Chaptering on Samsung C series TV

**Gus** · 08-14-2010, 07:23 PM

Hi there,

i upgraded my LE40B650 for a new LE40C650 since it has iplayer and apps etc, so now looking again at Mezzmo since Share Manager has no auto update library feature (and manual update takes nearly 20mins!).

However one feature that is "really" handy is chaptering, since the ff and rewind is 10 second jumps. No good if you need to ff to the middle of a film etc.

I've spent quite a bit of time looking at how the chaptering works on the Samsung Share Manager and it seems quite simple. For every video file there is a similar .MTA file. It's an xml file with simple tags including the timestamp and a base64 jpg encoded section for the thumbnail.

There are times that the update button doesn't create the .MTA file. But i've managed to create a basic version with a black thumbnail and jumps every 15mins. Once i add this to the video folder and rename the same as a video. The TV allows chaptering on that video. I dont even have to restart the server.

It seems that if you press the centre button on the remote control. the TV requests the server send the same filename but ending with .MTA
For example if i am watching video1.mkv and i press the centre button, then a request is made to the server for a file called video1.mta
if it is received then the chapters are shown.

I am happy to send a simple version of the MTA file.

Can Mezzmo be updated to support the .MTA extension?

I think if this can be added it would be a "major" improvement and one that could sway more people away from the Share Manager who keep it just for the FF and Chaptering etc.
Happy to help out if you need anything.

cheers

Gus

**Paul** · 08-16-2010, 09:06 AM

Hi Gus,

Thank you for your great investigation! I have been looking at those MTA files as well and been wondering whether we should support them as well.

We can add support for them, provided that you'll have to create them manually. If Mezzmo finds that file, it'll send it off.

I don't think we'll add support to actually create those files, for the time being, because that would be stepping on Samsung's toes and they may get upset

We've got a Samsung TV here that we use for testing, so no need to send an .MTA file through. What would be great, if you could e-mail support (at) conceiva (dot) com, so that I could send you a patch to test this addition.

**Gus** · 08-16-2010, 05:07 PM

Thanks Dennis. I have emailed support.

I have a base MTA file that i use as a template with a black thumbnail encoded to base64, plus 15 min chapters. I can use this for all my movies.
cheers
Gus

**Paul** · 08-16-2010, 05:09 PM

Thanks Gus - I've received your message in support and I'll get back to you with a patch within a couple of days.

**catharsys** · 08-18-2010, 08:06 PM

Denis, can I have that patch too ? Going to send an email to support
That would be a great addition... now I just need an how to create that file and i'm all set.
Gus, did you manage to find out if after chaptering it supports resume ? Because i've only seen the resume on USB

**Gus** · 08-18-2010, 09:39 PM

Catharsys,

i am happy to send/attach a copy of the basic MTA file that i have used. It's simply an XML file with the correct tags with 5 chapter points. I found the chapter image resolution and encoded a black image to base64 then added this 5 times together with 15 minute intervals in seconds. I didnt think i would need to advance chapters beyond 1hr 15mins. I can also send through the process i used to encode/decode JPG <-> base64. so you can make your own thumbnail images to be shown at the bottom of your TV when you press centre button on remote.

As for resume, i assume you mean the blue button prompt? to resume a movie after turning the TV off? i dont know but will check tonight for you?
I really do think though this is a proprietary feature from Samsung, since the resume 'point' or time has to be stored somewhere, And the MTA file doesn't change once created. So it's likely this is stored in the Share Manager database (filename: ace.dat).
To be honest this one doesnt really bother me too much as once we have chaptering, you're only ever 7mins away from your resume point anyway?

just my 2 cents!

PS... PC Share Manager v4.2 doesn't seem to create MTA files any more (a bug perhaps) so back rev to v4.1 if you want to run tests.

cheers

Gus

**crytec** · 08-19-2010, 01:30 AM

Hey

I really hope you think about integrating this feature in the new version of mezzmo!
A lot of people are buying samsung tvs at the time, and every tv does support dlna.
It would be really great if the chaptering becomes standard in mezzmo...please think about this option, not only as a patch! I dont think samsung would not appreciate that, cause thats making their feature more usable

So what do you think?

**Gus** · 08-19-2010, 03:19 AM

Originally Posted by catharsys

Gus, did you manage to find out if after chaptering it supports resume ? Because i've only seen the resume on USB

Just spent a bit of time testing..No resume i'm afraid. I did however find out something quite interesting...

If i play an AVI file on my Samsung BluRay player (BD-C5500) from Share Manager then turn off the BluRay.
Then play the same file from the C650 TV, the Resume prompt is shown (?) and will resume from where the C5500 left off! It proves the TV doesn't save the last known point of watching. It is definately stored in Share Manager somewhere.

So Mezzmo would need to provide this piece of communication to the TV. A toughy i think.

Like i said before if Dennis can implement Chaptering i think this is sufficient for me. It would be a major selling point and a fantastic feature that no other DLNA server has that i know of (except PCSM).