Ive just got a HDTV and im looking into streaming media from my pc to the tv using a snazio media box. What id like to know is what the difference is between, for example, a downloaded episode of a program thats in .avi format and about 800MB in size but described as being HD, and the same episode in .ts format and about ~4GB which is also being described as being HD. Will the difference between the two when both are being streamed to the tv just come down to quality?
HD Content - format differences
- Thread starter fallbayuk
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fallbayuk said:
It's all to do with the codecs.
Transport stream is MPEG2, where as avi is probably XVid or something similar.
TS episodes are normally pretty high quality as far as HD sources go, with bitrates in the region of 8-12Mbit/s depending on the resolution. I'm guessing that the AVI file will be quite heavily compressed, so you'll probably see more artifacting and blocking. Have you tried comparing the two?
If it was me I would stick to the Transport Steam files, as they contain the same RAW data as was broadcast on the tv. The Avi file is converted and compressed from the original mpeg2 broadcast, so it's bound to suffer slightly from that.
For me it's always best to have maximum picture quality, file size be damned
Your not going to get a HD stream video at 800mb, this will be a compressed file for sure in probally xvid format which doesnt support HD.
You've got to get the .TS files for the best quality. Ive viewed quite a few of these, again they arent true HD as they have been recorded from a HD channel (normally in the states), the quality is very good but ive seen better quality from skyhd. Worth watching though, your looking at DVD quality or better.
You've got to get the .TS files for the best quality. Ive viewed quite a few of these, again they arent true HD as they have been recorded from a HD channel (normally in the states), the quality is very good but ive seen better quality from skyhd. Worth watching though, your looking at DVD quality or better.
Ok thanks for the info, youve cleared that up for me.
Ive just joined a load of .ts files together using HDTVtoMPEG2 (is this the best program to do this?) and tried playing the file on my pc using various players. Ive had the most success using VLC media player but none of them seem able to fast forward during playback without issues. Ive got a P4 2.8, 1 gig of RAM and an ATI 9800 Pro video card which i thought would be able to handle playback ok. Anyway, im hoping to use a snazio to playback the content on my TV, is this likely to suffer from the same issues or are the playback problems on my pc a result of its spec?
Ive just joined a load of .ts files together using HDTVtoMPEG2 (is this the best program to do this?) and tried playing the file on my pc using various players. Ive had the most success using VLC media player but none of them seem able to fast forward during playback without issues. Ive got a P4 2.8, 1 gig of RAM and an ATI 9800 Pro video card which i thought would be able to handle playback ok. Anyway, im hoping to use a snazio to playback the content on my TV, is this likely to suffer from the same issues or are the playback problems on my pc a result of its spec?
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Check the file properties of your 800MB 'HD' files, it will show the resolution on there, expect it to be 960x568 or thereabouts for 'HR.HDTV' files. added to the lower resolution they will be compressed with xvid/divx.
Yes they are, they are a direct digital copy made from the set top box via firewire to PC. If the quality is poor then it's usually because a low bit-rate has been used by the broadcaster. Some of the ts stuff looks fantastic whereas others is barely above DVD but it is all HD. I've got stuff with bit-rates ranging from 8mbps to 19mbps.
I have a snazio, it forwards and rewinds .ts files just fine up to 4x. Download a program called 'wizd' it will let you play the ts files in 100MB chunks without having to join them up as well as let you bookmark.
ScoobyDoo said:
Yes they are, they are a direct digital copy made from the set top box via firewire to PC. If the quality is poor then it's usually because a low bit-rate has been used by the broadcaster. Some of the ts stuff looks fantastic whereas others is barely above DVD but it is all HD. I've got stuff with bit-rates ranging from 8mbps to 19mbps.
I have a snazio, it forwards and rewinds .ts files just fine up to 4x. Download a program called 'wizd' it will let you play the ts files in 100MB chunks without having to join them up as well as let you bookmark.
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purely to save time, if you're downloading a lot of files then it's a pain merging them all.
wizd isn't just for doing that, it has several features that make it better than the standard snazio software.
wizd isn't just for doing that, it has several features that make it better than the standard snazio software.
Are there any pauses during playback when it begins reading a new .ts chunk? I wouldnt mind hooking up an external USB drive to it but i've heard its not keen on ntfs, however if wizd works well i would imagine the 4Gb file size limit of FAT32 would no longer be a problem...
How have you got yours connected? Would you say its worth the money?
How have you got yours connected? Would you say its worth the money?
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It plays them perfectly - you'll have no idea where the file breaks were.
Mine is connected via 25 metres of cat5e to a router.
Given what it can do and the comparative cost/time/effort in getting a pc to do the same it's definitely worth the money
Mine is connected via 25 metres of cat5e to a router.
Given what it can do and the comparative cost/time/effort in getting a pc to do the same it's definitely worth the money