELEC can be installed and ran from a USB Stick (dependent on stick), will take less than 45m to completely setup including import of the jellyfin to kodi library, you can skip that if you use jellycon for testing purposes


as far as comparing to what jellyfin client on linux does to what Kodi does i cannot compare because i have NEVER used jellyfin client for linux

[CmdRiker]

in kodi; as long as hardware acceleration is enabled it is decoded on the video hardware
if not hardware acceleration then ffmpeg
ffmpeg is still used in both instances to demux the elementary streams but the end point changes depending on hardware/not hardware

i am not as familiar with "jellyfin client for linux" but i assume it does the same, as far as on windows i believe it uses mpv as it's core so probably the same but with different options compiled into the ffmpeg core

neither instance occurs on the NAS or the OS outside of video drivers which are technically OS but more so hardware

(hardware in this instance refers to video card/RTX3060)


where the differences are is that Kodi is a more mature codebase and so is my go to, when i use Kodi everything is done by my video hardware and the audio is "passthrough" to my audio hardware which means not decoded at all until it hits the processor external to the device

if you want an in depth look at what Kodi brings to the table you only need to look at the code tree for the video player core https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/tree/master...ideoPlayer


JF add-on in kodi ONLY accesses the files but the playback is all done by Kodi in the methods listed above


note i am not trying to push kodi here and i have no end goal interest in your use of kodi, it was intended as a suggestion for you to try out and see how you like the way it works which would have taken less time than i am spending explaining all the differences


my devices run android, android video players do not have the features Kodi on Android have so with Kodi i can do 80Mbps 4K Dolby Vision Video with either DTS:X or TrueHD passthrough and it Does Not have to be transcoded on my server to do that

with CoreELEC i can put the same thing as libreelec on an android box (dependent on box) and get the same features as well as the reduction in garbage that android brings

CoreELEC does not run on x86/x64 so for you it would be LibreELEC which offers the same package but for your platform

LibreELEC can be installed and ran from a USB Stick (dependent on stick), will take less than 45m to completely setup including import of the jellyfin to kodi library, you can skip that if you use jellycon for testing purposes


as far as comparing to what jellyfin client on linux does to what Kodi does i cannot compare because i have NEVER used jellyfin client for linux

Thank you for the detailed explanation, much appreciated. I am quite familiar with windows OS and intel/amd hardware as my 30 year carreer has been IT. One area that I never got into, because I did not like it LOL is programming, code, etc.. I took a Unix course.. once..when I was Firewall Admin on Sun boxes..quickly got out of that world and went to Win platforms.. Similaraly, I've always stayed away from Linux and the various flavors.. but for this kind of use case scenario it seems to be the best way to go..open source etc.. no MS BS.

Years ago I tried putting together HTPC with XBMC (now Kodi) and honestly, it was difficult.. downloading packages, extract, install, etc.. not exactly click and play.. I gave up on it and got a Western Digital WD TV Live box that that worked perfectly for quite a while.. then it died and never found a suitable replacement at that time.. fast forward many years and I'm back at trying my hand at the Linux / Kodi thing again..

I will install the LibrELEC OS, then Kodi and see how it goes.

Thanks again for your advice and assistance.. I really do appreciate it.. Cheers.

[tmsrxzar]

never too late to learn linux (or anything new), i too have been doing this since the early 90s but only truly used linux for the last ~15 years, was a windows person up until then and still mixed use up until a few years ago

at least i won't be the only one here who knows what 'baud' is

youre quite welcome

[CmdRiker]

never too late to learn linux (or anything new), i too have been doing this since the early 90s but only truly used linux for the last ~15 years, was a windows person up until then and still mixed use up until a few years ago

at least i won't be the only one here who knows what 'baud' is

youre quite welcome

My job is IT Security, my hobby and passion is music engineering: recording, mixing, mastering, producing etc..in my home studio, and I do live sound once a month. Given all the tech stuff / gear I have to learn and keep in my little brain.. I don't know if I have any brain storage left for Linux LOL :-) It's more about what do I chose to focus on.. and as I get older (57 now) I find it's not quite as easy to learn, and retain, new things as it once was. But I'll learn what I need to learn to make this HT thing work

OMG, yes, accessing BBS with a 2400 baud modem.. later with US Robotics 56K LOL !

Cheers !
Stephane