x264 AVC High@L5.1 to High@L4.1 conversion

[Pr0metheus]

Hi All,

I am using WDTV HD Media Player for playing movies, which has specification of supporting x264 video up to High@L4.1 AVC profile, but some of the movies I have are in High@L5.1 profile, which causing blemishes in the image during the movie playback. What's the best app to re-encode video stream from High@L5.1 to High@L4.1?

[Pr0metheus]

In case someone will need it, I've found it yet. XMedia Recode is perfect way to re-encode with various types of AVC profiles.

[nicorac]

In case you want to change only the profile level, try H264LevelEditor.

It's free and can be found here:
http://coolsoft.altervista.org/h264leveleditor

[dylz]

tsmuxer import mkv> change 5.1 to 4.1 in level box select demux > remux mkvtoolnix

[nicorac]

tsmuxer import mkv> change 5.1 to 4.1 in level box select demux > remux mkvtoolnix

tsmuxer level changer does the same as my H264LevelEditor, but requires three times as much HDD space:
- 1 for the original MKV
- 1 for the demuxed streams
- 1 again for the remuxed MKV

And also you must set again all tracks parameters before remuxing with mkvtoolnix (track name/language/delay).
H264LevelEditor works in-line on the source file, no copy needed .

[jimmafelingo]

thanks for advice

[kuklei]

tsmuxer import mkv> change 5.1 to 4.1 in level box select demux > remux mkvtoolnix

tsmuxer level changer does the same as my H264LevelEditor, but requires three times as much HDD space:
- 1 for the original MKV
- 1 for the demuxed streams
- 1 again for the remuxed MKV

And also you must set again all tracks parameters before remuxing with mkvtoolnix (track name/language/delay).
H264LevelEditor works in-line on the source file, no copy needed .

Does not work for me on all 3 movies that I have tried so far. MediaInfo still reads as 5.1 and my LG still does not play. I will try to re-encode and post the results.

Thanks for the tool though.


-----------------------------
EDIT:

A few hours later (after viewing the movie) I must say that depending on the file, simply changing the header wont do the trick. I had to follow dylz advice and re-encode. Does not take that long (45mins to get the file changed but it does need HDD space) and finally my file was playable on my LG 3D TV. The level changer is worth the try though, since it does change the header in under a second. If it works, then you're done.

[nicorac]

Well, H264MediaInfo is just a shortcut for players that are mis-intepreting file headers, but it doesn't work for all of them.

tsmuxer level changer does the same as my H264LevelEditor...

Just a clarification, because I think that what I wrote is misleading.
I didn't mean that the two softwares do the same thing, I meant they try to achieve the same result with two different approach. tsmuxer follows the right (and slow + HDD consuming) way, mine is a shortcut with in-place editing.

The level changer is worth the try though, since it does change the header in under a second. If it works, then you're done.

You're right, thanks.
Latest version has an UNDO feature, so trying it is really safe now .

[Moura91PT]

Hi guys, I'm having a similar problem, I'm trying to play a mkv file on my LG TV 3D LED 32" 32LM620S, and I've tried almost everything but the file don't play.
The file I'm trying to play is this one = File 1 Details I already convert from 5.1 to 4.1 (using tsmuxer), and doesnt work.
For test I tried play some other mkv file and works fine = File 2 Details

Please help me, I'm going crazy with this.
Thanks.

[Harn]

It might be the header Stripping in file 1 witch is causing the problem, use mkv-merge and set tab/extra( both video and audiotrack) options-- compressions to :none and re mux

[nicorac]

At first sight it seems to me that its resolution is too high (at least width):

Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels

Maybe it's due to its aspect ratio, but width must be limited to 1920 (and height reduced accordingly).

[Moura91PT]

It might be the header Stripping in file 1 witch is causing the problem, use mkv-merge and set tab/extra( both video and audiotrack) options-- compressions to :none and re mux

Same result as before, invalid file.

[Moura91PT]

At first sight it seems to me that its resolution is too high (at least width):

Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels

Maybe it's due to its aspect ratio, but width must be limited to 1920 (and height reduced accordingly).

It's a 3D mkv Full SBS 1080p AC3 x264, and I already tried the Half SBS version (1920:1080) and still doesnt work.

[fits79]

I have tested 3 ways and <u><b>NONE OF THEM</b></u> is do the job for this file and for some others i try.

I try with:

01. tsmuxer 1.10.6
02. LG MKV Compatiblity ToolKit
03. h264leveleditor

And neither of these converted(As the program describe and mediainfo shows) but my samsung ue40es6100 3d led tv DOESN'T play it at all.....



So can anyone suggest me something else?

[ozok]

I seriously doubt that you can achive what you want by changing header. It might work for some cases, but there are severe differences between what these two levels specify. See here. I am afraid the only foolproof way is to re-encode your file. You can leave audio as it is and just encode video.

If you change header, 5.1 to 4.1, and it works that means video stream already met 4.1 levels requirements and that is very unlikely in my opinion.

[realrisk2]

I tried all methods.
The H264leveleditor failed, as well as something like uncropmuxer (? failed to load a needed avs file) and finally mediaencoder but this is a slow process and the conversion for the 4.37GB file would take more than 90 minutes on my quadcore pc.

In the end I used tsmuxer, changed the level to 4.1 and... YES! The video file (an episode of The Living Planet series - 11 episodes) played and looked excellent, although a little bit larger (4.37 vs 4.49GB)
But after the level conversion the subtitles were gone...
I took the original file, demuxed the subtitle in Mkvmerge and remuxed the subtitle file with the tsmuxer file. Result: excellent. Total time for everything: 12 minutes.

But wait. Still ten files to go. Why not just download the subtitles and stick to the Level conversion in tsmuxer?
This also worked.

[Cornucopia]

From the LevelEditor website, straight from the author/programmer:

Just to be clear: H264LevelEditor does not change video stream compression.
It only changes a value in file header, where it "declares" its level to the world.
Many of the 5.1 encoded files out there are not really 5.1, but over-leveled 4.0 or 4.1.
If the file itself is encoded using 5.1-only features, and your player is not able to decode it, well... you must reencode it, no way.

(I added the underline for clarity). BTW, I believe what he/she was trying to say at the end was NO WAY AROUND IT.

What I've been saying: works for some types of files, not for (most) others. Sure there's a bunch of idiot encoders out there, but I'm guessing that those who usually use a feature that is part of a higher Profile/Level are using it because it's necessary for compression efficiency/quality.

Scott