I’m planning a NAS/media server build for general centralized storage + Jellyfin to stream my media library, which consists of a mix of AVC, HEVC, and AV1 encoded videos. I’ll be watching on various devices, primarily on the living room TV w/ a Chromecast. The Chromecast is capable of playing AV1 videos (I know this b/c it says “direct playing” in the Jellyfin media info panel on my current setup).
Given that my Chromecast is capable of direct playing AV1 encodes, when I source the parts for my new server build, does my new server also need to be capable of AV1 transcoding or does this capability only matter if the client device doesn’t support AV1 video? I ask because I’ll possibly source my build from used parts, and the answer to this question may impact which generation Intel processors I focus on. I’m currently focusing on 12th gen i5-12400 b/c it has QSV capabilities and supports AV1, but if AV1 support isn’t needed for my server, then I may look for older gens to save a few bucks. Thank you!
It helps if your server can decode AV1, but you never need it to encode to AV1. Basically the main usecase for transcoding AV1 would be burning in ASS formatted subtitles, commonly used for anime. If you keep your anime in other codecs then you shouldn’t need to transcode AV1 ever unless you add more clients into the mix that can’t handle AV1 natively.
For what it’s worth, I use an Intel N100 with quicksync, and that can decode AV1 because it’s 12th gen. Works great for me.
If you never plan to use a device requiring transcoding for AV1 you’ll be fine. You are building for your needs. If you’re like me and you have various family and friends on your server using whatever streaming hardware they can find. Then you may want to account for other scenarios. Playing tech support at 10pm on a Friday for a 60 year old luddite sucks, so I just need it to work for them.
Very good point, thank you for chiming in.
Only an impact if the client device doesnt support av1. Then it needs to transcode.
The “various devices” you mention are your potential pitfalls here.
I’ll double check my various devices’ specs before I move forward. Thanks for confirming that.
Also if you want another resolution. Then it’ll also transcode afaik.
Yes.
If you always direct-play, the only bitrate you can use is original.
If you ever need to watch on a slow connections using a lower bitrate, that will require transcoding.
Or if you want subtitles but the player doesn’t support them. Then jellyfin will need to burn them into the stream.
Consider any future clients you might have or if you decide to share with other people the clients they have. I personally think it’s worth spending a few extra bucks now to ensure compatibility in the future.
Or is it better to save a few bucks now and save it for next year when something new comes out that is faster anyway. Maybe there is a new codec that matters in 3 years but nothing today supports: so either way you are forced to replace your server.
There is no right answer, you are taking your chances when planning for the future. There are many computers more than 10 years old still working just fine in the world, and it is possible that whatever you buy today will be as well. We get enough press releases that we can predict what will happen next year close enough, but in 5 years we have much less information. There is no way to know if saving money is a good choice today or not. I can come up with scenarios either way.
Look at power use. Often last generation hardware uses more power for the things you do today and so the few dollars you save today are made up with in the power bill over the next couple years. (though if you use that new hardware to do something the old couldn’t do the new will use more power!)
If there is only a few dollars difference in price go for the best. However when there are hundreds or even thousands of dollars it becomes a harder decision.
Good point, and I agree - after reading all the responses, I’m leaning toward spending the few extra bucks so that I don’t have to fret all the potential scenarios that might require transcoding.
Probably the safe bet. Though I think my 8th gen Intel does AV1 decode as well. But it’s not hardware accelerated, so quite some cpu load and full hd is the limit, it can’t do 4k or anything fancy. And definitely no realtime av1 encoding.
