Recording HDTV from a QAM source

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I have a question regarding how the data is sent by the cable company.. There's multiple streams/channels of data or something?

How come my 24 recording is ~4.7GB while my Lost/Grey's Anatomy recordings are ~3.5GB. I remember reading somewhere that you need to make sure the excess data is stripped out?

 

[pulse8]

Different bitrates?

 

[Shawn]

1080i vs 720p?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Shawn
1080i vs 720p?

No. ABC and Fox are both 720p....

When I record Heroes (NBC which is 1080i), it comes out to about 5.7GB... I recorded the VS Fashion show in 1080i and that was ~5.7gb as well.

 

[Shawn]

I recorded the 2 hour 24 episode last night OTA with Media Center and it was 12.3GB. That's 6.15gb per hour.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Shawn
I recorded the 2 hour 24 episode last night OTA with Media Center and it was 12.3GB. That's 6.15gb per hour.

Yeaa.. Comcast obviously compresses and that's why OTA is good. I thought I could burn this on a DVD and get rid of all these recordings. I usually record my ABC shows simply because I know it fits, but this is my first time recording 24 and I'm a little frustrated that I can't fit it on a DVD ><

 

[Joony]

somtimes the subchannel gets recorded I think, so that would be the weather channel or music channels in QAM?

 

[SKORPI0]

Are the recordings transport stream (.ts) files?

Why not edit out the commercials with this program HDTVtoMPEG2

I have HDTV recording of 24 since season 4 that are about 3GBs/episode after commercials are edited out. Of course the source is cable not OTA. So bitrate is about 10-11 mbps, not about 16-17 mbps if OTA.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: SKORPI0
Are the recordings transport stream (.ts) files?

Why not edit out the commercials with this program HDTVtoMPEG2

I have HDTV recording of 24 since season 4 that are about 3GBs/episode after commercials are edited out. Of course the source is cable not OTA. So bitrate is about 10-11 mbps, not about 16-17 mbps if OTA.

Yes they are transport stream files.

I'm using VideoRedoPlus. I recorded 2 hours straight with a 5 minute buffer on both ends. It came out to be 13.3GB. Divide that by two, cut the commercials, I'm down to 4.75 and 4.62gb. That's still too big for a DVD. I even compared my recording length against the torrent downloads. I came out 15 seconds longer because I included the "Viewer Discrection advised" and I tried to get more blank screen sections in the commercial breaks so the clock wouldnt seem like it jumps so quickly..

I always cut commercials. I cut them on my Grey's Anatomy and Lost recordings too, but those always settle in the 3.5 GB range. 10-11mbps is typical for those two shows. Do you have Comcast or what? I always thought cable companies compress so you don't get that much, but my 24 recordings are coming out around 16-17mbps.

 

[SKORPI0]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Do you have Comcast or what? I always thought cable companies compress so you don't get that much, but my 24 recordings are coming out around 16-17mbps.

Yes I have Comcast cable. Record HDTV from the Motorola DCT6412 via firewire to the PC. Edit out commercials with VideoRedo Plus, but bitrate for 24 is about 10 mbps in my location (Chicago, IL area). Other show like Smallville have a higher bitrate about 17 mbps, so fitting them in 1 DVD would not be possible.

Why not split the files in 100 mbps segments with aforementioned program (HDTVtoMPEG2) then use QuickPAR to make parity files. Playback with VLC after creating a playlist might be an option.