What setting for MPEG1 w/ Hauppauge 250?

[pheitman]

I'm going to be getting a Archos Gmini 400 for Christmas. Apparently it needs AVI video for it's conversion program. However I've read in the release notes that it supports MPEG1 with MP3 audio. Can anyone tell me how to configure Sage to record that from my Hauppauge 250? Is it one of the standard settings or do I need to add something to the properties file?

Thanks in advance,
Peter

[nerys]

I think you are mistaken. mpeg1 IS mp3 audio (224kbit to be exact) but I do NOT think the Gmini will play mpeg1 video. it will play mpeg1 AUDIO ie the 224kbit sound portion of mpeg1 video but NOT an mpeg1 video file otherwise I would own one already (I use mpeg1 for everything)

I hate that all these gorgeous PVP will only play sucky mp4 video. I WANT MPEG1 Support in modern pvp !!! only one that I know of that does this is the Lyra AV 2780 or something like that.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[nielm]

Hauppauge cards cannot record MP3 audio direcly -- they record MP2 audio (Mpeg audio Level II) (and no, nerys, this is not the same as MP3, which is Mpeg Audio level III).

The reason why most modern boxes don't play MPEG-1 video is that quite simply it sucks: Fixed Half TV resolution (352x240/288) making it hard to get a good quality image from an interlaced source, Constant fixed bitrate (1150Kbit/s)... Poor (old) compression engine that gives much lower quality for a given bits/pixel than MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 (Xvid/DivX)...

Pheitman: you may be lucky by using the VCD quality in Sage: it is Mpeg-1 video with MP2 audio, but as this post is a more than a month old, you have probably figured out something for yourself by now!

PS: as I mentioned elsewhere, it seems that although Sage can record and playback MPEG1, it cannot view/timeshift liveTV in MPEG1 format (simultaneously record and playback LiveTV)

[pheitman]

Yes, I've been using my Archos Gmini 400 for the last month with great success. I originally tried using the VCD setting for Sage and that worked - then I tried the standard DVD quality MPEG2 setting and that worked too. The program I use to convert video to .avi (PocketDivxEncoder) works with either. A very nice program!

[nerys]

well I have a 40" tv and my mpeg1 recordings to the layman are nearly indistinguishable from the origina DVD that I ripped them from (I never play mjy dvd's they cost to much they get ripped and stored)

IF I look for it I can easily pick out the artifacts

mpeg1 like any format is as good as your encoder. YES the hauppauge encoder is not nearly as good as tmpgenc's encoder. not even close

but you know something. NO ONE and I MEAN NO ONE ON PLANET EARTH can see ANY difference between mpeg2 and mpeg1 on a 2-4 " lcd screen

NO ONE

and you think cruddy mp4 is going to look better ? I have YET to see a single mp4 video that is even CLOSE to mpeg1

Ever use a TIVO on BASIC quality ? for all intents and purposes MPEG1

Ever use a DISH Network DVR ? for all intents and purposes MPEG1

we are talking TV here. not archiving movies if you want a movie go rip the dvd the output quality will be magnitudes better no matter what format you choose

for TV I watch it and delete it.

MPEG1 is superior. its portable at only 600mb an hour

pda's play it. older pvp's play it. any computer 100mhz or faster plays it

dvd players play it. its small enough for 802.11b

OODLES of FREE open software is available to mess with it

editing it is EASY converting it is EASY (EXCEPT to dvd 48khz sound) but I just DROP the mpg's onto a dvd (4-5 movies PER disc) and they play JUST FINE in most no name dvd players

yanking the audio out of it is cake and high quality at 224kbit

I watch this stuff on my 10" polaroid portable dvd player and the quality is stunning. mpeg1 :-)

properly done mpeg1 just rocks.

