Help - Simplest Process for Tivo to Windows Mobile 6.0

[pbanders]

Looking for recommendations for the simplest process to get content from my Tivo to my phone, a Samsung Blackjack I (SGH-i607) that I've flashed up to Windows Mobile 6.0. I have a 4 GB microSHDC card in the phone. The phone has WMP10. Here's the PC software I have installed:

* Tivo Desktop Plus v2.6.2
* VideoReDo Plus v2.5.6.512
* Windows Media Player 11
* Activesync 4.5.0
* Windows Media Encoder 9

The PC has a 2.8GHz P4, 4 GB RAM, and a 500 GB drive dedicated for video.

Note that WMV video that I've acquired and created through lenghty processes (not from .tivo files) plays just fine on the phone in WMP10. There's nothing wrong with the phone.

I'm willing to buy additional software (e.g. WM6.0 players) and watch in any format, just so long as the process is fairly straightforward and produces a decent, watchable file. I've tried synchronizing .tivo files in WMP11 to the phone - didn't work, generates an error after 10+ minutes of waiting. I've also tried creating standard MPEG-4 files with Tivo Desktop Plus, they convert fine, are actually playable on the phone, but while the audio is fine, the video plays a few frames, stops, jumps, plays some more, etc. iPod encoded mp4 doesn't play, and other conversion formats (H.264, Treo, etc.) I haven't tried because they don't look like they'd work.

Note that iPod video automatically converted by Desktop Plus plays just fine on my kids iPod's, and converts in the background fairly quickly on this machine. Please don't suggest I get an iPod, I already know I could do that but this is the one machine I carry.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[ggieseke]

MPEG-4 files created using Desktop Plus play beautifully on my Cingular 8525 (also flashed to Windows Mobile 6.0 & WMP10), so that file format is fine. H.264 does not work. If the video is stuttering I suspect that the difference is in the processor speed, which is 220MHz on the Blackjack vs 400MHz on my 8525. The MPEG-4 settings Plus uses are 320x240 at 29.97 frames/sec and use a bitrate of 590K, which is probably too much for the CPU to handle.

Since you already have Media Encoder 9 and have created a WMV video that works, you could try using TivoDecode or DirectShowDump to convert .TiVo files to MPEG-2, then use your existing Media Encoder profile to convert it to WMV.

A single-step method that would be much easier in the long run involves modifying the Desktop Plus MPEG-4 settings to use a lower framerate & bitrate. There's a free program here http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/d10resourceeditor.htm that you can use. First, go to the "C:\Program Files\TiVo\Desktop\Plus" directory and make a backup copy of tivotrans.dll, then use the resource editor to open the original file. Expand ENCODEPROFILES - 220 - English on the left side of the screen and then you can modify the settings for the MPEG-4 profile on the right side of the screen. Save your changes, and to restore everything back to normal just replace tivotrans.dll with the backup copy.

I would shoot a test video on the Blackjack and upload it to your PC to see what kind of framerate and bitrate it's happy with. One review that I saw on the Blackjack said that it uses 9fps (which is really low) but a cnet article says that it has 3 different settings of fine, normal & economy. You should be able to come up with a profile that doesn't overload the processor but still gives you a decent picture. It sounds complicated but if you can figure out the UI on Media Encoder you shouldn't have any problems. ;)

Greg

[pbanders]

Excellent, I'll try modifying the setting. I agree, the slow processor of the Blackjack is what's causing the stuttering. Thanks, I appreciate your reply.