Is MP4 or TS the better format?
 

Hi guy, i cant decide what to buy

AverMedia EzRecorder 310
or
hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus

This device is use to capture tv show for set-top box or local tv show.
let not talk abt HDCP, assume everything is ok

the reason i ask is because AverMedia seen to be only able to capture Mp4 without any pc (direct to hdd)
while hauppauge can capture format like .ts .mts but it request pc

mp4 and .ts are containers, not codecs.
Depends on the content, bitrate, GOP size, many many many many encoding and structural factors.
Depends on what you want to do with the recordings, how you want to play them, etc..
Neither recording will be BluRay compatible if that's what you want.
Both are final delivery formats not designed for edits unless you can live with some quality loss.
So there's no easy answer to your question.

hmmmm
tht is what i cant decide.
in term of quality which is better?

since is cap from tv, it sure there is some edit is removing starts, ends and commercials breaks sometimes
from what i see in asia country... most of their file is cap direct in .ts .tp (which they capture from set-top box)
not much ppl cap direct to mp4 unless they encode it?

AverMedia say Encoding Format: MP4 (codec: H.264 and AAC)

Again, the encoding determines quality, not the container. Both products use h.264, as you'll see from looking over their specs. Recordings from both products are generally the same quality. But you should NEVER use gaming PVR's for captures off cable TV. Gaming caps deinterlace the signal, discard frames, and ruin the results. ALmost all TV programming is interlaced or telecined. Choose a non-gaming HD PVR if you want Hauppauge or Avermedia.

A greater number of external devices can play mp4, while fewer devices can play .ts. To edit either of those versions you need smart-rendering video editors that can make cuts on specific frames and smart-render only the immediate cut areas without re-encoding the entire video. With edits you are limited to cuts and joins, because you cannot filter or otherwise make image modifications without re-encoding. The recordings can be burned to disc as data files and played via optical drives, or written to external hard drives and played via USB. Make sure the playback device can handle the physical playback media and the formats you choose, whether mp4 or .ts.

i look @ their spec.
actually both of them do support progressive or interlaced

i comparing Hauppauge HD PVR 2 1512 with avermedia ezrecorder 310

but look @ FAQ, Hauppauge did explain this :/
HD PVR 2 encodes in real time directly to the hard disk in an H.264 format. It records in TS or M2TS file formats, which is a basic H.264 'transport stream'. Many people would like to know if the quality of a TS or M2TS recording is as good as an MP4 recording. The video quality of MP4 and TS files are the same. The primary difference between TS and MP4 files is that TS files are flat while MP4 files have an index at the beginning of the MP4 file. Otherwise, the video bits inside the files are the same and therefore the video quality of TS, M2TS and MP4 files are the same.
All record file types can be used to burn AVCHD Blu-ray compatible discs but you will need to supply your own disc burning application.

I prefer Hauppauge myself, which I own (original HD PVR).

You can always try either of them. It will take only one day of audition and playback to help you make up your mind. Decide how you want to play your recorded videos, whether from official BluRay disc spec or external USB drives, or media servers. Otherwise you have to play them from a computer. 1920x1080 HD 29.97 NTSC or 25 fps PAL video for BluRay is interlaced, not progressive. The only HD formats that are progressive are at 23.976 or 24fps film speed, or double frame rate 1280x720, or Ultra HD BluRay. All other HD formats are interlaced or telecined. Hauppauge and Avermedia specs imply that 1080p/60 and MP4 are BluRay compatible, which is not correct. 1080p/60 is ULTRA HD, not HD. If you want Ultra HD BluRay you need Ultra HD playback hardware and software. MP4 containers are never BluRay compatible. Understand the format basics before you invest, and check that your playback hardware can handle the formats. The basic specs for BluRay disc are here http://www.videohelp.com/hd#tech.

Products from all makers of PVR devices are required by law to comply with HDCP protection via HDMI. All of these products have their own recording/playback software and user guides.

I using the uSB-live 2 to capture a VHS

actually their mt2s is ts file?

The video is an MPEG-TS file, as shown in line #4 of the info you posted above. Under the "Video" heading in the above info, you can see that the file is encoded as MPEG2.

M2TS is an AVCHD TS (transport steam) container. It can be played with many PC media players. Many external BluRay media players (but not all of them) can play it from USB hard drives, USB memory sticks, or authored with menus, etc., as AVCHD format onto DVD disc or an external hard drive/memory stick. MPEG-TS is a lossy final delivery intraframe format not designed for further filtering. It can be edited with simple cuts and joins using a smart-rendering editor designed for MPEG-TS, such as TMPGEnc Smart Renderer, Adobe Premiere, etc.

If you want to do any color correction, denoising, etc., from VHS you can use the USB Live-2 to capture VHS to lossless YUY2 AVI using VirtualDub.

However, I just noticed something. The audio in your file is MPEG Layer2. That audio format is not valid for AVCHD or BluRay. Both require Dolby AC3 or LPCM audio. But you can always resample the audio. Official AVCHD is usually encoded as AVC/H264 or MPEG-4 AVC. Overall the video is not valid for BluRay in several respects, but will probably work as AVCHD with the proper audio codec.

i wonder do Hauppauge pvr use the same format?

Hauppauge PVRs use h.264.

Capturing VHS to lossy formats is not the best method unless you're in a rush and don't plan on any video restoration or repair except cut and join.

You haven't said what you want for final playback formats and methods. How do you want to play and archive these videos?

hi

1. mainly is to archive those VHS to digital as It easy to get hold of player to playback those format.
2. actually i do think of making into to DVD (but i dunno how?)
3. by looking at the quality. i dont think there is a need to video restoration or repair but again for VHS, if i do colour
correction or make it sharp will it look more worst? Cant make VHS to HD..
i guess it best to left it original :P and worst, i dont know how to use VirtualDub. But than i will capture one to test test.

this is one of the video which i capture in mt2s and upload to youtube. Do you think it look great? just colour abit dark but not sure isit my pc monitor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hoaf8SOqLM

final playback formats: DVD & digital format?

BluRay players are required for h.264 formats. Not all players can play all formats, especially cheaper models.

DVD is MPEG. DVD can't be anything else.

It will look worse. The less you know about it, the worse it will look.

You can, but it's ugly. VHS does not have the resolution for HD.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video.htm

Colors are dark and oversaturated. YouTube re-encodes everything with compression artifacts. We can't judge quality from YouTube alone.

Then capture your tapes to DVD formats. You cannot use h.264 for DVD. DVD spec and formats for PAL & NTSC: http://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech. Easiest way is to use a DVD recorder.

Haha.
I tot you may suggest for me to create my own DVD rather than using the DVD recorder.

For digital format, which do you suggest? Except Avi?

Use the USB Live-2 to capture to MPG. Don't use M2TS or TS or any other container. The container's file extension is MPG, encoded with MPEG-2. You can then use Live-2's software to author the video for DVD format and burn it to disc. You will have to learn to use their software for edit, author, and burning. A better method would be to to capture with the USB Live-2 to MPG, then use a smart-rendering editor and authoring program such as TMPGEnc Authoring Works 5 or VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum to create the DVD and burn to disc.

There is no other way to do this without learning to use software designed for what you want to do.

Which software can capture mpg?

Use the USB Live-2 software to capture. You already own the product and its software.

Lol.
I using it.. It only capture to .Ts or mt2s.

The file mediainfo I show you also capture using their software .

You said you used the Hauppauge USB Live-2. Is this the product you're using: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/produc..._usblive2.html?

Yes. I using Hauppauge Capture. It their software