[mythtv-users] Plextor 402

Tim Sailer tps at buoy.com
Wed May 11 14:45:06 UTC 2005


On Tue, May 10, 2005 at 10:01:37PM -0700, Scott Alfter wrote:
> Tim Sailer wrote:
> 
> > I just upgraded the 'spare' machine to the .18 debs. It took a little
> > tinkering, but it looks like everything is working. Great job all
> > around!
> 
> I had skipped frames in a number of places in a recording I made with one 
> the other day.  I might try it on my WinXP box to see if it's a hardware 
> problem or a software problem.

I just got it running with Mythtv, so I'll have to watch for that.

> > Qs relating to the Plextor unit.
> > 1) Quality is real nice, but the file sizes are almost as big as the
> > MPEGs from the 250 board! Is there any way to make them smaller?
> 
> Set a lower bitrate.  The default bitrate is already much lower than what I 
> use with my PVR-x50s (I use 6 Mbps with those), and I thought it created 
> blocky video.  I got pretty good quality out of it at 5 Mbps.

I'll have to check. If I remember, it was set at 2200 by default. What are
you doing on the audio end?

> (One thing I'd like to see is an option to use MPEG-2 instead of MPEG-4. 
> MPEG-4 (at least as it's implemented here) doesn't save enough bandwidth to 
> make it worthwhile.)

I agree at this point. The device has a lot of capabilities, so why not
use them?

> > 2) What file format is the recorded .nuv file in? Nothing seems to
> > want to touch it, except Mythtv. Mplayer doesn't, gxine, or even
> > nuvexport!
> 
> I was able to play the video in Windows Media Player with DSMyth and 
> ffmpeg. (I was also able to use the video in an Avisynth script by using 
> DirectShowSource.)  Video recorded at 480x480 wasn't properly scaled to 
> 4:3, though.  It should be the same format as video recorded with a dumb 
> framegrabber (Bt8x8, etc.).

'file' shows:
1350_20050510223500_20050511003500.nuv: data

However, it plays just fine within Mythtv. Poking around this morning,
I notice that my nuvexport problem may be nuvexport itself. It doesn't
even want to handle the files from the -250 board. Even debug shows
nothing. Running it normally looks like:

Choose a function, or episode(s) to remove:  c
Where would you like to export the files to? [.]
Enable Myth cutlist? [Yes]
Enable noise reduction (slower, but better results)? [Yes]
Enable deinterlacing? [Yes]
Crop broadcast overscan (2% border)? [Yes]
Audio bitrate? [128]
Variable bitrate video? [Yes]
Multi-pass (slower, but better quality)? [Yes]
Video bitrate? [960]
Default resolution based on 4:3 aspect ratio.
Width? [624]
Height? [464]

Now encoding:  Con Air:  Untitled
Encode started:  Wed May 11 09:43:54 2005
First pass...
Waiting for mythtranscode to set up the fifos.
Waiting for mythtranscode to set up the fifos.
Starting ffmpeg.
processed:  0 of 0 frames (0.00%),   0.00 fps

ffmpeg had critical errors:

pipe:: Error while opening file


-- 
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 >> Tim Sailer                      ><  Coastal Internet, Inc.         <<
 >> Network and Systems Operations  ><  PO Box 726                     <<
 >> http://www.buoy.com             ><  Moriches, NY 11955             <<
 >> tps at buoy.com                    ><  (631) 399-2910  (888) 924-3728 <<
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


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