I have an RPi 2, with a Synology DS214. Currently, I play both 720p & 1080p content from my Synology over Powerline Ethernet.
I am considering upgrading my DS214 to a DS415play, with one of the main features being the Hardware Transcoding Engine.
On Synology’s site, it lists the devices that it supports, and OSMC/Raspberry Pi is not listed
Has anybody else have experience of the Hardware Transcoding Engine on a Synology NAS, and whether it makes a difference on the Raspberry Pi 2 to the quality of the video being played. I usually use my DS as a Media Server via SMB, rather than Synology’s DS Video App. I only use that if I want to watch videos remotely.
I don’t tend to use DLNA as its a right pain looking at the Library on my Phone/iPad and then porting the video across over DLNA, much rather see the whole Library on my TV, and play direct.
I prefer MySQL/Library approach as I have several RPi’s that connect over VPN to my Synology and stream over VPN which then marks the videos as played and keeps the watch information in Sync.
I’m guessing if I use the Library approach, then the Hardware Transcoding wouldn’t ever come into effect?
The device will not transcode the files as you’ll be accessing them at a filesystem level. It is only with DLNA where servers can do ‘clever’ things and transcode the video to ensure the receiving device can play back the stream.