Bit Rate & Resolution Help

[tkissick]

I have a series 1 SA unit, and I have been pulling TY streams off for about a month now. I am creating DVD files to burn to DVD, and I'm also converting to MPG for viewing on my laptop. Everything has gone rather well.

The issue I am having is with bit rates and resolution. I know that you can set these via TivoWeb, but I haven't found a really good explanation of the settings for optimal playback.

I have plenty of storage space on my unit, so I have changed all of my recordings on my unit to BEST quality; however, I can't really say that's what I'm seeing when I view the output. There are some digital artifacts when I view in full screen, and the default MPG files seem to open at a rather small resolution and have to be upsized to full screen in order to view them well.

Can someone help me out here and tell me what settings I should be using to record programs on the TiVo - prior to extraction? Thanks in advance.

[TheWickedPriest]

If you aim to make DVDs, then you should set DVD resolution -- 720x480 (720x576 for PAL countries). This is not one of the standard Tivo resolutions (except on the DVD recorders), so you have to hack it.

As for artifacts, you'll always see them, no matter what you do.

[tkissick]

Thanks for the feedback, but I do have one more question for you. Your response to change the resolution to 720 x 480 is just the information I'm looking for. I don't know how to change that on the TiVo. I know that there is a 0, 1, 2, etc. number that you have to put in the resolution field, but I don't know what these numbers mean. Which one do I use for DVD resolution?

[eastwind]

Thanks for the feedback, but I do have one more question for you. Your response to change the resolution to 720 x 480 is just the information I'm looking for. I don't know how to change that on the TiVo. I know that there is a 0, 1, 2, etc. number that you have to put in the resolution field, but I don't know what these numbers mean. Which one do I use for DVD resolution?
IIRC, not all TiVos are created equal. Try each of the settings and see what you get. I think on mine it's 0-720x480, 1-352x480, and I forget the rest. Try each setting and make a 5-minute manual recording. Then extract and MUX and test with mpegprop.exe or your favorite MPEG info tool.

ew

[wkozun]

It is 0 for 720x480. You have to change both Bitrates and AltBitrates and then push the Update Resources and then reboot. You have to press enter each time you change a field.

As a trial you might want to try changing the Basic to 0 and play around with the bitrate as you likely don't use Basic quality. That way you don't screw up your current formats.

Don't change the RecordQuality Numbers as they don't really do anything.

For more info do a search on Bitrate and resolution and you should find some threads with lots of info. Here is a link to a thread - I don't know if it still works due to the forum changes.
http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25896&page=2&pp=15