[mythtv-users] Play Myth recordings on a Windows box

[Charles Mason]

On 01/11/2007, Bruce Nordstrand <brucen at ksl.com.au> wrote:
> Howdy all
>
> I have just completed a mythrename of all my recordings and shared the
> directory via Samba. My wife wants to play them on her Windows machine
> while the TV is in use doing other things. But Media Player is saying
> that it can't play them. They all have .mpg extensions. Does anyone know
> what codec I need to install on Windows to get the Myth recordings to
> play in Windows Media Player?

It depends on how you video was recorded. If its from a DVB card you
will end up with a file that contains the mpeg2 Transport Stream. Most
mpeg2 video players have problems with this sort of file. That's what
I have on my myth system. For my windows machines I use VLC it
supports MPEG2 Transport Streams really well. It well even let you
watch it whilst its still recording although the progress bar doesn't
make much sense. Windows media player real struggles with my records
and won't let you seek the video with out crashing.

If you don't use a DVB capture card you will probably end up with
files which need the direct show filters for from
http://dsmyth.sourceforge.net/. Then they should play in windows media
player or any other direct show based video player.

One other thing you might like is a program called Tape Worm. It gets
the program info from the MythTV database and allows you to set the
mounted samba drive where the recordings are stored. There is no need
to rename them to use that. It can be a little clunky in the way it
handles starting the media player. But after playing with the settings
a bitm I have found it really useful.
http://tapeworm.spurgeonwoods.com/

Hope that helps.

Charlie M