Calling all MP New Zealanders (Both of you!!) (3 Viewers)

[gperkinson]

Hi ExDee,

I'm trying to get better quality AVI output file from Handbrake using the quality settings. In terms of creating Music Video files from C4, I'm not too worried about trying to compress the file to a size less than the original ts file as I'm going to cut out individual Music Video clips. I tried setting the quality to the recommended 70% under the Video tab, but ended up with a file 3 times the original size and it would not play in any player e.g. Windows Media Centre.

Do you have any recommendations around settings to get the optimum quality without an unecessarily large file?

Regards

Graham

 

[ArnoldGoat]

On the Geekzone forum, Steve says "TVNZ have decreased the bitrates on TVOne and TV 2 while they test their regional feeds of TV One. This has resulted in a reduced picture quality on DVB-S."

A respondent says "Speak to TVNZ about it. They need to know that people have noticed."

We should take note of that. If nobody complains, they might assume it's OK to leave it. I am sending a comment via snail-mail. I am reasonably convinced they ignore everything else.

 

[Biggles69]

All those people receiving freeview via satellite need to go to the TVNZ website and make a complaint about the drop in bitrate otherwise we might get stuck with a crappy picture from tv1 & 2
heres the contact address Feedback Form | CONTACT US | tvnz.co.nz

 

[ireshine]

Just some help for recording videos on C4 on freeview. firstly C4 isn't true High Def. its resolution 720x576i


from my experience, recording C4 videos is a bit pain, because of the resolution and that I need to remove the borders on some(most videos) and then set the correct ratio for the videos.(4:3 or 16:9)

For record videos on C4 with handbrake,
Under picture setting tab only tick, decomb.
under Video tab, video codec I use xvid (only because its fast and easy to use under virtualdub). framerate: same as source
Advanced encoding setting , tick 2-pass encoding, for quality, Avg bitrate (kbps) 2500. (this gets the best quality and doesn't take to long to convert)
Audio & Subtitles tab, source- Automatic, audio codec MP3, Mixdown - automatic, Samplerate - auto, Bitrate - 128 (if you knew the animation had surround sound use AC3 codecs)

after you have encode the videos, open it up with virtualdub,
first I remove the ads at the beginning middle and end etc. (look up virtualdub tutorials)
then under "video" tab, click filter and add resize filter, this will also allow you to crop the video.
then under video again, click compress and choose the codecs you like, I use xvid and home theater setting
Just Remember the final resolution must have even numbers

 

[mcraenz]

All those people receiving freeview via satellite need to go to the TVNZ website and make a complaint about the drop in bitrate otherwise we might get stuck with a crappy picture from tv1 & 2
heres the contact address Feedback Form | CONTACT US | tvnz.co.nz

Done.

 

[eXDee]

Hi ExDee,

That setting seemed to make a bit of a difference - thanks, however it's not as good as the original recording. I noticed that the file was about 1/4 of the original as an AVI - which makes me think that perhaps there is another setting which may produce a bigger file, but more of the sharp Freeview picture of the original. Any thoughts on this?

Regards

Graham

Play with the bitrate/constant rate till you get what suits recordings. I was making guesses as i havent actually done a full conversion, just small files as tests while helping a handbrake dev debug it. (deinterlace was broken on windows when using freeview as the input)

Hi ExDee,

I'm trying to get better quality AVI output file from Handbrake using the quality settings. In terms of creating Music Video files from C4, I'm not too worried about trying to compress the file to a size less than the original ts file as I'm going to cut out individual Music Video clips. I tried setting the quality to the recommended 70% under the Video tab, but ended up with a file 3 times the original size and it would not play in any player e.g. Windows Media Centre.

Do you have any recommendations around settings to get the optimum quality without an unecessarily large file?

Regards

Graham

But as you can see yourself, Constant quality rate isnt liked by some codecs, its more advanced h264 (as far as i understand)

So instead of constant quality, set a bitrate (with 2 pass/turbo first). Take a look at the guide above (thanks for that ireshine), and find your own settings which work well for you.
I'd still keep h264 as the codec though if you want no quality loss if for example you're going to transcode it again onto a DVD. If you want to archive them as the guide above seems to be aimed at then lower settings are probably more ideal, but again i'd stick with H264 as it gives nicer quality even if it takes a lot longer.

 

[gperkinson]

Hi Ireshine,

First of all WOW ..... thanks so much for the detailed response - I really appreciate it. I had no idea that C4 broadcast in 720 x 576i - I just assumed that "Mediaworks" was all in 1080i. A question, is TV3 also broadcasted the same way? I have done all my testing using TV3 assuming it was the same.

Will look at your response and let you know how it goes.

Once again, I appreciate the detailed reply.

Regards

Graham

 

[ireshine]

Hi gperkinson

because TV3 is broadcasted in 1080i , converting record shows where taking too long to care. (+5hrs for a 1hr show)
But I`ll try some test with 5min recording and post the result.
and hope find a fast way to convert 1080i , or fast enough way.

here is some more general information about the freeview channels

TVNZ 538000:
TV ONE (720p Upscaled)
TV TWO (720p Upscaled)
TVNZ 6 (576i SD)
TVNZ 7 (576i SD)
TVNZ Sports extra (576i SD)

Mediaworks 570000:
TV 3 (1080i)
C4 (576i SD)

Kordia 666000:
Parliament Tv (576i SD)
Maori Tv 4:3 with 16:9 flags (576i SD)
3KSD TVNZ Sports extra with MP2 Audio (576i SD)
Note that this source is from 2008. so It might not be 100% correct
sourceFreeview | HD Guide (DTT/DVB-T) New Zealand

One more point
there one more channel on freeview TV3 plus1 , basically TV3 but one show behind, for now anyway.

 

[Omen]

i've been looking into wall plates for vga, usb, and 3.5mm audio so i can set my htpc up in a completely different room to the tv (accoustic reasons)

so far i've found this site selling a product that'll do the trick, but it seems darned expensive for what it is.

i'm not after the rca outlets, so i was wondering if anyone here has come across something similar, but cheaper?

 

[mcraenz]

i've been looking into wall plates for vga, usb, and 3.5mm audio so i can set my htpc up in a completely different room to the tv (accoustic reasons)

so far i've found this site selling a product that'll do the trick, but it seems darned expensive for what it is.

i'm not after the rca outlets, so i was wondering if anyone here has come across something similar, but cheaper?

Yea, Ouch! Personally I'd go to Corys or JA Russell and get the wall platse and make something up my self. Much more time consuming but yeah $82 is pretty steep!