exactly what format is terrestrial DVB? (dec2000t problem)

[Lambchop]

I've been capturing Digital TV from my Hauppage DEC 2000t, and the results play back fine on my PC. However, my DVD authoring application seems to reject the file as unsupported (or crash), where MPEG2 files created in the past have worked fine. Shouldn't these files automatically be compatible as they are captured without any recompression??!
Also, I believe the standard DVB uses MP2 compression on the audio (true?) which won't work with my standalone DVd player (it only likes AC3) - what is the quickest way to convert the audio? At the moment I'm opening the file in Virtualdub, saving a WAV file, then recompressing as AC3 using b3sweet, then recombining with the video - surely there's a quicker way to do this?!?
thanks for any help

[gcutler]

Are you talking cable, or satellite, each can be different.

I believe that Dish network and DirectTV use different rates (I was told Dish uses 480x480). When I capture the AVI file and encode it as 720x480 or 352x240 mpeg, then I have no problem with making it into a DVD.

[Lambchop]

I'm capturing digital terrestrial at the moment. I've actually just tried opening up the mpeg file in Tmpegenc, and even that doesn't seem to like it! VirtualDub doesn't seem to mind though - its got me confused!!

[gcutler]

Tmpgenc has alot of settings that can be affecting this. You may want to check the list of tutorials, there may be one specifically for your need...

[Milo]

The standard video resolution for Pal DVD is 720x576@25fps (full D1) but many standalone DVD players accept partial resolution, like 580x576 or 540x576.
I've got a DVB-c card and my cable operator broadcast most of channels at 720x576, but also few at lower resolution.
You can check resolution of your captured video in VirtualdubMod.

Your standalone DVD player seems to be very strict with DVD standard -it doesn't accept mpeg1 audio- so maybe it doesn't accept partial video resolution neither.

Your problem may also comes from errors in captured file (I used to get a lot of errors when I was capturing under Windows, whaterver app I used for recording; I don't get any more since I use VDR on Linux)
You might pass your files through PVA Strumento to get ride of theses errors and audio desynchronization.

Concerning audio conversion from mpeg1 to ac3, you should try to find a plugin for bsweet, if any, which can read mpeg2 video with mpeg1 audio.
If there's no such plugin, demultiplex your capture file and open the audio part in bsweet (I know there's a plugin to read mpeg1 layer2 audio files)

[Lambchop]

I've actually just finished investigating a little more. The file is MPEG, 720x576, according to virtualdub. However, when I try to bring the file up in TmpegEnc Author, or in the MPEG tools section of TMpegEnc, it gives an 'illegal MPEG file' error, claiming it is not MPEG1/MPEG2.

I'll try searching the file for errors now, using the program you suggest - I presume this also fixes any errors, looking at the info given. For the record, I didn't notice any visible/audio errors when playng back in the files through mediaplayer.
thanks for the help

[energy80s]

You do know that the raw captured DTT MPEG file needs to be remuxed before it will be accepted by DVD authoring applications, don't you?

I use the Nebula card for this (far better than the Hauppauge one). Once you have capped your file, demux it with PVAstrumento or DS.jar and remux it to DVD specs with bbMPEG. This new file will then be accepted by any authoring package. The MPEG audio is a seperate problem and only affects US bound NTSC models. ALL European machines will play MPEG audio as it is part of their specification.

[hareslade]

When I capture the AVI file and encode it as 720x480 or 352x240 mpeg, then I have no problem with making it into a DVD.

Hi as I'm in the UK with a DEC2000t, I've battled with mpeg2 recorded files as well

The files are ts form mpeg2, dvd burners want ps form of file. I use 'womble' to do this (womble.com) as it also has a nifty video frame editor, but eventually womble needs paying for.. The pvastrumento method seems used by others a lot.