MVP & QAM - I've tried...

[tjthomas]

OK. I've tried and perhaps I'm too much of an amature but after hours of reading posts in this forum I'm thoughly frustrated and confused. :eek:
This thread was closest to my problem: "MVP TS Files" but was over my head.
And this thread just created more questions for me: "My HD and Digital TV FAQ for the MVP"

I have been a GBPVR/MVP user for years without any issues (MCE500 card).
I recently purchased a new PC w/Vista, quad proc, 2gb mem, 750gb HDD, 256mb ATI card and a Hauppauge HVR 1250 card. (It's a Dell - I work there.)

I have mapped the QAM channels and they show up in GBPVR TV guide perfectly. I watch them on the pc and they are fantastic. I thought I had audio when I first set eveything up last week but after being out of town this past weekend I can't really remember and now tonight I do not hear any audio.
I record a show and the video plays back perfectly but without sound.
I suspect this:
a. TS Mux
TS files will need to be transcoded to run with GB-PVR. The default TS file conversion setting in GB-PVR will not work for HD recordings or when the audio is not MP2/3.
But I don't understand what this means.
On the Processing tab of GBPVR config I have selected auto-convert TS to Mpeg-2.

Now on to the MVP. I have installed the mvpmc dongle and everything loads on the MVP just fine. I see the tv guide and other menus. No live TV (I don't care). The video recordings don't even play back - no video or sound (I care... a lot).
I suspect this:
10. What about HD PVR recordings?
No good solution for m2ts files yet either.
4. Why do I hear no sound or sound that is badly out of sync?
The MVP only supports MP2/MP3 audio. AC3 and AAC audio are not supported. mvpmc will attempt to play AC3 audio but the video will vary from watchable to objectionably out of sync.
But then the FAQ says this:
14. What ffmpeg setting do you use for transcoding?
The GB-PVR defaults, except I use the NTSC settings for TS files.
I really don't get that.
One other note: All other features work great - internet radio, photo slide shows etc.

One of the coolest things about GBPVR/MVP for me has always been comskip. The worst thing has always been the video quality. Now that I have HD TV's and found QAM channels (I'm too cheap to pay for the converter box) I'm in heaven. But with 3 kids I NEVER get to watch my shows in real time - much less care to with commercial breaks.

Tell me I have to put my old tuner card into my new machine and live with poor quality recodings I'll do it. I just want to make sure I have no options before abondoning the QAM quality recordings I could get with the HVR1250 card first.
I get that the best output would only be S-video (using he MVP), but this is what confuses me:
13. How is the quality of HD video on the MVP?
Since the MVP only does SD it can be no better than DVD quality. It is pretty much guaranteed that on-the-fly transcoding will stutter at times no matter how good your server is in 2008 anyway but I do feel that ffmpeg and meconder can be configured to create video files that are nicer than the eqivalent SD analog recordings.

I would be THRILLED with DVD quality playback! My video recordings with the old card are at best the quality of ancient VCR recordings of TV shows off of rabbit ears that have sat in the garage for 14 years.

All I want to do is have better recordings than I used to with my old card and enjoy my 24, Lost and American Idol. Sorry for the novel I've written but I could really use a bit of hand-holding right now - or at least a swift kick in the...

[pBS]

first off, have you tried mpg mux? try the ati mux...you should already have it..
easier to deal with i find...[more codecs, fewer container problems]
but it's probably just a lack of ac3 decoder, get AC3 Filter for that,or ffdshow...
hd has ac3, sd doesn't..

2nd, transcoding will be rough at best...unless you lower the resolution quite a bit, hd transcodes are way cpu intensive and very slow because of it...which makes real time transcodes a stretch...have to set to like 320x240 res to keep up...

an option you might wanna try, since the signal from hd is so clean, it compresses much,much better....try outputting hd channels thru svideo to the hvr500...your box should downscale it pretty nicely, and then you can control the bitrates,etc and capture full res [dvd quality] and keep mvp compatibility...
of course that means you'd have to use a box and a blaster..but you might be surprised at the results..[at least on mvp]
plus there's the problem of 16/9 hd videos...dealing with it squeezes res down a bit, but it's still decent..

otherwise, stay with the 2250 and transcode as best you can, play with the ffmpeg settings and maybe check out the ffmpeg 'tryouts' versions
and mencoder can be swifter w/more setttings available...
it really comes down to what looks best to you on your set..

and you could always just get a PCH

[sub]

Unfortunately the MVP isnt well suited to this new highdef digital age. It can only play standard definition .mpg video file with MPEG-1/MPEG-2 video and MPEG-1Layer2 audio. Your digital recordings will have AC3 audio, and potential high definition MPEG-2 video, neither of which the MVP can handle. If you record with the TS Mux (to .ts file), then you can tweak the <MVPFFmpegTranscodeTS> setting in config.xml to transcode these recordings on-the-fly to standard def MPEG-2. This is not idea though, since you loose stuff like skipping and comskip.

The Popcorn Hour device as a client is much better with digital recordings, and can natively handle these new high def channels, AC3 audio etc. (albeit without comskip)

[mvallevand]

I think the best all around solution all the new digital formats for the MVP is going to be to treat the device like you do an ipod, or other non-compatible device, and do everything through the postprocessing.bat process.

Using the ATI mux isn't a great solution for digital HD since you will end up having to transcode all files.

Martin

[pBS]

ahhh, good point....
that way, only hd files will be .ts and need transcoding...

[steve232]

I'm having the same problem with QAM captured programming.

I use the cyberlink mux and a postprocessing.bat file to convert the audio into mp2.

The only issue is the mvp looses the time line so comskip and ff don't work.
I haven't been able to find a fix for this!

Here is the entry in postprocessing.bat (it could be added to config,xml, then selected in config)

"C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\Third Party\FFmpeg\ffmpeg.exe" -y -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec mp2 "%~dpn1_mvp.mpg"

Steve