Twonky Forum

Hi all,

Next week i'll be getting two new Sony Bravia tv's (37EX500 and 22EX320).
I'm a newby at video formats ... and trying to find the right resources to learn all this, but all i get is very confusing information about containers and codecs ...

One of these confusing resources is the forum here, esp this topic http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9570

If i look in that thread so see what is says about Sony Bravia tvs:

Limited media format support: AVCHD, HDV, MPEG2-PS, MP3 and JPG only. No support for DivX, AVI, QuickTime or WMV

If i have found the right resources on the net, this list of supported formats contains both containers and codecs. Am i correct?

Then there is the following practical problem:
I have a large collection of video files, ripped from DVD's or otherwise (mostly ISO files and avi files)
In what format should i convert these so that my Bravia tvs can play them directly from TwonkyServer running on my Readynas? What container? What codec? what resolution/bitrate ....

And what tools can i use to do that?

I'd very much appreciate a link to some video containers/codes 101 ...

thanks

If there's a great video/codec primer I'd love to read it as well. While we're waiting for a link to that, I'll tell you what little I know about this.

1. Sony's 2011 TVs support more formats than their earlier TVs. I haven't seen a full list yet, but I know they support MPEG-2 and some types of MPEG-4.

I have a large collection of video files, ripped from DVD's or otherwise (mostly ISO files and avi files)
In what format should i convert these so that my Bravia tvs can play them directly from TwonkyServer running on my Readynas? What container? What codec? what resolution/bitrate ....

MPEG-2 is the only video format that all DLNA-certified devices are required to play. I used to convert all of my HD videos to MPEG-2 1920x1080, unitl I found that some devices like my Sony Blu-ray can't play them. In those cases and for ripped DVDs you'll probably want to convert to a 720x480 MPEG-2 file. I've found that AVI is a pretty good container to use because many devices support it.

And what tools can i use to do that?

I've read that Handbrake is good for this, but I haven't used it. I use AnyDVD and AOA DVD Ripper. I like AOA because it can save a DVD as a single MPEG-2 file. No VOBs or chapters or any of that.
http://www.aoamedia.com/dvd_ripper.htm

I like AnyDVD because it does seem to work with more DVDs than any other software I've used.
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html

This is just my opinion. There are some real experts on this forum. Let's hear what they want to say.

- Rick

Thanks for you reply! But it keeps confusing me ...

MPEG-2 is the only video format that all DLNA-certified devices are required to play. I used to convert all of my HD videos to MPEG-2 1920x1080, unitl I found that some devices like my Sony Blu-ray can't play them. In those cases and for ripped DVDs you'll probably want to convert to a 720x480 MPEG-2 file. I've found that AVI is a pretty good container to use because many devices support it.

If I understand correctly, MPEG-2 is a codec which is supported by my TV, but AVI is a container, which isnt supported by Bravia. Am i right?

No other experts available?

What does your TV's manual say it will play? Sony user documents usually have a Specifications section near the end that details this. Pay particular note to what will and will not play with DLNA. Most formats won't play with DLNA.

Techincal specifications http://www.sony.nl/product/tv-94-37-lcd ... nicalspecs say the following: If I look at the DLNA certificate http://certification.dlna.org/certs/REG40238565.pdf, it specifies as follows: So not very much extra info there.

Yes not very much more information.
All it says for video is that it supports-
NTSC program streams (i.e. MPEG2)
PAL program streams (i.e. MPEG2)
Standard Definition Transport streams in a variety of regional formats (basically MPEG2)

I would suggest you call Sony and try and pin them down to what formats/codecs are played via DLNA. Their BD players documentation seems to be much more specific.

I disabled twonky today, and started miniDlna today which is pre installed n my readynas server and to my very big surprise my TV now shows all MPG files i didn't see with twonky...

Thanks for posting this. If they can do this, without transcoding, it seems logical to me we that should be able to do the same -- at least with MPG files. I've asked some of our engineers to look into this.

- Rick

Glad to see you're pciking up on this.
I havent had a chance yet to try all this with the just release version of twonky, i'll try this later this week.
if there is anything else i can do or provide you with, just let me know

A short test file would be really helpful. Send it to tmm-beta@pv.com. Make sure to send me a seperate e-mail to let me know if was send, in case our mail system intercepts it.

If that doesn't work, I'll provide you with FTP upload instructions.

- Rick

Just my 2cents, if it helps : from my experiences, this is an issue with some MPEG_PS files not being identified correctly by twonky for some reason. (search the forum for anything I've posted - they've all been about this - e.g. http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9624 or http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8505 or http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=8168 ). Interestingly, twonky v4 is OK, but v5 isn't. You can see what's going on if you look at the database twonky constructs. It appears to be something to do with bitrate, or maybe FPS.

Hope that doesn't muddy the waters too much.

Cheers,
anamorphosa

I've passed on this info to our engineers. To check on the status of this issue in the future, please ask me about DLNA-4097.

- Rick

Issue resolved.

Client Adaptation added to TS 6.0.35 RC1 and later for Sony Bravia, Sony Blu-Ray Home Theater and Sony Blu-Ray Players. With this change, all files that could be played through miniDLNA are now also supported by TS 6.0.35 RC1 and later. This should allow users with these devices to see MPG and other supported file formats which used to be hidden.

- Rick