Help with Replaying MPEG2: Convert Hi8 to DirecTV

[Steelers__Fan]

I have several hi-8 family tapes that I wanted to convert to view on my DirecTV receiver and PS3 using TVersity. I have a Haupaugge PVR250 that I use to input the recordings from the camcorder and record them using the included software known as WinTV2000. I used DVD long play recording setting which is the equivalent of 2.5GB for one hour of playback and a bit rate of 4.8 - 6.2 Mbits/sec. For those that are unaware, the PVR250 has a built-in encoder/decoder.

The first time I did this, the DirecTV receiver couldn't keep up with the playback of the final mpeg2 recording even with a wired connection from the Tversity server. The PS3 also stuttered and paused throughout and flipped the video upside down.

I decided to transfer the hi-8 tapes again, except this time I used ULead Studio Moviemaker 6.0 and the live capture function. I set the recording setting to DVD using MPEG 2 2Mbits/sec which is the equivalent of 1.4GB for one hour of playback and a bit rate of 1.6 - 2 Mbits/sec. The good news is the DirecTV receivers were able to play this version back great. No stuttering, picture right-side up and quality decent enough. Unfortunately though, the DirecTV doesn't have features to fast forward or rewind yet.

The PS3 does, however, but still played very choppy video, upside picture and basically was worthless. Here's what else I tried (that didn't work):

I tried uninstalling all codecs and installed the K-lite Full Codec pack (latest version). Tried "flip video" on ffsdshow to get the picture right side up on the PS3. Changed the hardware settings on Tversity between HR20 and PS3. The PS3 did actually play without stuttering once when I used the HR20 hardware settings in Tversity (as compared to the PS3 settings), but the picture was still flipped upside down.

By the way, any other movie I play on the PS3 plays great and these MPEG2 home videos look fine on my pc and now (after decoding in 2.0 Mbits) DirectTV.

Does anyone have any additional suggestions? I'm basically looking to move these hi-8 tapes into a format that is watchable. Basically, I would like it to be the size of a typical .avi movie file (about 1 GB) as compared to the 4GB they end up being for a 2 hour recording (under either DVD Long Play or Mpeg 2.0 Mbits). I also don't want to compromise the quality too much.

Maybe there's another software program I could use to take the raw recording from the hi-8 tape and transfer it (but this may be impossible with the PVR250's built-in hardware). I'd rather not convert later because an mpeg to .avi conversion can take hours. Add that to the two hours I've been spending transferring the tape and it's a long process. I'm sure the issue is something in the recording in both WinTV2000 and Ulead's software. Even when I turned these movies into DVD's I still couldn't load them on the PS3 without the aforementioned issues, but if I take another DVD movie I have and copy it to my computer it plays fine on the PS3.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[admin]

This is one of those longer questions that needs a more detailed reply. I'll have to get to it a bit slower than normal, hence the delay. Another week or two and I'll have more for you. Thanks.

[Steelers__Fan]

Admin, I actually had quite some success as of late (depending on how you look at it).

I decided to scrap the DirecTV's use of playing media. It's just not ready for prime time as of yet. I can play a few mpegs (small ones) okay and mp3's, but it's not practical to play entire libraries of media. Instead, I decided to focus 100% on my PS3's ability to play back media.

I uninstalled just about every "installed" CODEC on my system. I say "installed" because I only utilized the add/remove program feature and didn't use a third party spy program to find all my codecs. I then installed the CCCP Codec pack. Then I installed the latest version of TVersity (I believe I skipped the installation of the TVersity CODECs).

Right off the bat the large 8Mbits/sec files would play fine on the PS3 and no mirror image. I still had no sound and couldn't figure out why. I then went to the sound options when playing videos back on the PS3 (the option in the video playback mode itself) and switched the speaker to the left and it worked. Apparently, the sound must have been set for one speaker and the recording wasn't apparently in stereo - weird considering I used a y-adapter when transferring the sound from the original hi-8.

All in all, I'm pretty happy just to get the PS3 up and running with my hi-8 files. Some observations though:

1. It really is a shame that there's not some universal format for playback of media in general. It's sad that a DirecTV receiver can get away with only playing a few things, while a PS3 can play more. I understand the technical differences but try explaining to the spouse why something plays back on one device, but not another.

2. Converting an .avi file should be faster. Even with a super computer I hear that .avi conversions can still take up to 1/2 hour.

Thanks for the forum.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

but try explaining to the spouse

Having known a number of computer programmers and engineers, this answer is easy -- they're single. They have non-social personalities and what would seem obvious to use normal mortals is completely oblivious to them. I've been to their homes and offices, and you would be surprised how much techie and computer crap they have, yet they lack what I'd consider bare essentials: scissors, spoons, toasters, etc. I often think you have to be partially insane to be the technical designer for video hardware and software. Some of their quirks just are not normal.

Quote:

Converting an .avi file should be faster. Even with a super computer I hear that .avi conversions can still take up to 1/2 hour.

Can't say I agree with this one. Yes, I also wish it were fater, but remember that you're basically trying to re-save thousands (hundreds of thousands) of images in a short time span. The bottleneck is a mix of CPU (or CPUs), RAM and hard drives. It does go quite a bit faster on a power double-quad CPU on an SSD -- but that type of setup carries other drawbacks (price being one of them!)

Thanks for your follow-up.