Quality settings for recording

[jeffp]

What are the differances between the Quality settings that are set on the PVR500 and the ones you choose in MP?

If I set the card to low and choose default in MP the file size for a typical 30 min show ends up being almost 2GB (way too big) if I choose low in MP it ends up around 250mb (much better). I haven't made any changes to the settings on the card they are all still defaults as far as the quality framerates and all that goes.

[FlipGer]

Hi,

you do not have to set the settings in the PVR500 setup. MP automatically applies the one you choose in MP setup on the PVR500 setup. :roll:

Flip

[jeffp]

ok well let me ask it this way. I understand that what you choose in MP overrides what you have set on teh PVR500. If I leave MP at deafult what does it use? What's set on the PVR500?

Then can you change the settings of each level of quality (low, Med and High) with-in MP? If I choose low (for smaller file size) the recordings as well as live TV become unwatchable. If I leave it at default everything is fine but the files it creates say for a 30min show is about 2gb which is way too large for a 30min show. You should be able to have good quality and have about a 250mb file size.

[FlipGer]

Hi,

ok. Take a look into Setup->Television->Capture Cards->Edit (PVR500)->Quality and you will see the different profiles.

- Check "Use Quality control"
- Default Quality will be used for Live TV / Timeshift
- You can define your own profiles
- Now a littlebit math is needed

30 minutes recording:
- "LOW" will give you around 220 MB
- "MEDIUM" will give you around 660 MB
- "HIGH" will give you around 2200 MB (seems as if MP did choose this setting)

With MPEG2 you will never get a good picture with "LOW" and the full PAL resolution (720x576). MPEG2 just does not encode well with only 1000 KBPS*. MPEG4 (DivX / XviD) works with such a low bitrate, but imho MPEG2 needs at least 2000 KBPS for good picture quality.

You could try to play a littlebit with the KBPS settings of the profiles.
SIZE[MB] = (KBPS * TIME[Seconds]) / (8 * 1024)

HTH, Flip.
* KBPS = KiloBitPerSecond

[jeffp]

Thanks for the info, I'll play around with the settings and see if I can find a happy medium.

Are there any plans (or is it possible) to encode with MPEG4 with-in MP?

[FlipGer]

Hi,

Originally Posted by jeffp

Are there any plans (or is it possible) to encode with MPEG4 with-in MP?

No and a very small yes.

No - MP does not encode at all! Your PVR 500 does encode to MPEG2 in hardware. Therefor it is called a Analog Hardware Encoding card. Now the digital era begins with DVB. DVB signal are allready encoded in MPEG2 by the broadcaster. So there is no need to reencode to something like MPEG4. You can convert the MPEG2 to MPEG4 after recording. MP->My TV->Recordings->Compression (but it is buggy at the moment).

Yes - MP does encode in MPEG4 with Analog Software cards. But this does stress the system very much. Also the support for Analog Software cards will not be developed anymore within MP. This is because of the wide range of PVR cards and the upcoming DVB. DVB will encoded and broadcast in something similar to MPEG4 in the future for HDTV support.

HTH, Flip.

[mzemina]

Flip - On the small yes answer. I thought the developers dropper support of the Analog Software TV Tuner cards. Am I wrong?

Mike

[FlipGer]

Hi Mike,

no. You are right. I have stated that in my third yes-sentence. Not clear enough i fear.

Yes, they dropped the support and development for Analog Software Tuners.

Flip.

[mzemina]

Doh - I should take a remedial reading class. Big oops.