AVCHD at 640x480

[PuzZLeR]

Given that AVCHD is "480i" at its lowest, would 640x480 H.264 be compliant in blu-ray players?

The streams are also NTSC, 29.97fps, 4:3 A/R with progressive playback (at least visually) and have not been encoded with B-pyramids or any other "insanities" by either Nero Recode or x264.

I'm asking because I hear mixed stories. No, I don't want a PS3, I want a "conventional" BD player that will accept this as AVCHD (or shall I call it AVCSD?) Anybody know this before I buy one?

I am hoping I can just remux and don't have to re-encode (except maybe the audio to AC3). I've been successful with TSMuxer and TSRemux with working M2TS files and BD structure folders on my PC. Don't know if it will work in BD. I can provide a sample if anybody's willing to try it out for me.

And if re-sizing is necessary, is there some app that can "add borders" or something similar without re-encoding the video?

Thanks plenty. Hopefully this helps others migrate their existing H.264 encoded collection to BD.

[romi7519]

^ yes.

ps. try ripbot264.

[Vidd]

Look here:
http://www.avchd-info.org/format/index.html

I think you have to reencode to 720x480 / 60i.

Don't only add borders, you will mess up the aspect ratio.

You have to resize to 704, then add a border of 16 (8 to each side).


AviSynth:

LanczosResize(704,480)
AddBorders(0,8,0,8)

[carlitos287]

Ok, i have been trying to put a "720p MKV" to a AVCHD DVD, now for almost 6 months, and still,i have not found anything that helps me...

so now we know how to to 480i, but 720p?

=========================

http://www.freebies-guide.com/

[PuzZLeR]

Thanks for the response.

^ yes.

ps. try ripbot264.

Yes its author has a definite interest in AVCHD/BD and does incorporate the transport stream apps within - and it doesn't stop you from choosing a resolution of 640x480 either. But using RB would suggest re-encoding my existing content. Did you, or anyone else, have success with this resolution in BD?

Is there some "remuxing only" in RB to (ensure) the BD formats? I'm also curious what the program's "AVCHD Compatibility" check does in the x264 "HD.Bluray.Consoles". Anyone?

Vidd: It does look like those specs are saying re-encode. I'm still however in denial about re-encoding for now, but I appreciate the advice if I may have to . Yes, resizing is surgery.

carlitos287: The verdict is still out on 480i depending on width, but for your 720p MKV, did you try demuxing the streams first (less error prone that way), then using tools like TSMuxer and TSRemux to create the transport stream/disc structure? Then you have to burn it a certain way (like 2.5 UDF).

[carlitos287]

yes, i did that and it only showed the timeline, nothing else.

[PuzZLeR]

yes, i did that and it only showed the timeline, nothing else.

Just thinking, and I've made a comment about this in a recent post.

Could it be the way the H.264 stream was encoded? Maybe it has B-pyramids, or a high amount of B frames/multiple reference frames >3, which choke many decoders - and are not supported by the PS3 or BD. Did you encode it yourself? If so, what were your settings?

If this is the case, word has it that you can only re-encode to get it compliant to AVCHD or BD playback...

[PuzZLeR]

Did some more digging. Those resolutions listed for AVCHD here may be only settings that cameras have as presets, but not necessarily the only resolutions that will be accepted as compliant AVCHD within regular BD players. Ok, I could be wrong, but I'm still in denial...

Did anybody get compliant AVCHD playback working in BD that is not within these resolutions?

As well, I've been experimenting with the h264info tool. It apparently has a resize resolution feature, which seems ridiculous, but I gave it a try. No luck. The video was all buggy and blurred screened... probably too good to be true but has anybody gotten this feature to work in this tool?

Thanks again!

[jntaylor63]

I seem to have read a guide that stated you needed to use a hex editor to make the video seem to fit the Hoz spec. It was a MKV to AVCHD/Blu-Ruy guide. The MKV was 544 and you had to edit the hex to 720. I guess you could try to edit to 480.

I'm trying to find the site now

[PuzZLeR]

Hey Jntaylor63,

Yes I certainly saw that guide and I do suspect it's been pulled due to the perception that it may be piracy/bittorrent related. Well, that's my hunch.

That guide wasn't much good anyway other than to "resize" content that was almost pseudo compliant otherwise. If the video stream is encoded with B-pyramids, and such, it will not work. At least not on every BD player and not smoothly either.

Even with my 640x480 content, which was modest light content and QuickTime compatible previously, with and without the guide, to get it to compliant 480i/p, I had an embarrassing incident while testing it at an electronics chain.

I managed to try it on one BD player there, and it played, but VERY choppy and rewind and forwarding choked, and audio sputtered too. I didn't even dare ask to try this crap on a few more players in case the store employee helping me out would get annoyed...

To heck with it anyway. I've since accepted the reality that the only guaranteed method is to re-encode. I've gotten good-to-excellent results with trials on the AVCHD/blu-ray profiles of NeroVision, Cyberlink, x264 and MainConcept. And it's also very encouraging that, for example, CRF=18 with x264 gives an almost lossless re-encode and pulldown reduces bitrate further by 20%. With a few overnights of encoding (or when I'm at work) I will have converted everything to BD within a couple of months anyway so I don't care now.

For all it's worth, if it's Ok with the Mods, I can re-write this guide since I have my own notes (and memory) and can even enhance it a bit with other info. There are some people that would want it for legitimate reasons for migrating their existing H.264 content to BD. But seriously, from my experience, I can only guarantee excellent/perfect compatiblity only from re-encoding not little flammy hacks.