Converting .TS files

[Joram]

Not sure that this sub-forum is the right one for this topic, so mods please move it to a sub-forum where it might fit better.

I have a dedicated offline Windows 10 laptop that I use to watch baseball games on the treadmill (otherwise the experience would be tedious to the point of inducing insanity). For years, I happily recorded games on Windows Media Center and transferred the .WTV files to the laptop via sneakernet. The laptop has a receiver connected for use with the WMC remote.

As Verizon has sunsetted our CableCARDs, this model for viewing will become obsolete once I finish watching the last game recorded via CableCARD. In anticipation of this event, I tried putting .TS files produced by NextPVR (using a Hauppauge HD PVR 2 1512) onto the laptop, to play via VLC. However, I don't have a remote that (to my knowledge) will control VLC, at least not with the granularity that a WMC remote can control WMC (30-second skip forward, 6-second skip back). So I resorted to converting the .TS files into .WTV files so that I could use the WMC remote.

This has worked OK, but there is a nagging visual issue where the WTV video looks choppy: for example, whereas the crawl line on the .TS file flows smoothly, on the .WTV conversion it moves along in little fits. The motion of a batted or pitched baseball looks similarly jerky in comparison to the .TS file.

What, if anything, can I do to mitigate/eliminate this issue? I'm open to solutions that will either (preferably) improve the .WTV output or, barring that, improve the VLC experience (a useful remote?).

In case it makes a difference, for the conversion to .WTV I'm using iDealshare VideoGo, at its highest settings for both video size and video quality.

[mvallevand]

If it was me I'd import the wtv files as recordings into NextPVR with NextTool and use yauicleint to connect to the host and avoid sneakernet altogether.

Martin

[Joram]

Thanks, Martin.

In that case, if I were to use yauiclient, then I could skip the TS-to-WTV conversion step since I wouldn't be using WMC, right?

[mvallevand]

Right I thought you were trying to watch old wtv files but if it it is nextpvr ts files yes just watch them in yauiclient.

Martin

[Joram]

Thanks. I should add that the treadmill laptop lacks an Ethernet port and the boss objects to Wi-Fi, save in exceptional circumstances. This does complicate matters which is why I'm angling for an offline approach.

[mvallevand]

Kodi supports MCE remotes and should have now problems with standalone ts files.

Martin

[sub]

If you install the LAV decoders on that machine, it’ll probably play these files in whatever play you were using with wtv files. Then you should need your remote to control VLC.

[mvallevand]

I don't think he is using NextPVR on that machine. He wants to run WMC with his MCE remote with a wtv file. This feels like a support post from 20 years ago.


Martin

[Joram]

I don't think he  is using NextPVR on that machine.  He wants to run WMC with his MCE remote with a wtv file.  This feels like a support post from 20 years ago.


Martin

Recall that one of the two strategies described in the OP involves playing NPVR's .TS files on VLC, thus bypassing WMC altogether. I'm not looking necessarily to use a WMC (MCE) remote in this case; if a generic Windows remote will control VLC, that will be fine. Along these lines, this post on the VLC forum sounds promising, and hopefully it is not out of date.

Can NextPVR or yauiclient be usefully installed on a PC that never goes online? I know I can copy the executables to a flash drive and plug it into the offline machine... but would it work for the limited purpose of playing .TS files that were recorded elsewhere?