Own HDV profile for DLNA compatibility with Sony Bravia

[calinux]

Have all my Sony HC3 tapes loaden on HDD, actually migrating to a new 1TB drive. It's about HD mpeg2 with the audio also mpeg stereo.

Recent release of PS3 MediaServer helps me watching the whole library thru LAN, either dirrectly on the W5500 Sony tv or thru PS3.

The TV has a problem with the native recorded mpeg audio (video fine, sound jerky), and works perfect if the audio is transcoded to DD stereo by the TSMuxer included in PS3 MS. It's not very handy to access transcoding for each movie and definitely too much for my wife.

Having UVS11+ from more than 2 years, was thinking to take each HDV tape-file from the old drive and smart-render it on the new drive with splitting in 2-4 chunks by recorded events AND converting the audio to DD stereo TOO.

Actually have found no way to create my own HD profile, seems to be stuck to the preset ones and the original file.

Please help me with unleashing the HD profiles, only need to change the audio encoding, alternately:
- recommend me a quick tool for audio transcoding, video not touched, audio on the fly or
- a new firmware for Sony Bravia W5500 to accept her cousin's Sony HC3 recording format

[Ken Berry]

Are you sure it is a problem with the TV? That sounds very strange, especially since the two products are both Sony! It sounds more as though it might be problem associated with either the PS3 or, more likely, your media server. Can you give any more details about exactly what the server is -- its full name? (I have never heard of anything called 'PS3 Media Server'...)

Personally, I do exactly as you do, also using a PS3 between my computer(s) and the HDTV -- though in my case, my HDTV is a 46 inch Samsung, and my camera a Canon HV-20 (also HDV). I use both Windows Media Player or Nero Media Home as the server. Everything plays back beautifully on the HDTV direct from my computer. And I leave my HDV audio as its native mpeg layer 2.

[calinux]

Ken, the homepage of this marvelous freebie is here http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/ and the support forum http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=6

have tried few DLNA's and found this best for being tuned to PS3 capabilities and recently with few TV's playback enhancement (Sony & Samsung)

in my case the HDV playback thru PS3 is excelent without any transcoding, movie scrolling is far superior to TV as well as pictures browsing, only it's far more difficult for my family to get used to, and that's why i would preffer to make my footage Bravia compatible if VS11+ allows me.

[Ken Berry]

Thanks for the link. I am downloading it and will check it out -- though as I say, I have absolutely no problems with either WMP or Nero as the server.

I also continue to have difficulty with the thought that it is your Bravia which is the cause of your audio problems. High definition video I have recorded from my HDTV cards appears to use mpeg layer 2 audio. And as far as I was aware, mpeg layer 2 is mpeg layer 2 is mpeg layer 2 ... and particularly in this case where the source (camera) and playback (Bravia) would both be using (presumably) the same Sony version of the codec...

But anyway, I will email you a small video clip which has HDV properties but uses Dolby 5.1 audio, plus instructions on how to convert it to a template you can then use for your own future projects. Hopefully the Bravia will not have problems with that!

I cannot guarantee 100% that this new template will not involve re-encoding the original HDV video. However, with standard definition, we believe this did not occur when only seeking to change the audio track. But in any case, with the high quality bitrate of 25 Mbps being maintained, a single encode is unlikely to result in any loss of quality that your eyes are likely to pick up. But you can only try it and see for yourself!!

[Ken Berry]

As promised, I have already sent the clip and instructions.

But I have also now downloaded and installed the PS3 Server, and must say I am impressed -- not to say annoyed that I only quite recently lashed out and bought the Nero Media Home server software for nearly the same price they charge for the main Nero Suite! Yet this one is freeware...

The PS3 server was ease itself to set up, automatically detecting and connecting to the PS3, and then, even better, giving the PS3 (and HDTV) direct access to all the media on my computer and not just that in specific folders (as required by Nero and to a different extent by WMP where you have to get it to set up libraries which involves a full scan of the computer).

And to keep this VS related, I am happy to report that the PS3 played all my my VS edited/authored HDV and AVCHD absolutely fine, with no indication of any problems at all with either video or audio. Moreover, it played it immediately, with no indication of recoding which was evident with some of the formats I threw at it (notably XVid and WMV HD). It even played some 1280 x 720p video beautifully, as well as AVCHD using the latest 24 Mbps bitrate.

I am seriously impressed!

[calinux]

thank you Ken for the template and instructions, test converted one file and works ok downstairs, dirrectly on Bravia or thru PS3.
was not sure if the TV would like DD 5.1 but now it's confirmed.
have started now to move the whole HDV collection on the new HDD with audio transcoding included.

there's just one feature missing [yet!] in PS3 MediaServer: to play .vsp projects - simple ones with straight cuts and no other bells - using i.e. the included TSMuxer.
to be more specific, wouldn't be nice to show your guests best 5' from the 60' summer trip without having to keep another folder with 'edits'?
or to show childrens birthdays since the first one in just few minutes and add every year some best moments to that .vsd?

[Ken Berry]

The problem is that a .vsp file is NOT a video file. It is a text file -- a small one which merely tells Video Studio what clips are in a project, where they are stored and what editing has been done to them.