Australian NPVR users? Gem, Mate & SBS issues

[chuck_2330]

I was wondering if any other Australian NPVR users could confirm this for me?

I need to transcode my recordings with ffmpeg in a postprocessing.bat script but I am having problems with Gem, Mate & SBS. I am unable to successfully transcode these channels, however I have no problems with the other channels.

For each of the "good" channels, ffmpeg reports the video as 720x576. For my "problem" channels I have very different sizes: Gem is 1920x1080, Mate is 1440x1080 and SBS is 1280x720.

The other difference I have found is that "good" channels have video on stream 0.0, audio on stream 0.1, subtitles on 0.2 and data on 0.3. Gem has audio5.1 on 0.2 with subtitles on 0.3 and data on 0.4 and Mate is all over the place, with subtitles on 0.1, data on 0.2 and audio on 0.3. Gem is the only channel that shows AC3 sound in NPVR Live TV, all others are MPEG1.

I use NEWA to successfully record ALL channels but to make things even more interesting I don't get anything displayed on NPVR Live for any of the Channel 7 (Prime7, Prime7Two & 7Mate in my area) or Channel 10 (10 or Eleven).

I am assuming that the channels are consistent in their broadcast parameters.

I don't know how to get ffmpeg to deal with these variations when transcoding but if I could confirm that they are "real" and not a figment of my imagination, that would be a start.

thanks

Greg

[imagn]

I dont know much about transcoding and FFmpeg, and i am not an Australian user, but the resolutions you have supplied are HD Tv

ie 1980X1080 is 1080 interlaced (I) or progressive (P),
and 1280X720 is 720p. Not sure about the last one,

Thats all i have for you

[chuck_2330]

Thanks for the response. I figured that these were HD but I am surprised that there are not more HD examples. Perhaps my test recordings were at a time when the transmission was SD but at other times there will be an HD transmission. This makes it even more important to get the ffmpeg script correct as I might find that sometimes my script will fail when the broadcast is a different format.

Greg

[Nistrod]

SBS ONE should only be SD = 720x576. I have checked a couple of my recordings and that is what I see.
SBS TWO is SD 720x576.
SBS HD is 1280x720 on two different recordings.
GEM is HD, and I have recordings of 1440x1080 on several shows.
7Mate is HD and is 1440x1080 .

This is the output from FFmpeg on a GEM show:
[INDENT] Program 10
Stream #0.0[0x221]: Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 1440x1080 [PAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], 14500 kb/s, 28.37 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0.1[0x2b7](eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 448 kb/s
Stream #0.2[0x31b](eng): Subtitle: [6][0][0][0] / 0x0006
[buffer @ 01a1ec70] w:1440 h:1080 pixfmt:yuv420p[/INDENT]

I am on the Sunshine Coast - YMMV.
I have found that dodgy transmissions can make FFmpeg claim that the frame size has changed, often to ludicrous values. Using mpeg2repair fixes this, but its a GUI-only.
Australia is unique in claiming that anything above 720x576 is HD.

[chuck_2330]

Ok, makes sense. I remember that's I mapped SBSHD to SBS1 in NPVR. I'll do a copule of tests on Gem and see if it changes. It's interesting that you don't have a stereo audio stream at all for Gem.

I wonder if using a difference encoder is the best approach? Any recommendations?

Thanks

Greg

[Reddwarf]

I wonder if using a difference encoder is the best approach? Any recommendations?

Have you looked at Mencoder? It is slightly faster than ffmpeg, but maybe a bit more complicated.

[Nistrod]

It's interesting that you don't have a stereo audio stream at all for Gem.

Sorry, but is this not saying that its stereo?[INDENT]Stream #0.1[0x2b7](eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 448 kb/s[/INDENT]

Things may be different in Singleton, but its all pretty consistent here.

I use FFmpeg, and have few problems. I had more, but had the aerial relocated to give a better signal, and the incidence dropped significantly.

Pick a show on each channel during the next couple of days and I will record it and report. You do the same.

[chuck_2330]

That would be great. How about tonight 26/4?

SHS HD 830-9.30 The Story of Science
7Mate 10.00-10.30 My Name is Earl
Gem 10.30-11.30 Sensing Murder

Thanks a lot for your help.

Greg

[Nistrod]

OK.
Will check and post results in the morning.

[chuck_2330]

Also, would you mind sharing your ffmpeg script? It might show me what I am doing wrong.