Marvell 200TV JMPEG to MPEG Conversion

[sontakke]

Please pardon me if this has been answered before. I did look at all the topics dealing with Marvell (Zoran chipset) but did not see this question answered.

I recently purchased Marvell 200TV card which captures AVI files using the JMPEG decoder. The resultant AVI files can only be played back on the same computer. I am really impressed with the captured video quality

I have tried tree different software based evaluation codecs so that I can view those avi files on other computers. Only PICVIDEO2 was able to do decent job, the other two codecs (LEAD or MORGAN soft-codec showed nothing but flashing green).

My real problem is that I have not found any way to convert the avi files into mpeg format. I have tried following softwares running on the systsem with the Marvell card

1) avi2mpg1 - Does not find codec
2) avi2vcd - Does not find codec
3) ULEAD Pro Media (software which was shipped with Marvell card) - Does the conversion but the aspect ratio is wrong; tall faces i.e. squeeshed horizontally
4) VirtualDub - Does the conversion but wrong aspect ratio as the previous software. Also has funny line duplications when the resultant mpeg view is enlarged i.e. horizontal stripes running through it.

Given that the system already has the hardware codec, I do not want to mess with it by installing PIC software codec.

Please help!

Thanks,
- Vikas

[iant]

Vikas,
Might need a little more detail here.
First off, are you trying to create MPEG1 ( Standard VCDs ) or MPEG2 ( SVCDs ) or just plain MPGs to view on the PC?

Also, what size are you capturing in?

All these have a bearing on the answers.

It sounds like you're doing 352X576 ( Note I'm talking PAL specs as I'm in Australia. ) which would account for the squashed in aspect ratio.

If you download yourself a copy of TMPEG it will happily change the aspect ratio to give you a more normal look. It has a number of standard templates that should do what you require. ( It's free too. Can't get better than that! )

I think the ULEAD software uses a version of the LIGOS codec that doesn't handle aspect ratio change. ( Not sure on this. Feel free to shoot me down. )

The horizontal stripes kinda sounds like interlacing problems but I'm not sure on that. If you capture at a vertical resolution higher than 288 for PAL or 240 for NTSC you also need to de-interlace a video if you convert it to VCD compliant MPG or to view it clearly on a PC as PCs do a progressive display instead of interlaced.

Hope some of this helps.
Good Luck,
Ian

[sontakke]

Thank you for your reply.

I just press the record button on the PC-VCR software (the one which came with the card) and capture the content. The content plays fine both under PC-VCR and Windows Media Player. These are standard NTSC off-the-air content

I have not tried TMPEG. I will try that tonight.

I was under impression that MPEG1 and MPG are same. Am I wrong?

Thanks,
- Vikas

[Matt119]

------- [quote] On 2001-08-02 07:07:18, sontakke wrote: ----
My real problem is that I have not found any way to convert the avi files into mpeg format. I have tried following softwares running on the systsem with the Marvell card
------------------------------------------------------------

I use the PICVIDEO2 codec for my capture and my conversion to MPEG1 for VCDs... It works good the part that your missing is that you have to convert the AVI file to MPEG1 with software ... I use TMPEGenc downloaded from http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgenc.htm and everything works good....

Matt

[jackhyde]

I also have the Matrox Marvel and am very happy with the quality and compression of the MJPEG. You should capture at the best quality which is 704x480(Matrox's highest setting NTSC), 30 frames/sec. I have captured both TV and video from my Hi8 camcorder and the higher resolution does help the quality of the final output. Then use TMPEG to encode it to MPEG1 for VCD or MPEG2 for SVCD.

[sontakke]

When I capture the video (using the supplied PC-VCR Remote application) the captured video plays great using the same PC-VCR application or Microsoft Windows Media Player.

However, with other applications such as the supplied ULead Studio or freewares such as VirtualDUB or TMPEG, when I play (or convert/preview) the same AVI file, video gets cropped. The top portion of the video gets jagged black edge and the lower 1/3 of picture does not show up at all. This results in screwed up aspect ratio (i.e. tall people with legs cut off).

I have checked the frame size etc and it is correctly set at 352x240, NTSC, 30 frames. I have tried various (i.e. 1/4, full) resolution but they all have the same problem i.e. bottom 1/3 of the image is vanished, black noise at the top and 2/3 of the picture stretched vertically to fill the frame.

I recall that this did not happen in the past. I do not believe I have installed or uninstalled any software during that timeframe.

Please help if you have had experience anything similar.

Thanks,
- Vikas