PS3 Format

[thejrose1984]

PS3 Format

[mackworth]

First let me disavow any knowledge of what I'm talking about here. Although one of the developers for cTiVo, I'm not an expert in mencoder options, nor did we develop this particular format spec, nor do I even own a PS3.

That being said, the video options for this particular format are:
-of lavf -lavfopts format=mp4 -ovc x264 -x264encopts level_idc=41:bitrate=1500:threads=auto:bframes=0:global_header:subq=5:me=umh -vf pp=lb,scale=-1:-1,harddup

The relevant part for your comment is, I believe, near the end: scale=-1:-1
As I read the mencoder spec, that means "copy the current resolution". So I think you are correct, it is not generating 1080p, but passing through whatever TiVo recorded the show at, usually 720p.

So, unless you disagree, as there's no information added by conversion from 720p to 1080p, I think it probably best to fix cTiVo's description rather than change the format. If you would indeed like to create 1080p, I think you can do so by creating a manual format in cTiVo by duplicating the PS3 one, and then changing that scale=-1:-1 to 'scale=1920:1080`

[thejrose1984]

Okay, I'll give that a shot and let you know if that works.

[thejrose1984]

Created a custom format based on the pre-built PS3 and changed the value of scale to 1920:1080 like suggested. This created a video file at the correct resolution and ideal file size, however the video quality is very poor. The video and audio are out of sync considerably, plus the video seems more like a photo slideshow than a video.

Also, I checked the configuration of my TiVo and confirmed the highest resolution supported is 1080i and not 1080p as I originally thought. Let me know what else I could try and I'll be more than happy to do so. If it helps, I have an Elgato Turbo h.264 encoder as well. I tried some of the pre-built formats that use the hardware encoder, however I found the video sizes (in GB) were too large.

[mackworth]

Unfortunately, I can't be of much help without a PS3, and I haven't been able to find much info on line about what formats it accepts. Did the video play reasonably on the Mac, or was it just on the PS3 it was bad. (I tried the pre-built one on a file, and it played fine on my Mac.) Have you tried the AppleTV setting (my personal normal use for a variety of devices) and seeing if the resulting file will play on it?

[thejrose1984]

Sorry for the late response! To answer your question, AppleTV and similar formats generate fairly large files, which is what I'm trying to avoid. I'm looking for a balance between smaller file sizes and good quality that can be streamed via Plex.

Right now I'm using the YouTube HD format without 720p output files. This seems to get the job done considering TiVo has a max resolution of 1080i and the issues noted above.

[mackworth]

Ok, glad that's working for you. (Not quite sure what "without 720p output files" means, though)?