[mythtv-users] so confused about transcoding/resolutions!

[Joseph A. Caputo]

On Thursday 16 October 2003 03:10 am, Neil Konouchi wrote:
> I'll try and keep this simple: I'm confused about the differences
> between the internal "transcode" function in Myth and the other similar
> scripts I'm seeing pop up in the archives: nuvexport, mythmkmovie, etc.
> What I'm understanding is:
> 
> - The internal transcode will reencode the original NUV into a new NUV
> using MPEG-4 (playable on Windows with the DirectShow filters posted
> recently)

Sort of... you choose which codec it will be transcoded into when you set up 
your transcode profile(s).  The most common use is to transcode from 
RTjpeg/MJPEG/MPEG-2 into MPEG-4, but really you can transcode to MPEG-4 or 
RTjpeg, AFAIK.  Both are reportedly viewable in Windows with the DirectShow 
filter (+ ffdshow for MPEG-4)

>   -- So this means that the shows will continue to appear in the "Watch
> Recordings" dialog in Myth and will retain the Myth-generated filename.

Correct.

> - Nuvexport is used to create SVCDs and DiVX for archiving purposes and
> must be run manually.

Correct.

>   -- Does this script delete the original NUV file?

No.

> - Mythmkmovie? I've seen the name come up, but I'm not sure what it's
> used for.

Mythmkmovie hasn't been updated in a while; it depended on a patched mencoder 
to do its work.  I never had succes with it personally, though other folks 
have.

> I've been really confused since I purchased the PVR-250 (actually a
> Freestyle) almost solely because I understood I can watch the MPEG-2
> NUVs it creates directly on Windows (for carrying around shows on my
> laptop). This works fine but I find that the filesizes are impractical.
> On a side note to that, is there any way to force WMP to play shows
> captured in 480x480 at a 4:3 aspect ratio?

Hmmm, not sure... though if you've got a PVR-250, why not just capture at a 
4:3 resolution (640x480 or 320x240), unless you're really short on disk 
space?

-JAC