Plex v0.5.22: Last in the series
Way back when I was just starting the port to the Mac, and the program was just as likely to crash on you as play a video, I dreamed of a day when it would be stable.
In the last months, we have made 22 releases of the 0.5 series of Plex. We’ve tried to fix all the most serious bugs, and add some OS X flavor to the application in the process (not to mention all the bugs that the XBMC team has fixed). I haven’t had a crash in a long time in my own personal use, and even the bug and crash reports have slowed.
Of course, there are still problems, and still bugs. No software is ever perfect. But we feel like we’ve reached a point where it works “pretty darn well” and we’d like to formalize this by ending the 0.5 development series, and releasing 0.6. Assuming nothing got screwed up in this release, we’ll make a couple of last-minute tweaks and fixes and release as 0.6.0.
Our long-term plan with Plex was always to stabilize, then enhance. First get it working well enough, then make major architectural changes.
At the same time as we’ve been working on the 0.5 series, we’ve also been staying up late at night, working hard on new stuff. Really cool new stuff. In the coming week or so, I’m going to be posting here with details on the *NINE* enhancements to Plex that have been completed. These enhancements will be included in the first release of 0.7 (the next development series). To summarize:
- v0.6.x: This will be the new stable series. If you fear change, and just want to enjoy your media in the safety of a stable release, use these. We’ll make bug-fixes, include the latest MediaStream, but nothing too scary.
- v0.7.x: If you like living on the bleeding edge, skiing down double-black diamonds, and jumping out of planes with parachutes, this is probably the series for you.
Here are the changes in this release (available from the Plex home page, and from Sparkle shortly):
- NEW: You can now configure the way the H.264 decoder does deblocking. Some will you will know this is the “skiploopfilter” setting in ffmpeg. Some will wonder if I’m speaking English. The bottom line is, if you allow the decoder to skip doing deblocking, it’ll be less intensive for the CPU. I’ve found that if you configure it to skip all deblocking, the “killa” bird sample uses about 20% less CPU and plays at a higher frame rate. Bottom line: your mileage may vary, but it may help you with hard-to-play content.
- NEW: Support for the Home and End keys in lists. Also support for using the A/Z keys to skip to the next/previous letter in lists. Jonathan Marshall added support for this last one a while ago, cool dude that he is, so we added a mapping. Also, Isaac added a new mapping for people using Snatch on their iPhone. You’ll have to whack your Keymap.xml file in ~/Application Support/Plex/userdata to get these features.
- NEW: We have included the latest MediaStream skin (no doubt out of date by tomorrow), along with the associated code fixes so that you don’t have to hit escape 23 times to return to the main menu from the Movie/TV sections. You can see some documentation for the new settings in this version of the skin here (many thanks to Jayman978!)
- FIX: We dimmed the wrong screen when you were running with a multi-screen setup and Plex was on the second screen.
- FIX: Some MP3 tags caused a hang. This includes the “Burial” album, so bretonh will be pleased.
- FIX: Refreshing movie info from NFO in VIDEO_TS folders caused a crash.
- FIX: Storing a TV show in multiple places (e.g. some seasons in one place, some seasons in another), whether by multi-path sources or different sources led to duplicates.
We’ve of course included all the latest XBMC fixes as well, including the latest UPnP and MythTV code.
I’ve taken to opening up fresh coconuts in the back yard with a big machete. The coconut water is supposedly really healthy, and if I’m feeling inspired, I make fresh coconut milk from the pulp for a Thai curry. Barkley loves both the milk and the pulp, so mostly I just lop the coconuts in half after drinking the water and give them to him.
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Thanx Elan and the team for this great product! I am following the project almost from the beginning and it is great to see how this is growing to a “all other mediacenter killer”
Great job Elan..
hehe…. escape 23 times – great work, I’ve been waiting for this feature!
Congrats on the final 0.5 release! For me, Plex is already the perfect media center, but I can’t wait to see what these 9 enhancements are. It’s incredible how quickly you’ve made a Mac port of XBMC into something much more special. Thanks for all the hard work!
Awesome, the A-Z feature is just what I need! Can’t wait to try it out tonight!
Congratulations on the release.
I find it fantastic to have the initial focus on having a stable FIRST version and then focusing on enhancements and features (although in reality it’s been more mixed. Some stability fixes have implied new functionality and some basic release requirements as well).
Something I’ve been asked a lot and I don’t know if it would be a valid request is being able to use Plex as a standalone player, besides being a media center.
Some people have realised Plex is able to play formats other players can’t (either because of its optimisation or its codec array) and wish to be able to, from time to time, see just one video with it without having to launch the whole enchilada. I believe it’s a valid point but wouldn’t think of requesting it without putting out there first.
