DVB PC FILE SIZE and Bit-rate

liamtech

Hi Everyone

So im starting to get back into recording DVB to my hard drive for compression and editing. Thus far i have a DVB-S card, and im planning on getting a DVB-T adapter for Terrestrial (any recommendations would be appreciated, keeping in mind a modest budget). For now, im recording DVB-T on my Walker STB, and copying the .TS files over to my PC for editing and compression (For now my preferred compression is to MKV)

My question relates to the File Sizes/Bit-Rate of Saorview stations. I realize RTE1 and 2 are HD but im wondering if my Walker box is inflating the size of the files, as it seems LUDICROUSLY large considering the fact that the TS files are already encoded in MP4. Comparably, HD Satellite stations seem to be noticeably smaller in size.

Compression isnt a problem, but moving forward, if i wanted to record a period of TV, (2 world cup games as an example, uninterrupted, for later edition), i would be approaching 15-18GB at a minimum. - Will the file size be the same with a DVB-T PC card/dongle?

Appreciate any advice or Tips from DVB enthusiasts

Gerry Wicklow

As a very rough rule of thumb you can expect 4Gb per hour of full 1080HD in a TS file. This is effectively a raw copy of the transmitted data. If you are very concerned about file size you could compress them to H625 or VP9 with a powerful PC. Naturally you would also need compatible players to decode later.

liamtech

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

As a very rough rule of thumb you can expect 4Gb per hour of full 1080HD in a TS file. This is effectively a raw copy of the transmitted data. If you are very concerned about file size you could compress them to H625 or VP9 with a powerful PC. Naturally you would also need compatible players to decode later.

Thanks Gerry! TBH that is about the size of it, so il just accept it.

As for Post Recording Compression iv been using Wondershare to Compress the .TS to MKV - i could use HEVC-MKV for better quality, and a Smaller file size but its hardly worth the wait in terms of processing time (roughly 3x the time)

Im unfamiliar with the codec you mentioned - presumably H265 is the latest? Any advice you could give me on software compressors, codecs, etc would be appreciated. I was always an enthusiast, but im TOTALLY OUT OF TOUCH.. havent done any of this in many years - so any tips would be VERY WELCOME

Software/Hardware Config as follows

Intel X6800 Core Xtreme @ 3.2GHZ
3GB Ram
Windows 7 32bit
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack

Technisat SkyStar 2 (DVB S1 but able to pick up DVB-HD broadcasts from non S2 transponders)

DVB-VIEWER PRO using LAV Video Decoder for both MPG2(SD) and H264(HD)

DVBDREAM with Slightly different configuration - Microsoft Built in decoder and custom render

Compression By Way Of Wondershare Video Convertor (offers MP4, DIVX, XVID, MKV, HEVC MKV, etc)

I plan on buying a DVB-T adapter for the computer (either PCI or USB) and possibly updating to an S2 Satellite card

Like i said, out of touch with this so all advice greatly appreciated - can include screen grabs if anyone is interested

Johnboy1951

I don't bother anymore with trying to reduce file sizes ..... it is much simpler to just use a larger drive for storage!

USB DVB-T (not T2) tuners are available for about €10.

Ten Pin

There's a cheap DVB T2 tuner available for X box, BUT getting drivers for windows, Linux or enigma2 is a problem (search online for attempts by some to get it working).

A couple of posters bought one but didn't have any success (that I know of), maybe try one out and see if you can get it working.

This one...
https://www.gamestop.ie/Xbox%20One/Games/55762

I think someone got one in Dealz for 6 euro. It's DVB T2 whereas most of the dongles at that price are DVB T (which will work with Saorview but not Freeview).

liamtech

Ten Pin wrote: »

There's a cheap DVB T2 tuner available for X box, BUT getting drivers for windows, Linux or enigma2 is a problem (search online for attempts by some to get it working).

A couple of posters bought one but didn't have any success (that I know of), maybe try one out and see if you can get it working.

This one...
https://www.gamestop.ie/Xbox%20One/Games/55762

I think someone got one in Dealz for 6 euro. It's DVB T2 whereas most of the dongles at that price are DVB T (which will work with Saorview but not Freeview).

Very Interesting - the DVBDREAM software package bypasses the driver and works directly off the chip for my DVB-S card - i will certainly have a look - see what i can get -

Johnboy1951

Ten Pin wrote: »

There's a cheap DVB T2 tuner available for X box, BUT getting drivers for windows, Linux or enigma2 is a problem (search online for attempts by some to get it working).

A couple of posters bought one but didn't have any success (that I know of), maybe try one out and see if you can get it working.

This one...
https://www.gamestop.ie/Xbox%20One/Games/55762

I think someone got one in Dealz for 6 euro. It's DVB T2 whereas most of the dongles at that price are DVB T (which will work with Saorview but not Freeview).

IIRC, the Xbox USB tuner is supported in LibreELEC, so presumably it can be used in Linux.

Gerry Wicklow

I'd agree with Johnboy1951, bulk storage is cheap these days. H265 is the next gen from h264 mp4 codec with similar results to VP9 used for mkv. h265 encoding takes serious processing power unless you have a high-end Nvidia card. €700+ for a video card buys many TB of HDD. As for software I used to use Xmedia recode for Windows and Handbrake for Linux, both of which can encode to h264 or h265. TSDoctor is great for trimming TV recordings, advert and surplus audio stream removal.

EDIT: H265 is intended primarily for 4k where the improved compression really affects file size.

marno21

For existing "legacy" HD, e.g. everything up to 1080i, I don't think there's a need for h265 as h264 is sufficient.

You could use x264 to encode some of these recordings, using a Yadif 2x deinterlace will give you decent 50fps progressive video that's much clearer than the standard deinterlacing that gives you 25fps progessive output that looks cat especially for sports.