Record in MP4 Format

[andrewj]

Hi,
Is there any way to record directly into MP4 format? My TV only works well with MP4 files, not MPEG-2. N-PVR defaults to .ts format, which is MPEG-2 and doesn't play smoothly, and my converter program doesn't reliably create good .MP4 files from them.

Thanks
Andrew

[dgeezer]

Not really. NPVR just saves the incoming stream to your hard drive. I'm assuming that you are in the US. If so then all the OTA broadcasts and most cable companies broadcast in mpeg2. There is a tuner from Silicondust that encodes the stream to h.264 on the fly but it's kinda had mixed reviews.

What device are you using to play back to your tv?
Maybe it's a codec issue on your pc if you are playing from your windows pc directly attached to your tv?

[sub]

No, you can't record mp4 files. NextPVR records .ts which is the digital television standard used world wide. With digital tuners, your .ts recordings are just a dump of what your broadcaster is sending.

N-PVR defaults to .ts format, which is MPEG-2 and doesn't play smoothly

Just to clarify - .ts is the transport stream format defined as part of the MPEG-2 specification, but it is a flexible contain format used for digital TV and can contain just about anything. ie, it can contain MPEG2 video like broadcast television in the US, or can contain H.264 video in use in many countries (and some cable channels in the states now), or it can contain the new HEVC (H.265) video as about be launched in a few countries. Audio can be MPEG1, AAC, HE-AAC, AC3, E-AC3, Dolby-DTS etc. MP4 files can't include all these different broadcast formats.

[andrewj]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies. Firstly I'm in the UK, so I don't know whether that makes any difference?
My Panasonic TV will play MPEG-2 files such as the default .ts from the UK HD channels, but it suffers a problem that if you pause it "skips" up to a couple of minutes randomly forward or back. However if you convert the files to MP4, which is the same format it uses on its built-in recorder, there's no problem.
I have been using WonderShare Video Convertor Ultimate to convert standard-definition files from Media Center to .mp4, and that works fine although occasionally the audio goes out of sync. I have tried converting the N-PVR HD .ts files to .mp4, but it only succeeds in about 50% of cases.
It looks like I have to talk to the Wondershare people about trying to improve their hit rate...
Any other ideas?

Thanks
Andrew

[stustunz]

buy a rpi3 cost ya about 50 pound at a guess (it play pretty much everything and smooth as silk)

or try mce buddy if you dont want to spend any money

link http://www.mcebuddy2x.com/

[peejay]

Handbrake https://handbrake.fr/
I use it every day to convert .ts files to mkv
Handbrake either converts to mp4 or mkv

Paul

[andrewj]

Thanks. Handbrake looks good if I can't sort out the problems with Wondershare.
Andrew

[martint123]

.......I'm in the UK.......My Panasonic TV will play MPEG-2 files such as the default .ts from the UK HD channels,

The UK uses H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) video and AAC audio for HD broadcasts.

[hansol123]

I use Videoredo in the UK to edit the TS files and then stream to my TVS Sony and Samsung from (using DLNA) PC using Mezzmo.

Videoredo will convert TS to MP4 but I do not find it necessary to do so as Mezzmo support have been very helpful in producing transcoding profiles that are compatible with the TVS ,bluray player, Humax satellite box,and Amazon tv box.

Maurice

[12vibes]

Hi,
Is there any way to record directly into MP4 format? My TV only works well with MP4 files, not MPEG-2. N-PVR defaults to .ts format, which is MPEG-2 and doesn't play smoothly, and my converter program doesn't reliably create good .MP4 files from them.

Thanks
Andrew

Try Mce Buddy converts all my .ts files to MP4 quite happily