Difficulty converting this ts to mp4 losslessly

[jimdagys]

I got this video using Tubedigger from NYTimes webpage:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/names-of-rioters-capitol.html?action=click&modul...gtype=Homepage
The downloaded ts file from Tubedigger plays OK, however, when I use Tubedigger lossless convert tool to convert to mp4, the resulting video has severe problems (pausing/stutter) in playback (tried vlc and MPC). I've never had this kind of problem before when converting ts to mp4. I tried various ffmpeg scripts to try to losslessly convert this ts to mp4, but was unsuccessful.
In the end, I used Vidcoder to re-encode the ts to mp4, and the resulting video plays OK.
My questions are:
1) Why does the converted mp4 (using lossless convert tool) not play correctly?
2) Is there an ffmpeg script (please give exact script if there is one) that will convert losslessly this ts to mp4?
3) If you put this problem mp4 into MediaInfo, is there some clue from MediaInfo that tells you that there is something wrong with this mp4 file?
See following attached files:
1) ts from Tubedigger that plays OK
2) converted mp4 that has severe playback problems

[jagabo]

1) Why does the converted mp4 (using lossless convert tool) not play correctly?

Some kind of variable frame rate confusion. pkt_dts and pkt_dts_time values aren't increasing the way they should. The latter is increasing by about 11 microseconds per frame, not the expected ~41 milliseconds (1001/24000).

2) Is there an ffmpeg script (please give exact script if there is one) that will convert losslessly this ts to mp4?

This worked for me:

ffmpeg -fflags +genpts -i "854x480.ts" -vcodec copy -acodec copy  -movflags faststart "854x480.mp4"

3) If you put this problem mp4 into MediaInfo, is there some clue from MediaInfo that tells you that there is something wrong with this mp4 file?

The only thing I noticed was that the min and max frame rates were extreme. That may or may not indicate a problem. My analysis above was with ffprobe.

ffprobe -v 32 -stats -y -hide_banner -i "854x480.mp4" -select_streams v -print_format csv -of csv -show_entries frame >> "854x480.csv"

ffmpeg remux attached.

[jimdagys]

When I download and play your above attached file (854x480.ffmpeg.mp4) the video plays fine. When I use your above ffmpeg script,

ffmpeg -fflags +genpts -i "854x480.ts" -vcodec copy -acodec copy  -movflags faststart "854x480.mp4"

I have the same problem with playback (severe pausing and stuttering). I am using ffmpeg 4.2.1 built with gcc 9.1.1 20190807
I'll see if there is a newer ffmpeg and try again.
EDIT: what version of ffmpeg are you using?

[jagabo]

I was using 4.3.1, 64 bit, built 9/11/2020. I just checked again, pasting the command line from post #3 into a CLI window. The resulting video worked fine.

C:\Users\User\Desktop>ffmpeg -fflags +genpts -i "854x480.ts" -vcodec copy -acodec copy  -movflags faststart "854x480.mp4"
ffmpeg version 4.3.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2020 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 10.2.1 (GCC) 20200726
  configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-sdl2 --enable-fontconfig --enable-gnutls --enable-iconv --enable-libass --enable-libdav1d --enable-libbluray --enable-libfreetype --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libsrt --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libzimg --enable-lzma --enable-zlib --enable-gmp --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libmysofa --enable-libspeex --enable-libxvid --enable-libaom --enable-libgsm --disable-w32threads --enable-libmfx --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-d3d11va --enable-nvenc --enable-nvdec --enable-dxva2 --enable-avisynth --enable-libopenmpt --enable-amf
  libavutil      56. 51.100 / 56. 51.100
  libavcodec     58. 91.100 / 58. 91.100
  libavformat    58. 45.100 / 58. 45.100
  libavdevice    58. 10.100 / 58. 10.100
  libavfilter     7. 85.100 /  7. 85.100
  libswscale      5.  7.100 /  5.  7.100
  libswresample   3.  7.100 /  3.  7.100
  libpostproc    55.  7.100 / 55.  7.100
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '854x480.ts':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 1
    compatible_brands: isomavc1
  Duration: 00:02:54.89, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1557 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 854x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 427:240], 1489 kb/s, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 90k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 61 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
Output #0, mp4, to '854x480.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 1
    compatible_brands: isomavc1
    encoder         : Lavf58.45.100
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 854x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 427:240], q=2-31, 1489 kb/s, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 61 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[mp4 @ 0000011353ed9040] Starting second pass: moving the moov atom to the beginning of the file
frame= 4190 fps=0.0 q=-1.0 Lsize=   33234kB time=00:02:54.78 bitrate=1557.6kbits/s speed=1.86e+03x
video:31788kB audio:1311kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.407524%

[ProWo]

I just remuxed the ts file to mp4 with clever FFmpeg-GUI and the mp4 file works fine without any sync problems.

[jimdagys]

OK, I updated the ffmpeg from 4.2.1 to 4.3.1 (the latest version) and again using Jagabo code:

ffmpeg -fflags +genpts -i "854x480.ts" -vcodec copy -acodec copy  -movflags faststart "854x480.mp4"

This time the mp4 file (convert ts to mp4 with ffmpeg) played perfectly.
I also was able to use this simple script (where input.ts is the input file) and it worked perfectly to convert to mp4:

ffmpeg -i input.ts -c copy output.mp4

I updated Tubedigger to the latest version but the convert tool (ts to mp4) still gave the same problem mp4 (severe freezing and stuttering).
I'll contact Mr Tubedigger and see if he needs to update his convert tool.