H264 TS file playback/conversion?

[Robert Simandl]

Hi all...

I have no problem playing MPEG-2 TS files.

Also no problem playing x264 mkv files (have CoreAVC and Haali Splitter installed).

But when I try to play an H264 TS file, all I get is (at best) a few still frames while the audio plays.... sometimes I get a black screen with no audio at all.

What codec and/or setting do I need so I can play an H264 TS file in Windows Media Player/MCE/MediaPortal?

And since the TS file uses the H264 codec, is there a way to convert it to an mkv or mp4 file without having to spend hours reencoding? I looked through the guides to the left, but didn't find this subject.....

Thanks....

[Baldrick]

Try hdtvpump test release instead of haali media splitter, http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=114357

Change to mkv, http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=114361T or maybe convert to dvr-ms using ts converter for mce playback.

And this is no conversion so moving you to the digitaltv/dvb/hdtv forum.

[Soopafresh]

Haali with CoreAVC works pretty well on h264 ts file playback. CoreAVC is worth the 9.00 price. As you know, it plays back h264 with the lowest cpu utilization of any AVC codec, even eclipsing the video hardware enhanced drivers currently sold by Nvidia and ATI. There's a very rudimentary version of CoreAVC that comes with Quicktime Alternative, but it pales in comparision to the commercial version. The latest version (1.1 or 1.2) works quite nicely with BBC ts streams.
Of course, if your AVC TS file is corrupted, it will still hiccup.


GMplayer will work, if your CPU is fast enough - it is a self contained single executable player -more CPU intensive, though.

[jman98]

You might also consider installing and using the free VLC Media Player at
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
I've had better luck with it playig X.264/H.264 than using anything else. I installed a copy of CoreAVC and it didn't seem to be any better than anything I was using before.

I'm skeptical that converting to MKV will solve your problems, which I believe to be codec/player/CPU type issues. My limited experience is that X.264/H.264 are still too CPU intensive to be played well on anything but the very fastest of current CPUs. My 1.5 year old AMD 3200+ CPU isn't really up to the task and that's not a bad CPU at all.

[Soopafresh]

h264 TS files are delicate, fragile creatures fraught with error as well....