DVD to Divx Converter No 5.1 Dolby

[Cartierusm]

Howdy, I just set up a Philips 5960 DVD Player with the external HDD and I'm ripping DVDs to my Computer with DVDDycrypter-IFO. I then dump that into DIVX Converter, which says the only audio track is AC3 5.1, and it's checked. It converts, after about 4 or so hours. I then transfer it to the HDD i have on the DVD player. It plays fine on the DVD player, video seems to have no loss but the audio is only 2 channel, my receiver tells me that it's using Dolby pro logic and when I press the Audio button on the Philips remote it say 2 channel audio. What am I doing wrong. My player is brand new and uses firmware version 37.06.42.29. In other threads people are complaining about stuttery playback, i have perfect picture so I don't want to change firmware as i find it hard to believe that 5.1 is not working, it must be my encoding?

As a special bonus you guys can give me an idea of some of the codes here, some people talk about packed and unpacked video, what is that? and some players can handle 2 BVOPS, what is BVOPS?

Also some people are saying that with the HDD hooked up to the Philips you can play from the HDD MPG4 and AVI? If so should I just convert my DVDs to avi or MPG4, what would be difference, I don't care about taking up HDD space, I just want the best quality and in some instances DTS audio track.

I know this is a lot to ask, thanks in advance. I'll keep reading threads trying to take up my slack.

[FulciLives]

Use the program autoGK to make your MPEG-4 file. It can use XviD or DivX and it also has an option to make the resulting file "safe" for stand alone DVD players that support MPEG-4 such as your Philips DVP-5960.

When selecting that option you want to pick the MTK/SIGMA option because the Philips DVP-5969 uses a MTK (MediaTek) chipset.

If you pick a good resolution (try a fixed width of 640) and set the audio to original and set a proper size to get a good bitrate you will end up with a great looking file that will work on your Philips and have 5.1 AC-3.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cartierusm]

Thanks for the speedy reply. I'm not sure I understand 100%. Can my player play an MPEG4 file from the harddrive? and should i use this file format or divx or avi? Thanks

[FulciLives]

Your DVD player can play MPEG-4 files if they are made in a "certain" way.

If you use XviD or DivX you get an AVI file that is MPEG-4 (both XviD and DivX are different MPEG-4 codecs).

You can then burn the AVI to a CD-R or DVD-R to play back on your Philips.

HDD playback is possible through the USB port but that port is made "poorly" and does not support all external HDD's.

In fact there is a whole thread about that issue here ---> CLICK HERE

Again autoGK is one of the best programs (and it is freeware) for creating MPEG-4 AVI files.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cartierusm]

Thanks. I already play video from a hdd on the philips no problem just can't get dobly 5.1 to work, but it's in the encoring I think not the player.

[guns1inger]

Divx/Xvid are mpeg-4 variants, not to be confused with mp4. AVI is a container, Divx is a codec used to compress video into the AVI container.

[Cartierusm]

I got it, once I installed autoGK i understand what you're talking about, the only option I changed was instead of a fixed size i used 80% quality. Thanks for everyone's help. I'll let everyone know how it goes. BTW can AutoGK do DTS and then play back on the Philips?

[guns1inger]

It can retain the original audio. Whether or not the Philips can play it back is up the Philips, not AutoGK.

[FulciLives]

I got it, once I installed autoGK i understand what you're talking about, the only option I changed was instead of a fixed size i used 80% quality. Thanks for everyone's help. I'll let everyone know how it goes. BTW can AutoGK do DTS and then play back on the Philips?

When you use the quality scale thing a message should pop up with a warning that the resulting file may not be 100% stand alone compliant. Just want to make sure you understand this.

I think you can do DTS with autoGK but I don't know if the Philips will do DTS or not ... I seem to recall some talk about it not being able to do DTS but I don't know ... only had mine for a couple of months now and don't currently have anything but a stereo receiver (no multi-channel).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cartierusm]

Ok, it converted over night and it said it took about 2 1/2 hours which is way quicker than the Divx Converter from Divx. I now have Dolby 5.1, but not it does the stuttery thing every one has been talking about. I read a lot of the post but cant't seem to work out whether changing the firmware was the proglem or it was just the bit rate it too high? Any help? Maybe I should try the fixed file size setting on AutoGK instead of using the quality settings.

[Cartierusm]

So I tried an older Seagate HDD 40GB and it is also 7200 speed so I don't think it will make a difference. I tried it anyway, this is the original drive i used and it worked fine but no dolby digital, it seems to stutter in only one place during action sequences but not in other action sequences. The new hdd I got for reference is a WD 250 Cavier, which works fine except when I encoded with Dolby digital. My next more is to try with one of the File Size Presets in AutoGK which is converting now and I'll retry. If that doesn't solve the problem I'll try a 5400 rmp drive, if I can find one.

[Cartierusm]

I tried the same file on my Ipod and it worked on the player but the stuttering problem was even worse and started earlier in the action sequence. So I'm going to encode with a set file size a little smaller, and maybe try a different USB enclosure, but I'm guessing that's not the problem becasue mine works it's just the stuttering in once spot. I'll also try another movie.

[FulciLives]

Did you try burning it to a CD-R or DVD-R and see how it plays that way on the Philips?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cartierusm]

No i didn't try that, but I fixed it. I reset everything I messed with in AutoGK and then reripped the DVD too just to be sure in IFO as one file not split up into the standard 1GB. I then ran Auto GK with a preset maximum size of 1120gb the 1/4 DVD size. This worked. I am a very discerning viewer and I didn't notice any degredation of video or audio. So far so good. Thanks for the help everyone.