HD Conversion Program

[Allanon]

I recently got a Tivo HD and was disappointed when I realized Tivo Desktop Plus transcodes 720p and 1080i file formats in to 480p video when viewed on the Tivo HD. But the other day I found a site that has 720p and 1080i MPEG2 files and when they are transfered to the Tivo HD using Tivo Desktop Plus they remain in 720p and 1080i when viewed.

My question is does anyone know of a program and it's settings that will allow me to convert other 720p and 1080i video formats to MPEG2 files so they can be viewed in 720p or 1080i on my Tivo HD?

Below is a link to the site I found the 1080i and 720p MPEG2 files that work with the Tivo HD:

http://www.thehdvc.com/

[dlfl]

I recently got a Tivo HD and was disappointed when I realized Tivo Desktop Plus transcodes 720p and 1080i file formats in to 480p video when viewed on the Tivo HD. But the other day I found a site that has 720p and 1080i MPEG2 files and when they are transfered to the Tivo HD using Tivo Desktop Plus they remain in 720p and 1080i when viewed.

My question is does anyone know of a program and it's settings that will allow me to convert other 720p and 1080i video formats to MPEG2 files so they can be viewed in 720p or 1080i on my Tivo HD?

Below is a link to the site I found the 1080i and 720p MPEG2 files that work with the Tivo HD:

http://www.thehdvc.com/
First, have you looked at this FAQ thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=371710)particularly Section III ?

Now there is an answer to your question: pyTivo (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=328459), see also the pyTivo Wiki (http://pytivo.armooo.net/). This program uses FFMPEG to transcode any input video into a TiVo-compatible mpeg2 at your specified size and bitrate and streams it to the TiVo. Depending on video size, bitrate and your hardware you can frequently watch it in real time.

Unfortunately if you read the FAQ and the pyTivo thread you see that HD TiVos have problems for mpeg2 files transferred at too high a bit rate so at least one user has resorted to transcoding at lower resolutions and bitrates to get around this when using pyTivo. Thus the question is how much you gain by using pyTiVo over Desktop.

[thczv]

I have the opposite question. Are any of you aware of a simple software solution that will let me transcode mpeg2 HD files so that they will take up less space when stored on my PC? Once I have them converted and stored, I can use pytivo to watch them on my Tivo. I have been looking for a solution that can be automated as much as possible. I use the TVHarmony Autopilot converter for SD files, but when I tried it on an HD file it choked.

[Mach1_8]

I have the opposite question. Are any of you aware of a simple software solution that will let me transcode mpeg2 HD files so that they will take up less space when stored on my PC? Once I have them converted and stored, I can use pytivo to watch them on my Tivo. I have been looking for a solution that can be automated as much as possible. I use the TVHarmony Autopilot converter for SD files, but when I tried it on an HD file it choked.

Are the files you are looking to transcode from you TiVo? If so, I've been using the TiVo Desktop + to encode HD shows into h264 with good results. It required some editing of the default resolutions, but the whole process was automated which was nice.

[thczv]

Are the files you are looking to transcode from you TiVo? If so, I've been using the TiVo Desktop + to encode HD shows into h264 with good results. It required some editing of the default resolutions, but the whole process was automated which was nice.

Yes, I am looking to transcode from my Tivo. I had believed that Tivo Desktop + wouldn't let me save full resolution HD programs, but maybe I have it wrong. How did you edit the default resolutions?