Strange Playback Issue with .TS Files (2 Viewers)

Sea Monkey

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June 13, 2011
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I have some .TS files that wouldn't play in MediaPortal. The solution was to check the box in MediaPortal Configuration that says 'Use Video Codecs when playing .TS files'. What doesn't make sense to me is that the H264 settings in both places appear to be identical. Any ideas?

video h264.PNG

tv h264.PNG


Here is the MediaInfo for one of the files:

General
ID : 1 (0x1)
Complete name : <omitted>.ts
Format : MPEG-TS
File size : 12.3 GiB
Duration : 1h 10mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 25.1 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 35.5 Mbps
Movie name : <omitted>
Law rating : TV-14 (L)

Video
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 1h 10mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 40.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan type, store method : Separated fields
Scan order : Top Field First
Color range : Full
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile : MA / Core
Mode : 16
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : Stream extension
Codec ID : 134
Duration : 1h 10mn
Bit rate mode : Variable / Constant
Bit rate : Unknown / 1 509 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Frame rate : 93.750 fps (512 spf)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossless / Lossy
Language : English

Text #1
ID : 4113 (0x1011)-CC1
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : EIA-608
Muxing mode : SCTE 128 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1
Duration : 1h 10mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)

Text #2
ID : 4113 (0x1011)-1
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : EIA-708
Muxing mode : SCTE 128 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1
Duration : 1h 10mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)
 
Last edited:

mm1352000

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    Hi

    I think it's probably the audio format that's the problem:
    Format : DTS
    Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
    Format profile : MA / Core

    As far as I'm aware our standard TS splitter used for TV (TsReader) doesn't support DTS or DTS MA. When you enable the "Use Video Codecs when playing .TS files" option, TsReader is swapped out and another splitter such as the LAV splitter (which does support DTS) would be used.

    Are you able to tell us anything about the source of these TS files?
    The media info you supplied suggests they might be from the US or Canada. The applicable standards bodies for that part of the world are ATSC (for over-the-air/terrestrial TV) and SCTE (for cable). Both ATSC [1] and SCTE don't support DTS; however both ATSC 2 (rather new standard) and SCTE do support "DTS HD". In practice I've never actually seen or heard of DTS or DTS HD being used [yet] anywhere in the world for broadcast TV...
     

    Sea Monkey

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    June 13, 2011
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    "*Ku band sat cap"

    *edit* Thanks for the detailed explanation. Is there any forseeable downside to leaving that option checked? Is there a better way to address the issue? Have I contributed something potentially valuable to the future development of MediaPortal? :)
     
    Last edited:

    mm1352000

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    Okay.

    Given what I said in my previous reply, currently what you're experiencing would be the expected behaviour/result. It's not ideal but it is functional.

    If you'd like us to try to enable you to use the regular TV codec settings (ie. add DTS/DTS HD support to TsReader) then we're going to need a sample file to work with.

    Note that I can't make any guarantees about if or when we'd be able to do anything. I'm simply saying that a sample would be a prerequisite for any future possible update.
     

    mm1352000

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    Thanks for the detailed explanation.
    No problem - that's what we're here for. :)

    Is there any forseeable downside to leaving that option checked?
    The only potential downside I can think of is the inability to use different codec settings for TV and video content. Some people need that ability for codec/stream compatibility, or prefer it for stream playback quality optimisation.

    Rewind/fast-forward behaviour/reliability may also be affected, either for the better or for the worse.

    Is there a better way to address the issue?
    Aside from adding DTS/DTS HD support to TsReader (ie. code changes required), no.

    Have I contributed something potentially valuable to the future development of MediaPortal? :)
    You certainly would have if you're able to provide a sample. That would enable us to improve support for such files as previously described.
     

    mm1352000

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    No, you can't... but I'll private message you, and then you'll be able to respond in private.
     

    Owlsroost

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    Assuming you are playing these from the MP Video player, another way to force it to use a different file splitter is to change the video file extension e.g. to .mts instead of .ts
     

    mm1352000

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    @Owlsroost
    Sea Monkey has been kind enough to supply a sample. In this case the DTS HD audio stream is identified by the following:
    1. MPEG registration descriptor (tag = 0x05) in the program info descriptor loop of the PMT. The format_identifier is "HDMV", which is registered by Sony for Blu-Ray specification compliance.
    2. PMT stream_type 0x86. According to libbluray that is DTS HD MA.
    In other words, it appears like the stream meta-data has been encoded in a way that would be compliant with a Blu-Ray. However the actual content is a broadcast TV program. I'm not sure if this mismatch is original to the source (eg. a proprietary/private broadcast feed) or whether it's due to post-processing.

    From a TsWriter perspective I don't think it's necessary to add support for this unless the encoding is original to the source (which I strongly doubt).

    From a TsReader perspective I think the choice would be up to you.

    [edit: A couple of potentially useful stream_type references:
    https://www.videolan.org/developers/libbluray/doc/doxygen/html/bluray_8h_source.html
    https://git.ffmpeg.org/gitweb/ffmpeg.git/blob/refs/heads/master:/libavformat/mpegts.h
    ]
     

    alanisrox69

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    Sorry you can't play my files.

    Basically they are broadcast as 3 x Mpeg-Audio 2.0 tracks (one track has left/right, one has center/LFE, and one has surround left/right). So the only way to get them to "usable" is to convert them...DTS-HDMA is the best choice since it keeps it "lossless". While it's still a transcode, it's a transcode from an unusable format (3 x 2.0 tracks) to something that is usable and carrying the same amount of 'audio data': lossless DTS-HDMA. (transcoding to a lossy format such as Dolby Digital 5.1 would theoretically lose quality since it's a lossy format to lossy format)

    You could always demux the DTS-HDMA and dump to LPCM5.1 and maybe remux to mkv? That should solve your playback problem.
     

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