Over the years, Plex has grown from a relatively simple home media server into an all-in-one entertainment powerhouse. Notable feature additions include streaming personalized news, the ability to operate entirely in the cloud rather than on your server, and a full-fledged DVR. currently, that DVR has gotten even more powerful, adding a new feature to automatically remove commercials, which was spotted by cord Cutters News.
The feature was added in an update the Plex team pushed out over the weekend. while most of the update was focused on fixing bugs, this new feature was also included. You will need go heading into your Plex DVR setting and manually enable the feature by finding the option “Remove Commercials.”
You may not need to turn the feature on instantly without looking into reports from different users. the descriptions in these settings warn that when the feature can try to automatically detect and remove commercials, this might potentially take a long time and cause high CPU usage. If you’re running your Plex server on a powerful pc, this may not be a problem, but if you’re running it on an old laptop, you might need to hold off.
This new feature also permanently changes your DVR recording, deleting commercials from the files itself. This shouldn’t be a problem as long because the feature works as intended, but if it detects wrong portions of the file as commercials, you’ll end up missing out on a part of your favorite shows.
Of course, to even use the Plex DVR, you need a fairly specific setup, using a USB Tuner or HDHomeRun to connect an antenna to your pc in order to receive over-the-air (OTA) signals. Initially, hardware options were limited, but they need to be been expanding. Plex has a full list of supported hardware listed on its website. You’ll also want a Plex Pass subscription in order to use the feature, that prices $5 per month, $40 per annum, or $150 for a lifetime subscription.
If you’ve ne’er tried Plex before but think this appears like a great time to jump on board, you’ll start by taking a look at our guide to getting Plex up and running on your computer.
