Play downloaded HD content on TivoHD

[jkalnin]

Currently I download files from the PC and convert them to play on my S2 Tivo using Videora. In the not too distant future I am upgrading to a TivoHD and a nice HDTV. Now, lets say I download a TV show (legally of course) in HD format. Is the process still the same with converting the HD content with Videora? I imagine I'd have to adjust the settings if that works.

The TivoHD has Tivo-to-go now right? If so there must be a way to transcode HD files from the web for viewing them on the Tivo.

Thanks!

[Dan203]

Yes you can do this. However there are some know issues with transferring HD content that can cause playback problems such as video pixelation and audio dropouts. Although those seem to be more prominent on the Series3 TiVos then the TiVoHD units, so you may not have any trouble.

Dan

[jkalnin]

My more specific question would be what are the specs for the files? I think these are the specs:

==============================
Resolution 720 x 480, 704 x 480 (D1), 544 x 480 (3/4 D1), 480 x 480 (2/3 D1), and 352 x 480 (1/2 D1). The higher the resolution, the better the video quality and the larger the resulting file, which means longer transfer time and more disk usage on your PC and DVR.
Bit Rate 1 – 8 Mbps. The higher the bit rate, the better the video quality and the larger the resulting file. 4 Mbps is recommended for high-quality video.
Frame Rate 29.97 (standard NTSC). Do not try any different frame rates.
Aspect Ratio 4:3 (recommended) or 16:9
Audio MPEG-1 Layer 2 for TiVo DVRs without DVD; AC/3 (Dolby) for TiVo DVRs with DVD.
==============================

So I have to convert HD content to 720x480. That seems widescreen but certainly not high def! Is that right?

Shouldn't that be like 1080x720 instead of 720x480?

[Dan203]

No you can do full 1920x1080 or 1280x720, @ 60fps, with a TiVoHD. It also supports full AC3 5.1 sound. The only problem you'll have to deal with is the possible audio/video glitches.

Dan

[jkalnin]

Thanks Dan!

Last question - are these issues temporary? Like will it only pixelate for a moment or two and then recover, and will the audio drops also be temporary, or once these glitches occur is it bad times from that point on...?

[Dan203]

They're usually short, fraction of a second, glitches. Most of the time it's livable, but one time I converted an episode of ER that I had downloaded and it glitched so frequently that it was unwatchable. However, like I said, this problem seems to effect S3 units more then TiVoHD units, so you may never see it at all if you buy a TiVoHD.

Dan

[smock9]

Are there methods to that avoid these issues better than others?
I have tried a few times to transfer an HD file to my TivoHD and I get pixelation and even Tivo reboots during transfers.

Is pyTivo better than tivo desktop? Is converting the file before transferring better or worse? Any ways that tend to result in fewer problems?

[PaulS]

pyTivo has made VERY large strides recently in terms of both stability and usability. I have a biased opinion, but I think pyTivo is now superior to TiVo Desktop in most areas of comparison. No, there isn't a pretty GUI to help configure things, but other than that, pyTivo replicates nearly all that TiVo Desktop does. And since ffmpeg (the transcoding app pyTivo uses) handles nearly every format under the sun, you don't have to dish out $25 for additional codec support, like TiVo Desktop Plus.