Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:07 pm by atc98092
Plex and Serviio are two similar but separate programs. Plex has the advantage of having a well designed app that is available on my streaming players and Smart TVs, as well as the web interface for streaming via a browser. Plex and Serviio can co-exist on the same computer without a problem.
Serviio does not offer any player apps of its own, so you are dependent on whatever player you have available to use on a streaming device. Most Smart TVs have a DLNA player included, but none I've ever seen have a very nice user interface. For streaming players, you can find some player apps that are improvements over the Smart TVs, but not by a lot. I think the best player I've found for DLNA use is either Roku, using the Roku Media Player app, or Kodi, which is available for many Android based players, such as the Nvidia Shield.
Roku at least offers some metadata for the media, compared to virtually nothing on any Smart TV I've used. Kodi also has the same metadata available, plus it has available add-ons that can provide extended media information. There are also other player apps available for Android devices, with varying levels of user information available. For iOS devices, VLC and Infuse are two good players. VLC doesn't offer any metadata, but Infuse is quite good.
If you haven't modified the Serviio presentations, by default they are all enabled, and might be what you consider the "abomination". I only have Titles, Movies, Series, Last Added and Playlists enabled, so it's a pretty clean look. If you're unhappy with the way Serviio is presented to you, consider using an alternate player of some sort.
To answer your last question: no, there is no way to use Plex as the "front end" of your Serviio server. They can certain both use the same media locations, as mine does. I only use Plex when I'm traveling, as my Roku player can connect from any hotel Internet connection. That's something that can't be done with a DLNA server. But Plex and Serviio both use the same media files.
Dan
LG NANO85 4K TV, Samsung JU7100 4K TV, Sony BDP-S3500, Sharp 4K Roku TV, Insignia Roku TV, Roku Ultra, Premiere and Stick, Nvidia Shield, Yamaha RX-V583 AVR.
Primary server: Intel i5-6400, 16 gig ram, Windows 10 Pro, 22 TB hard drive space | Test server Windows 10 Pro, AMD Phenom II X4 965, 8 gig ram
HOWTO: Enable debug logging HOWTO: Identify media file contents