Looking for a Media Server

[littleefoxx]

I have a Playstation 3 that I want to stream 1080p .mkv files to. My computer's GPU isn't strong enough to play 1080p on my computer (Yes I know, I'm outdated)

Since the PS3 doesn't natively support .mkvs, I've read that my only options are to convert the file (Which takes hours and suffers quality loss) or stream it using a media server. I tried the latter. I've tried Tversity Pro and Universal Media Server. Both stream in 1080p but it lags horribly and makes the video unwatchable.

Yes this involved my Playstation 3 but I felt that it belongs here since I'm asking for a software recommendation and not a question about the Playstation itself.

So! I'm asking if anyone has a suggestion for a media server that doesn't have this issue. I just installed a new router recently and my PS3 and PC both are running on 100 Mbps cables so latency shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks in advance.

 

[carnageX]

Plex Media Server.

 

[iFargle]

I second Plex.

 

[littleefoxx]

Gave Plex a shot. Installed fine and everything and I added a folder but my PS3 keeps giving me "DLNA Protocol Error (2006)". I've looked the code up and can't seem to find a fix - including on the Plex forums. It takes a good 30 seconds, shows that error then displays "There are no titles."

Why do I have to have such bad luck with media servers? Any suggestions?

EDIT: So I decided to try it again after at least 15 times getting this error and all of a sudden, my files are there. I try to play one and get "This content cannot be played. (800288E1)"

 

[carnageX]

You may have to mess with the transcoder(s).

Are you using the Plex app on the PlayStation, or just browsing through the media server part?

 

[littleefoxx]

Didn't know there was an app. I'll give it a shot. I was just using the media server section.

 

[littleefoxx]

Now I'm getting "There was a problem playing this item". Could my PC just really not be strong enough to stream 1080p video? I set Plex to play in 720p and have the transcoder quality set to "Prefer high speed encoding" with no luck.

Are there any other ideas? Something really light maybe. I'll continue taking any suggestions for Plex but I'll try any other media servers as well. This is so annoying.

 

[carnageX]

I have Plex running on a Core 2 Duo e8400 with 6GB of RAM and I can play/transcode 1080p content fine.

 

[littleefoxx]

I'm running an AMD E2 APU. Its a Dual Core at 1.5 Ghz. 4 GB RAM, Windows 10 64-bit.

A little bit more information. I checked task manager and when I try to play a file using the Plex app, my CPU shoots up to 100% on a task called "PlexNewTranscoder". Its looking like my CPU just isn't powerful enough however I can't even seem to get 720p video to play, making me think something else is wrong.

 

[carnageX]

Can you play them from another computer or your phone (if you have a smartphone)?

And yes, it's possible that your CPU isn't good enough to transcode fast enough. Are you trying to host the media server on a laptop?