Sure Divx is IMPRESSIVE in fact is ASTONISHINGLY IMPRESSIVE

if you want to wait 9+ hours to properly encode a 2 hour movie on a 3 ghz P4

Sure I can do it in 2 hours but it will look like crap.

until divx is as easy and fast to work with as mpeg1 NO THANKS maybe in 5 years when we have 20ghz machines

mpeg1 was it almost seems DESIGNED for portablizing video. its "good enough" quality with great size and ease of working.

its just good from every angle. I have taken my discs to stores and put them up on plazma screens and people are blown away by the quality when I tell them its just mpeg1 they do not believe me sometimes till I stick the disc in a laptop and SHOW THEM :-)

its also TOTALY open. no DRM no encryption no lock downs nothing proprietary. Almost EVERYTHING plays it. Except these pvp's

ANY pvp capalble of cranking divx can spit out mpeg1 as easy as pie.

I was cranking out mpeg1 on pentium 166's Try that with mp4 or divx

If I want high quality SURE I will go with Mpeg2 no doubt

but for casual viewing ESPECIALLY of tv ? give me mpeg1

I would sooner run 2 computers with hauppauges pvr software before I go with mepg2. my entire infrastructure for watching tv is uselss with mpeg2 none of my hardware plays it except the computer and dvd player

I LIKE being able to put 300 hours of video on my hard drive at a quality that looks just FINE on a Television

now on a COMPUTER screen ANYONE can see the difference between MPEG1 and MPEG2 (ONLY while sitting at the screen) on my 21" monitor from a few feet away with me in bed. NO difference to watching pleasure. I can not notice the difference between a DVD and my mpeg1's unless I LOOK for the differences.

on a TELEVISION ? I do not think so. you need to be pretty good AND paying attention to tell the difference. or using a really BAD mpeg1 encoder.

its so easy when my sister says copy that for me (episode of medium for example)

I drop in a 10cent CDR in under 4 mintues its burned as a VCD and she can toss that into any machine in the house and play it.

80 minutes on any normal CDR and I have a zillion 90 minute cdr's (you would be amazed how many movies can be squeezed on a 90 minute disc)

I even have 99 minute cdr's but they are FAR less reliable and much harder to aquire :-)

edit out comercials ? and I can fit 2 episodes on a 90 munite disc (many times even an 80 minute disc will hold 2 1hr programs if you edit out commercials and credits. usually 81 or so minutes which is easily overburned onto a 80minute disc in under 5 minutes.

it just really works well.

OK if you have the money for a GICANTIC digital tv then you will likely not enjoy mpeg1 so much and then again you can afford arrays of massive hard drives to hold that 2gb/hr content so its no big deal to you

I want to be able to hold a few weeks worth of tv without having to pay a grand each for a few terabyte stacks :-(

200gig hard drive for $103 will hold almost 310 hours of mpeg1 and on anything short of those gigantic cost a fortune hdtv's it looks JUST FINE :-)

also mpeg1 IS in the mpeg2 specification the ONLY difference is the fraking audio (44khz in mpeg1 48khz in mpeg2)

Chris Taylor
http://www.zodiacreview.com/

[nerys]

I assume your gmini 400 will NOT play the mpeg1 file unaltered ? IE have you tried to copy an mpeg1 file not converted to avi to see if it would play it ? I will buy one tommrrow if it does !!

what I really want is a AV420 that does mpeg1 30 hours of video built in speaker replaceable battery and a CF slot. Drool Drool but alas it only plays mp4 GRRRR :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.zodiacreview.com/

[nielm]

also mpeg1 IS in the mpeg2 specification the ONLY difference is the fraking audio (44khz in mpeg1 48khz in mpeg2)

The big differences between MPEG-1 VCD video and MPEG-2 DVD video is the allowed resolution... 388x240 vs 720x576, the fact that MPEG-2 can encode interlaced frames (all TV shows are interlaced), the fact that MPEG2 can use much higher bitrates (=better quality), including VBR bitrates (so high action frames can use more bits)

But each to what he feels is best for his applications