[mythtv-users] Transcoding profiles

[Christopher Meredith]

On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Raymond Wagner <raymond at wagnerrp.com> wrote:
> On 5/19/2011 10:33, Bob wrote:
>> I have been reading the many threads about transcoding with 6 channel
>> audio.  I would like to transcode some h264 content with 5.1 from my
>> HD-PVR.  In the profiles I only see "MP3" and "Uncompressed" as audio
>> options.  Do most people choose "Uncompressed" when wanting to preserve
>> the 6 channel audio?
>
> Your content is already in h264.  It already is in the most efficient
> common codec available.  While hardware decoders are not going to be as
> efficient as something like x264, and you could arguably shave off
> 20-30% with minimal quality loss, it will be at a huge cost in CPU power
> (and electricity).  You shouldn't bother transcoding that content unless
> you are either clipping commercials, or need it in a specific format for
> some device.  In either case, you really want to use an external
> utility, rather than MythTV's internal transcoder.

AFAIK, mythtranscode is still incapable of working with HD-PVR
recordings anyway. If you're looking to cut commercials, I've found
that recording at max quality, then transcoding to MPEG2, then cutting
commercials with mythtranscode, then converting back to h264 using
HandBrake at 3250 kbps produces better-looking results than an
unconverted HD-PVR recording done at 3250 kbps.