sound but no pic w/Philips 5140 + HDTV avis

[ezu0526]

I bought a Philips 5140 about 4 months ago, worked great for AVI files of TV shows.* Sixty bucks, problem solved--copy the file straight to disc, no transcoding. Lately, however, the shows I've been dl'ing are mainly HDTV: I burn them to disc (have tried CDs & DVDs, no diff), they play fine on my computer--but I get ONLY sound, no picture on the Philips hooked up to my (very old) tv.

My working assumption is that this is because the codecs the files have been made with are somehow not ones the Philips can read. Which is a bit distressing.

1) Is there a way to upgrade the Philips' firmware?

2) If not, is there some way to re-convert or recode (not sure of right word) the AVI files *without* dealing with those horrible voice-sync issues that always seem to happen as soon as someone starts using words like 'demux'?

Thanks for any help, if you need more specs pls let me know. --ezu526


*(I wanted it so I didn't have to go through the thankless ordeal of trying to solve problems around voice-sync conversion issues. I was interested in doing it right & learning but I didn't think an advanced degree would be necessary; it turned into what felt like a hopeless time-sink.)

[Baldrick]

I guess it's avis with hdtv resolution, 1280x720p or resolutions higher than 720x576 and those wont work on your dvd player. A firmware upgrade wont work either.

You can try reconvert with avi recomp or autogk.

[ezu0526]

Dang. I was afraid of that. Ok, thanks for your advice! <weak grin> --ezu

[DarrellS]

I made a bunch of test clips from HD-AVI to play on my 5140 and found that although the 5140 will not play High Definition resolutions that it will play files with a width of 1024.

I believe the main restriction is the height of the video with 576 be the maximum.

The best way to find out what resolutions will work is to use a rewritable DVD (or CD) and makes some test clips.

[ezu0526]

Hi DarrellS and thanks very much for your suggestion! I couldn't believe everyone in the world but me suddenly had bucks for HDTV, & that no one else was having this problem. What software are you using? Thx again, ezu

[DarrellS]

Virtualdub for resizing and Nero to make the data discs.

The new version of Virtualdub 1.7.1 will resize the file to to a percentage of the original by using the default settings of the resize filter.

example: 1280x720 would change to 1024x576 ( 80% )

[jman98]

I made a bunch of test clips from HD-AVI to play on my 5140 and found that although the 5140 will not play High Definition resolutions that it will play files with a width of 1024.

I believe the main restriction is the height of the video with 576 be the maximum.

The best way to find out what resolutions will work is to use a rewritable DVD (or CD) and makes some test clips.

The only resolutions with I've seen over 720 that were said to work were around 800 or so. This is pretty interesting. I know that if you go above a width of 720 that the height definitely has to be lower than 576 to work. What height resolutions did you get to work with a width of 1024?

[DarrellS]

Sorry it took so long to reply but I never saw the last post listed in my "view your posts".

I moved out of the motel and back into a house and got a chance to test these files again and this time, I could not get any of the files to work. I even made a couple more and they didn't work either.

I have everything set up different so it may have something to do with it but I doubt it.

Before, I had the Philips running through my receiver and out to my ATI AIW card on my PC and the aforementionted files played fine.

Now I have the Philips running through the same receiver but out to my Sony 27" TV.

Not sure why any of this would make any difference though. Something tells me that it was just an act of God that I was able to view these files before and that they will never play again.

[edDV]

If 1024 wide and 576 high limits are possible, try quarter resolution 1080i or 960x540p. That's easy to create and in correct proportions. 1280x720 can also be scaled to 960x540p.

[DarrellS]

I tried 960x540 but it didn't work either.

I have no idea why the high resolutions worked before but won't work now. I assume that running it back into the PC was ignoring the players limitations and playing the files like it normally would if I was just playing the disc with my DVD combo drive. I don't know.

[edDV]

Drat

960x540 divx/xvid would be a great utility format.

[DarrellS]

I tried all the way down to 800x452 and it still wouldn't play so I'm gonna go by Baldricks' statement that anything over 720x576 won't work.