Profile Modification Question

[Aaron407]

Sounds great Dennis, thanks again!

[Aaron407]

One thing I should note [in my attempt to be a beggar and chooser ;-)] is that the ability to ff/rw the BDP while transcoding would be even more beneficial than to have the ability to play the mp4's without transcoding since it would then fully accommodate the mkv's and other obscure formats. I just built my 6 core computer, so the processor would easily be up to the task.

Ok, I'm done pushing my luck...

[Paul]

If the BDP allows to FF/REW only certain formats while transcoding (and I haven't tested this yet to confirm or deny) and if that format is MPEG2, then of course you'll be losing quality when transcoding your MKVs, since h264 provides for a much richer picture and smoother compression. This needs some testing, so this is all very preliminary

Pre-transcoding would help in this case, I believe, as you could keep the quality and movies will be ready to FF/REW once you start watching them (because they're already transcoded).

[kdsvs1999]

I've been looking at this as well with the same problems for several days. Have bdp-s370 and the server always transcodes the MP4 file (same ffmpg data as in last couple of posts shown here). I can't confirm the sony will actually play the noted MP4 format through DLNA...but it definately plays via the usb as also noted here. General seraching seems to imply that the BDP will not but the sonly specs have changed over time and gone back and forth between it won't play and will play. The latest manual seems to indicate it is a valid format for playback (unless there is some hidden fineprint somewhere). I just can't tell if it should or not by any of my research. I'll keep watching this thread in hopes of a final clarification and hopefully a positive outcome.

On a side note...is there a way to disable saving each transcode file. I really don't want to keep saving the transcode files on my drive. I just had problems with my files ending early and realized the drive was filling up..I did change the drive folder to another drive but I have 100's of movies and I really don't want a duplicat set that have been transcoded. Thanks for your great Software and customer support!

[Paul]

To definitely (or as close to that as possible) check whether a file plays or not via DLNA just disable transcoding. I'm not finished with testing it here yet, so not sure yet myself.

You can limit the transcoding folder size (from the default 80 GBs) down to let's say 5-10 GBs and that'll make sure it's cleaned up. I wouldn't recommend making it smaller than 10 GBs though.

[Aaron407]

I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I personally would be ok with having MPEG-2 transcoding rather than H.264 if it meant having the ability to ff/rw. I have more than enough processor and network speed to support very high bitrates in an effort to reduce quality degradation.

Again, I really want to stress how much I appreciate such directed customer support. Even though I don't have everything working exactly how I want it, I've still recommended the program to five other friends and family :-)

[Aaron407]

I tried the MP4 files on my PS3 as well. It plays them just fine and allows ff/rw, but always ends up jumping back to the beginning of the file if I try to ff over 1.5x speed. It does the same thing with transcoding mkv files. Maybe this bit of information may help in some way, shape, or form, but probably not unfortunately.

[Paul]

On the PS3 you need to use the "go to time" function (or whatever it's called) - when you specify a time to jump to, it should work ok. It appears that there's a bug in PS3' firmware with the way it handles MPEG-TS containers. Again, it's different to the BDP.

With the MPEG2 transcoding - try the "Sony Bravia KDL W" device profile, that'll transcode to MPEG2.

[Aaron407]

I tried the 'go to time' thing with the PS3 as well. It jumped further ahead, but the time wasn't accurate in any way. i.e. I would tell it to jump 45 minutes ahead, but it would end up still in the opening credits, even though it said it was 45 minutes in.

Oh the quirks of media serving...

I'll give Sony Bravia KDL W a shot. I believe I tried it once before and had one or more problems with it (aspect ratio maybe?), but I'll try again.

[Paul]

With the PS3 - was that file being transcoded or was it already transcoded? If it was in the process of transcoding and it hasn't transcoded 45-minutes worth yet, then it won't go to that point of course.