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Voltarum Mini PC Guide
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Basics

Hardware for Plex and Jellyfin: why the video engine matters more than the CPU

Direct play, transcoding, Quick Sync and Rockchip MPP explained, and which small computers can convert 4K HEVC on the fly.

By Editorial team · Published · Updated

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A media server has two very different jobs. When your TV can play the file as it is, the server only sends it over the network: this is direct play, and almost anything can do it, even a Raspberry Pi 4. When the device cannot play the format, or the connection is too slow, the server has to transcode: decode the video and encode it again, on the fly.

Transcoding a 4K HEVC film in software takes a desktop-class CPU. Done by a hardware video engine it takes a few watts. That is why the video engine matters more than the CPU for Plex and Jellyfin.

The engines in small computers

  • Intel Quick Sync (N100, N150, Core). The best supported in both Plex and Jellyfin, and the most efficient. Even the cheap N150 decodes HEVC 10-bit and AV1 and encodes H.264 and HEVC, several streams at a time. Intel N150
  • AMD VCN (Ryzen). Works in both, with somewhat lower quality and fewer simultaneous streams than Quick Sync.
  • Rockchip MPP (RK3588 boards). Encodes H.264 and HEVC. Jellyfin supports it with its Rockchip build; Plex does not. Rockchip RK3588
  • Raspberry Pi 5: no encoder at all, and H.264 is decoded by the CPU. Direct play only. Broadcom BCM2712

What to look for

  1. A hardware encoder for H.264 and HEVC.
  2. A hardware decoder for HEVC 10-bit (HDR films) and, for newer files, AV1.
  3. Enough drive slots, or fast network to a NAS.

Our Media server page applies exactly these rules to every device in the catalogue. The Beelink EQ14 is the easy recommendation; the Beelink ME mini adds six SSD slots for the library.

Devices in this guide