[mythtv-users] Best settings for transcoding HD content to save space?

Karl Dietz dekarl at spaetfruehstuecken.org
Tue May 13 07:27:53 UTC 2014


On 13.05.2014 00:52, Ben Kamen wrote:
> I've been looking at my drive space wondering if I can trim down
> per/show usage by good transcoding settings.
>
> So I thought I'd solicit the group to see how they have their
> transcoders set..

I just use lossless cut to convert to a more efficient container format, 
cut off unwanted parts before/after/within the show.

The next thing will be removal of unwanted audio tracks. (there's no 
point in storing 4 copies of the same track like some broadcasters 
transmit over here. (1: the audio in good old MPEG-2 audio, 2: the 
alternate (but often identical) audio in good old MPEG-2 audio, 3: the 
audio in fancy new AC3 5.1, 4: another alternate (but often identical) 
in good old MPEG-2 audio.)

Guessing you are based in the US that should work for your HD MPEG-2 
recordings, too. You could also get one of the new devices that convert 
from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 AVC internally to reduce the bitrate, but you lose 
loss-less cut (patches appreciated). Depending on the amount of slack 
you need to account for in your startearly/endlate settings you safe 
more space with the first (stay MPEG-2 but cut) or second (reencode but 
don't cut) variant.

Regards,
Karl


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