have mp4 (h264/aac), need m2ts - help an idiot out please :/

[namurt]

surely this information is contained somewhere within the vastness of this site, but i'm afraid i just can't find a simple, direct answer to the question i've been facing all morning.

i have an mp4 file. it's h264/aac encoded. i am attempting to use tversity to play this file on my directv hr23-700 hd dvr. it is my understanding that the native format for playback on this set top box is mpeg-2 transport stream. right now, tversity is transcoding the mp4 to mpg. this is according to the status page of the tversity frontend.

the problem is, i have an old, weak system that can't handle the transcoding. i get constant stuttering. it's my hope that if i can convert the mp4 to an m2ts (my stb's native format) perhaps my system will at least be able to handle just having to stream.

so then, gurus, gods, and fellow geeks who know wayyy more about this stuff than i do, how do i get from an mp4 with h264/aac encoding to an m2ts?

and if the answer is very simple, feel free to laugh at me, but only after you've shown me the light.

thanks for your time. :]

[poisondeathray]

tsmuxer or multiavchd

but is your standalone unit compatible with h.264/aac ? if not , you have to convert that too

[namurt]

okay, see i think this is what i'm not understanding entirely.

the mp4 is just a wrapper? is that correct?

and so m2ts is just a different kind of wrapper?

and the h264/aac are the video/audio encoding that are contained within the wrapper?

[poisondeathray]

okay, see i think this is what i'm not understanding entirely.

the mp4 is just a wrapper? is that correct?

and so m2ts is just a different kind of wrapper?

and the h264/aac are the video/audio encoding that are contained within the wrapper?

Yes

[Baldrick]

You wont find any simple answer.

What video and audio codec does it supports? Cause a m2ts is a container for blu-rays and avchd and supports several video and audio codecs. I guess you need to reconvert to a mpeg2 video in a ts( or m2ts would also work.

[namurt]

my stb wants mpeg2 for video. i'm not entirely sure on the audio, but i think it wants plain old pcm. i'm having a hard time tracking down reliable information because directv's "mediashare" support is laughable at best. it's been in beta for years now.

so do i still want tsmuxer?

or do i need a different program to convert the h264 to mpeg2 first, and then use tsmuxer to wrap it?

[Baldrick]

Yep, you need something to convert it to mpeg2 first and then you can use tsmuxer to make a m2ts.

I guess you want mpeg2 in hd? Then I'm not sure what to use. It was a long time ago i converted something to mpeg2.

[poisondeathray]

Yes you have to convert it then. Find out exactly what format is accepted for audio.

Even if you convert to raw streams (elementary video & audio), you can wrap it with tsmuxer later. Some programs might do both steps for you. I think xvid4psp can convert to MPEG2/AC3 in .m2ts, but I don't think it does PCM WAV. Avidemux might be another option.

[namurt]

the real kicker here is that i'm positive this box can handle mpeg4. directv switched all of their national hd to mpeg4 streams months and months ago. yet for some reason, they haven't bothered with a firmware update to fix the mediashare functionality.

royal pain in the you know where!

but anyway, thanks a ton fellas. much obliged.

edit: i've finally been able to confirm the audio needs to be wav. do you think if i just converted the video to mpeg2 and left the audio as in, then threw it in an m2ts wrapper i could get away with only having to transcode the audio?