How do I play an MPEG4 file on my TV DVD player/recorder?

[TomStevenson]

Hi
I have recorded a radio program on my computer, and want to play it on my TV via a DVD recorder, but am having no luck. I did not know how to capture the program other than clicking on the radio stations "Listen again" and setting up a microphone. This resulted in an MPEG4 file (*.m4a - type AAC Audio), which I burned to a DVD-R (not DVD+R) using Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD, finaliing it so that it can be read by machines without a UDF file system. The DVD works fine on my computer (so it is not as if there was some sort of copyright protection preventing me from copying it from one medium to another), but it won't play on the TV via my DVD player/recorder (Toshiba HDD/DVD RD-XS30SB), even though it can play DVD-Rs. Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Tom

[Cobra]

MPEG-4 is a standard of video compression, as are the standards MPEG-1 and MPEG-2.

VCD - MPEG-1
SVCD, DVD - MPEG-2
AVI files like DivX or XviD - MPEG-4

However, audio such as MP3 is the standard "MPEG-1 layer 3" (and MP2 is layer 2, and so on). MP4 (AAC) is a new standard of audio designed to give CD quality at lower bitrates.

This is why your DVD player won't support it - some DVD players support MP3s burned as a data disc, but I don't think any can offer MP4 support just now.

To learn how to convert MP4 (AAC) files to WAV, read here:

http://www.riverpast.com/en/support/tutorials/convert/mp4/wav.php

Or in Linux:

http://www.desktoplinux.com/cgi-bin/board/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=applicat...age=0&Session=

From here, you can convert the WAV to MP3 if your DVD player supports this format or to CD Audio so you can play it back anywhere.

Essentially, it sounds like your DVD player cannot decode MP4 files.

Hope this helps,

Cobra

[TomStevenson]

Hi Cobra

I was about to say thank you very much for a swift and simple solution, but having purchased the River Past Audio Converter you recommended, it keeps closing down whenever I try to add the MPEG-4 file, and having looked at MPEG-4 formats it can convert I see that it is only *.mp4, not *.m4a as Iindicated in my original post. Can you help please?

Tom

[TomStevenson]

I found a free download called "dBpower Amp Music Converter", which converts from m4a to WAV, but I still get "This disc cannot be played" when I try to play it on the TV via my Toshiba HDD/DVD RD-XS30SB. Can anyone help?
Tom

[Cobra]

Are you burning the .WAV files to CD? If so, are you creating an audio CD in your burning program - a data CD with a list of WAV files on it will not work. It has to be a proper audio CD.

If you have made a proper audio CD, does your DVD player support CD-Rs? Try the disc in another CD player to see if it works. If it does then it's most likely your DVD player.

having looked at MPEG-4 formats it can convert I see that it is only *.mp4, not *.m4a as Iindicated in my original post

.m4a is an audio file, and is MP4. You said it was AAC audio - this is MP4. The .m4a file is the audio counterpart to a video stream, just as an SVCD has a .m2a file (MP2). The package probably doesn't recognise it straight off - if there's an "Open..." dialogue box, try setting "File Type" to "All Files" and it might see and recognise it then.

As for the package I suggested, that was the result of a quick Google search. I haven't ever used that package, but I found it so you could take a look. Since you have purchased the package, you are entitled to tech support from the company. I don't know how to solve your problem of crashing - if nobody else here knows then you'd better contact them.

Cobra

[TomStevenson]

Hi again Cobra

The .m4a has been converted to a WAV fil (8 times the size!), which you reckoned should play on the TV via my Toshiba HDD/DVD RD-XS30SB, so unless there is something wrong with the conversion, my problem is not .m4a; River Past Audio Converter; or dBpower Amp Music Converter; but why the WAV file won't play on the TV via my Toshiba HDD/DVD RD-XS30SB. The WAV file is on a DVD because it is (now) almost 1GB.

Tom

[Cobra]

If you go back and read my previous post more closely, you'll see that I did say it must be burned as an audio CD. It's a different format to a data CD, and your DVD player will know what to do with a WAV on a data formatted CD.

WAV is a larger format because it is uncompressed. It is also known as LPCM - Linear Pulse Code Modulation. This is the raw format of CD audio. MP4 files, and other formats like MP3/MP2/Vorbis/RM, are all compressed.

You must get the WAV down to 700MB in order to fit it onto a CD. In your case, you'd need two CDs with 500MB on each. If your file is 1GB in length, I assume it is 114 minutes long. This is too large for a CD, which can hold 80 minutes. Use a program such as Audacity to split the audio file up.

If there are parts you don't want in it, you can clip them out using a package like Audacity. This could allow you to put it onto one CD, assuming you clip a lot out.

To sum this up, you must burn as an audio CD! I don't think you can burn an audio CD to DVD.

Just another tip, now that it's in WAV format do try to avoid putting it into MP3 again - it will only be decompressed by the burner anyway and you'll reduce the quality.

See how you get on,

Cobra

(Edited twice to add extra info)