Another common request is being able to add sources by drag and drop.
this new feature;
NEW: You can now configure the way the H.264 decoder does deblocking. Some will you will know this is the “skiploopfilter” setting in ffmpeg. Some will wonder if I’m speaking English. The bottom line is, if you allow the decoder to skip doing deblocking, it’ll be less intensive for the CPU. I’ve found that if you configure it to skip all deblocking, the “killa” bird sample uses about 20% less CPU and plays at a higher frame rate. Bottom line: your mileage may vary, but it may help you with hard-to-play content.
- it wouldnt save it self on mine computers.
when I change it, og go out of Plex and in again – its back to default..
Elan, can you explain what the downside is to disabling CPU de-blocking in the decoder. Is there a loss of quality or resolution?
Can’t wait for the 0.7x series, with the new features. I jump out of planes regularly!
Thanks Elan and team for all the great work. The skiploopfilter does not seem to be working. I choose skip non-keyframes or skip everything but once I leave the section it automatically reverts to default.
Yay! It was about time for a new release, my share ratio on the 5.21 torrent was 100:1
This is coming along great guys, every release makes it harder for me to keep from dropping a few hundred bucks on another Mini!
Cant wait to get home and try it. Great work on this as always guys!
Good to hear Plex is still going strong. You had me scared for a moment when I read the headline. Thought you would throw in the towel against XBMC.
Keep on rocking!
FLX
I’ve been checking back daily for a new version, and it’s finally here!! Can’t wait to go test it, but I have no doubt it’s another incremental improvement on what is already a fantastic user experience. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Elan, you the best (the team toooo)
No sub fixes? *crying*
“hit escape 23 times”
Thanks Elan, was about time
Cool, Elan and team!
Can’t wait to install the new baby
And can’t wait to jump to the next bleeding edge adventures with .7
Good stuff! Cant wait for the new stuff in 0.7!
thanks for the update, plex is great and getting better. i’m looking forward to the new features.
Tremendous work!!! I can now stop checking your blog five times a day in anticipation of this release… ummm, just kidding! I will now be checking repeatedly in anticipation for v0.7 !!!!
You guys are insanely awesome! Going to test Mythtv abilities now!
Although I fully support Plex I cant get my head around what Plex offers differently from XBMC for Mac. Even the iTunes support is from XBMC…
Id love to see something which makes Plex and XBMC going in different directions…
(I know Im going to get flamed for this
)
@thecritic: Nobody’s going to flame you, we’re a friendly bunch here
If you haven’t noticed the differences up until now, you’ll certainly notice them in 0.7.
@others: Sorry, I botched the setting code for skip loop filter, it’ll give me something to fix for the 0.6 release, which will be very shortly! (Note that the setting works, it just doesn’t display correctly.)
@thecritic: the differences between xbmc and plex are subtle but they are there .. trust me .. try using the apple remote .. use some standard mac keystrokes (open-apple Q, open-apple F) and now .. haven’t tested it yet but apparently you can jump to specific letters in a list with the keyboard .. WOOHOOO!!!!
@elan: nice job on this latest release .. looking forward to the next release though .. .6
and please .. subfix 
@pletopia: I did pull a few subtitle fixes from XBMC in this last release. Anything specific you’re running into, please refresh my memory on the forums.
@pletopia
I’ve created a thread for dealing with the subtitle and audio stuff for this version. Please post in there with your findings.
Is that a ridgeback?
@Zeb: Yeah, he’s a mix, he has some bullmastiff in him too.
@deanm3: In theory there is a loss of quality. In practice, especially with HD content, it’s probably unlikely you’d notice.
@DCstewieG: Hopefully they’ll come out with the revamped mini, would be really nice.
A full description of what the H.264 loop filter does and what the settings mean can be found here:
http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Video_Settings#Player
Great work, thank you dev team! This app is the only player plays the Blu-ray .ts format (Remux) files on my Mac! And it plays them without a hitch!
Poor Barkely’s not “going” all the time after those coconuts?
Good work on Plex BTW Its been a real powerful tool in my cinema, where as Apples AC3 and HiDef tools continue to be restricted.
I just tried PlayOn with the new build and the UPnP fixes lets it work with Plex! NICE!
That means Hulu and Netflix on Plex with a little work around.
Thank Plex team,
this was the only missing link in my house between Macs and living room. Simply brilliant app. Way to go, where can we donate?
Keep up with the development,
Jume
Slovenia
Good work on Plex. Also good work with the coconuts. I used to give my dog a complete coconut and over a few days she would have a great time ripping the husk off until there was just the ‘nut’ left. I’d then crack it open and she’d then spend the next few days scraping the meat out of the coconut. Tropical dogs, love ‘em!
Thanks for adding the loop filter settings. I can now play 720p H264 content on my Intel Atom based netbook fluently! (Altough running at 1,85GHz and 2GB Ram)
Thanks for this awsome product. Absolutely the fastest video player for Mac OS X. Excellent performance.
Merci pour ce merveilleux logiciel ! J’ai entendu dire que les Dieux eux-mêmes l’avaient installé !
Just wanted to tell you all know how much I appreciate your postings guys.
Found you though google!