Mpeg2 GOP time stamp fix, tool?

[pcexpress-guy]

What application (other then dvd-lab) will correct Mpeg2 timestamp issues?

Is there a similar tool for audio?

Thanks!

[Zetti]

I am also interested in this matter...

DVD maestro refuses joined MPEG2 files, it accuses a GOP error at the exactly point where MPEG2 files had been joined......is there a way to fix it without reencoding all the file and decreasing quality ?

Thanks,

Zetti

[pcexpress-guy]

to those that know... is "rewritting the header, the same thing as rewritting the GOP timecode?" is it one and the same thing? related? or totally un-related topics?

I found TmpgEnc will re-write the "header" but it is not clear if that means the GOP time code. (at least not to me, which is not saying much )

This question of quality... when does quality change? encoding doesn't necessarilly mean something in the quality of the video will change for the worse, right?

What about transcoding, will transcoding effect the quality necessarily?

Thanks!

[petar]

An mpeg stream has a sequence header and a GOP header. The GOP timecode is part of the GOP header. Rewriting the header could mean many things. Rewriting the GOP timecode is replacing the bits of the timestap that reference the offset for each GOP relative to the start of the stream.
Not sure if I make sense with my limited English.

I'm not sure what TMPGEnc does when it rewrites the header (try contacting their tech support if you really must know) but I'd image it rewrites the sequence header. The sequence header contains many things like aspect ratio, frame rate, bitrate, buffer size... and is normally required for each GOP in order to have random access. Hence unless you use a merging tool that knows what it is doing (i.e. a tool specifically designed for merging mpeg files, not just a file merger) I'd recommend you don't do this and leave the job to the authoring tool, if you're making a DVD. Re-encoding is a safe way to merge two videos but at a slight quality loss.

Rewriting the GOP timecode is nothing complicated. I'm sure DVD-Lab does a good job at it. If after rewriting it you still have problems with the video, it's not the timecode that's causing it.