Pros/Cons of M2TS with PS3

[figdog]

Given that it takes too much time to convert mkv to avchd with full recode, im considering converting to 4 gig m2ts files and using sequential playback on the PS3 for movies that dont need subtitles. My question is the following: Besides subtitles, are there other drawbacks to m2ts? will it not play in 24fps? will I have no audio, or will the ps3 not stream the HD quality audio. I will be playing them from a portable USB drive.

Thanks

[Baldrick]

Can't you stream with ps3 media server? with subs.

[guns1inger]

If the video is compliant then conversion to AVCHD is painless and pretty quick. If it isn't then you are likely to have problems with M2TS anyway. I suspect you won't get audio from an M2TS file if it is DTS encoded either.

[figdog]

This is for non compliant files (of which it seems there are more than compliant ones).

I would rather not stream ... it's just more convenient to plug and play with a USB drive. If I specify to convert DTS to AC3 then I should still get multichannel audio though right (though not HD quality)? Is my understanding correct?

[Zetski210]

This is for non compliant files (of which it seems there are more than compliant ones).

I would rather not stream ... it's just more convenient to plug and play with a USB drive. If I specify to convert DTS to AC3 then I should still get multichannel audio though right (though not HD quality)? Is my understanding correct?

I'm with you on this one, I prefer to use M2TS over MKV, however I still stream M2TS over my network as some of the files are larger than 4 GB and I have a full Gig-E wired network.

My thoughts on M2TS:

• It gives me a cleaner seeking experience on the PS3. I found that it was really difficult & annoying navigating to a certain scene with MKVs as they had to be transcoded whilst streamed. M2TS provides much quicker thumbnail generation (when pressing the square button) and also allows better forward/rewind behavior.
• Using tsMuxeR to convert creates a slightly larger filesize so if you take an MKV that is 4.7 GB and will fit nicely onto a SL DVD, after conversion to M2TS it will be just that little bit too large to fit.
• No subtitles. Well, I'm of the opinion that if you need subtitles, they should be permanently embedded into the video file. I use MeGUI or VirtualDUB to burn-in any subtitles into the video stream. Yes this takes a while as you have to convert the entire video stream, but I usually set it running overnight in this case.
• No DTS audio. Not a problem, I use eAC3to and convert to 640 kbps AC3. This gives a lower resultant filesize and no "noticeable" declination in audible quality.