MPEG2 w/PCM audio?

[awhenry]

Curious if anyone knows if the HD200 supports MPEG2 files with PCM audio?

I don't know if anyone here is a fan of Rifftrax (www.rifftrax.com), but I am and I have bought most of their downloadable video content. Until recently it has all played fine for me. Then a couple months ago they decided to switch from MP2 audio tracks to PCM, for "increased compatibility". Ever since then I can't play any of their MPEG2 files (which I prefer as they are the highest-quality files they offer). What happens is that the video will usually sort of play (kind of slow-mo and hitches, though eventually sometimes settles in at normal speed), but there is never any audio. Getting the "detailed info" shows that the audio track was properly detected by the system, it just won't play it. I took one of the files and demuxed it then remuxed it into an MKV, and that actually does play the audio fine, it just won't work in the original container. FWIW I also have an HD100, and the symptoms are the same on that unit. I do not have an HD300. I have also only tried this in extender mode.

Anyway, I contacted Rifftrax and they say it should work according to what they know about the HD200 (I think they just Googled it when I contacted them). Hoping someone here can offer something definitive. I could maybe put up a short test clip somewhere if that would help.

Thanks!

[BobPhoenix]

Page 7 of the manual lists the supported audio and video formats. Doesn't look like PCM is supported so I would call that less compatible for you.

[Fuzzy]

I would think that at this point in time, "most compatible" would be MPEG4 with stereo AAC, in an MP4 container.

[awhenry]

Well I'll be damned, who would have thought to look in the manual .

Rifftrax support had pointed me to a GeekTonic article that listed PCM as supported (hence my assumption that they Googled "sage hd200" after I contacted them), and I just assumed it was a cut-and-paste from the manual so I never even bothered to check that out further. Thanks for the link. Curious that it plays the PCM track fine in an MKV container though...

Regarding MP4/AAC, they do provide exactly that as an option, and it plays just fine for me through Sage. However, they bill that as their tablet device format, and so it is cropped/resized from the original, apparently to suit those devices better. They reserve the highest quality for their MPEG2 file, which evidently is no longer compatible for me. And I would guess that the fraction of their customer base that is SageTV users with extenders is small enough (possibly just 1!) that they are not going to change things back on my account. Sigh...

I suppose I can sacrifice time and smooth ff/rw and pipe the videos through handbrake before watching them. Nothing like multiple re-encodings to enhance the viewing experience... It is frustrating that we are to a point now with Sage where things like this crop up, and though it would seem to be something easily remedied, there is just nobody at Sage to do it now.

Anyway, thanks.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by awhenry

Well I'll be damned, who would have thought to look in the manual .

Rifftrax support had pointed me to a GeekTonic article that listed PCM as supported (hence my assumption that they Googled "sage hd200" after I contacted them), and I just assumed it was a cut-and-paste from the manual so I never even bothered to check that out further. Thanks for the link. Curious that it plays the PCM track fine in an MKV container though...

Regarding MP4/AAC, they do provide exactly that as an option, and it plays just fine for me through Sage. However, they bill that as their tablet device format, and so it is cropped/resized from the original, apparently to suit those devices better. They reserve the highest quality for their MPEG2 file, which evidently is no longer compatible for me. And I would guess that the fraction of their customer base that is SageTV users with extenders is small enough (possibly just 1!) that they are not going to change things back on my account. Sigh...

I suppose I can sacrifice time and smooth ff/rw and pipe the videos through handbrake before watching them. Nothing like multiple re-encodings to enhance the viewing experience... It is frustrating that we are to a point now with Sage where things like this crop up, and though it would seem to be something easily remedied, there is just nobody at Sage to do it now.

Anyway, thanks.

You might try EAC3TO and see if it can process the file for you and recode the audio to mp2. If not alone then with another app that can remux the pieces back together like mkvtoolnix for instance. Or maybe handbreak has a setting that won't recode the video and you can do it in that one app instead.