What Format for Old TV

[Squizz]

I'm sure this will be an easy one for you guys but I can't find an answer after hours of googling.

I have several examples of movies that play on my brothers old Soniq TV and several examples of ones that are incompatible. For the ones that don't play, are you guys able to advise what is the best format convert them to? They are played off either a USB stick or an USD HDD (both options work for some files).

I've attached 2 txt files of MediaInfo for ones that played Movies the Play.txt and ones that didn't Movies that didnt play.txt. An example of each is at bottom of post (sorry for poor formatting)

The TV is a Soniq L42S10A-AU, the manual is here - http://quatius.com.au/manuals/L42S10A-AU.pdf

Really appreciate your help, so I can help my brother out by getting movies to him that work.

Cheers!

One that works -
General
Complete name : BBB
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 1.31 GiB
Duration : 1 h 21 min
Overall bit rate : 2 288 kb/s
Writing application : Lavf58.9.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1 h 21 min
Bit rate : 2 150 kb/s
Width : 1 904 pixels
Height : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.059
Stream size : 1.23 GiB (94%)
Writing library : x264 core 155
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=18 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2150 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=31250 / vbv_bufsize=31250 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 1 h 21 min
Duration_LastFrame : -11 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 132 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 77.5 MiB (6%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

One that didn't -
Complete name : "NOT WORKING"
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 1.01 GiB
Duration : 2 h 1 min
Overall bit rate : 1 193 kb/s
Writing application : Lavf58.9.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 2 h 1 min
Bit rate : 1 050 kb/s
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 534 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Original display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.061
Stream size : 915 MiB (88%)
Writing library : x264 core 155
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=17 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1050 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=31250 / vbv_bufsize=31250 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 2 h 1 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 136 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 118 MiB (11%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

[pandy]

Maybe just coincidence but all playable movies are 23.976 (24000/1001) - encoding settings looks normal but perhaps there is something i've overlooked.

[Sharc]

I don't see an obvious flaw.
What are the containers? .mp4, .mkv, .m2ts ...?
Framerates are different: working is 23.976fps, non-working is 25fps. Shouldn't be a problem though, unless your player (TV) is picky and accepts 25fps only when flagged as interlaced (=blu-ray compliant) ....

Edit:
and your player/TV can probably not play HEVC (x265) encodes.
Try to encode blu-ray compliant (framerate, format, resolution...) to be on the safe side. Info is found on these pages:
https://sites.google.com/site/x264bluray/home/1080i

[Squizz]

Maybe just coincidence but all playable movies are 23.976 (24000/1001) - encoding settings looks normal but perhaps there is something i've overlooked.

Thanks, but there are also a few that don't play that are 23.976 (24000/1001). Appreciate you having a look too! I guess it wasn't just me not being able to identify what the 'max' settings are that can definitely be played.

[Squizz]

I don't see an obvious flaw.
What are the containers? .mp4, .mkv, .m2ts ...?
Framerates are different: working is 23.976fps, non-working is 25fps. Shouldn't be a problem though, unless your player (TV) is picky and accepts 25fps only when flagged as interlaced (=blu-ray compliant) ....

Edit:
and your player/TV can probably not play HEVC (x265) encodes.
Try to encode blu-ray compliant (framerate, format, resolution...) to be on the safe side. Info is found on these pages:
https://sites.google.com/site/x264bluray/home/1080i

Thanks, most are 720p x264 23.976, but yet some play and some don't. Hmmm... could the x264 core number affect playability? Some examples are so similar, that the only thing I can see that is different is core 155 to core 159 for example. TIA

Edit: Sorry, forgot to say, most are MP4, but there are MKV and AVI that both play and don't play... actually, there are not many AVI that dont play, nearly all do, maybe that is the safest container?

[Squizz]

If the TV is from 2011 and the the manual doesn't say much, except it plays MP4, MPEG, MKV etc, what is the safest bet format to convert movies to would you say?

Manual for TV here again for reference - http://quatius.com.au/manuals/L42S10A-AU.pdf

[Sharc]

Don't know.
No HEVC. Some basic x264 encode (L3.2) perhaps, possibly padded to a standard resolution like 1280x720 in an mkv container; no 'advanced' settings like mbtree etc.
Poorly specified TV players are somtiemes unpredictable. The spec does not even say it's .mp4 compliant. There might also be a problem with the powering of the external drive from USB.
You may want to re-encode one of the non-working files using more basic settings and check if it helps.

[Squizz]

Thanks Sharc, appreciate the help.. trying to figure this out so I can load up on movies for him for Christmas!

Can you help me out with the below Qs?

- Can it be a combo of elements that stop it working? for example, some work with L4.1 but some don't, also some work with 25+ FPS and some don't, but there is one example of one not working with both L4.1 and 25 FPS, so could the problem be the combo of 4.1 & 25FPS, or because those settings work individually on other files, they should never be the problem if something doesn't play?

- Similar to the above question, but with the HDD... movies play off it, but could a combination of the HDD and some formats/settings stop them working? So if I tested a different USB source they could work?

I guess I'm just asking these questions because I was trying to solve it by eliminating all the elements that worked for other files... and trying to spot a single element as the cause... but if a combination of elements that, by themselves, can work, dont work when together, then that changes how I look for solutions.

Anyway, thanks again... oh, and what program is the simplest to use to convert to to your recommended format (basic x264 encode (L3.2) perhaps, possibly padded to a standard resolution like 1280x720 in an mkv container; no 'advanced' settings like mbtree etc.)? I will test this out first, but dont know the app landscape that well. The formats I have now vary but predominantly x264 in mp4 and some MKV. All the AVIs apparently work for now.

[Sharc]

It can be anything, including the combo of video, audio and subtitle formats, a picky player, or some protection in place.
Tools: There are plenty of tools and GUIs for encoding and muxing available for download in this forum. If you have ripped and encoded these files before from the original source, you should know the tools and the setting options, otherwise try something like Avidemux or any of the ffmpeg GUIs.