Playing HDTV recorded on PC via DVD

[sergv]

I tried to look through guides, but was not able to find a quick answer to my problem. I just purchased PCTV HD Pro Stick ( http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/PCTV+Tuners/PCTV+A...+Pro+Stick.htm ) & was able to record over the air HD broadcast on my PC. I was then interested in playing the recorded program on my Philips DVP 642 DVD. I burned a DVD via Windows Media DVD burner and after I plugged into my DVD player, I got nothing but fuzzy picture/looked like half of the screen was not working, etc. Basically-it did not work for me. So, I would like to see what I did wrong & what I should be doing to use my PC to record TV programs & then playing them on my DVD. Do need special software? Do I need to do anything with the file once it is recorded? It also seems to be A VERY large file-2 minute video was 330MB...Even with my 320GB hard drive I will run out of space very quickly. Thanks in advance!

[jagabo]

The DVP-642 won't play HD files. You have to reduce the frame size to 720xsomething (or less) and reencode to MPEG2 or Divx/Xvid. I would use VirtualDubMod and convert to Xvid/MP3 AVI. But there are lots of other programs. AVI Recomp, AutoGK, Super... Not sure if those can handle your source.

[sergv]

Will adobe premier do the trick?

[sergv]

I attempted to use vritual dub software, but it did not seem to work on my vista-any other software out there I can use to get the show on a dvd?

[jagabo]

VirtualDub doesn't read MPEG2. You need VirtualDubMPEG2 or VirtualDubMod.

[sergv]

So I downloaded virtual dub mpeg2 & got to open the video...However, I can't seem to get the recorded show to play-it starts OK and then the sounds skips, so does the picture. When I try to save the file as AVI, I get the following error: The Image Source format is not acceptable...I am starting to get very frustrated and everywhere I've looked I did not see a step by step instructions on what exactly I need and how to do it...

[Baldrick]

Use AutoGK.

But you should be able to get good quality using dvd also. Windows Vista DVD Maker is probably not the best dvd converter out there.

Or if you want hd quality build/buy a htpc or standalone dvd player with hdtv ts support(see our dvd player list).

[jagabo]

So I downloaded virtual dub mpeg2 & got to open the video...However, I can't seem to get the recorded show to play-it starts OK and then the sounds skips, so does the picture.

Yes, VirtualDub (and all the variations) isn't optimized as a media player. It's designed for filtering and encoding.

When I try to save the file as AVI, I get the following error: The Image Source format is not acceptable...I am starting to get very frustrated and everywhere I've looked I did not see a step by step instructions on what exactly I need and how to do it...

I haven't seen this very often but it's a problem with the colorspace the MPEG (or other) decoder outputs to VirtualDubMPEG2. The fix would be to force the decoder to output video in a format VirtualDub will accept. Or use a different decoder.

Bakdrick is right, AutoGK is much easier for a beginner.