Changing audio/video settings

[carlwaring]

Hi there!

Firstly, what a great program. Seems to fly through my box-sets converting to MKV a lot quicker than the other program I have been using for a while.

My main issue is this.

The Panasonic TV through which I watch all my MKV files can only play these files if they have been encoded with specific audio and video settings.

Unfortunately, I am not familiar enough with this sort of thing to be able to figure out what settings I need to change in MakeMKV to get a working file; and I don't know if the settings can be changed anyway! None of the presets work.

Using MediaInfo, here are the settings that work:

General
Unique ID : 10095111588345803169355320143057654926 (0x7983F6DDAAF0CB40FE3EA170662148E)
Complete name : \\THEANNEX\The West Wing\Season 4\S4E01.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 778 MiB
Duration : 42mn 21s
Overall bit rate : 2 566 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf54.63.104
Writing library : Lavf54.63.104

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 42mn 21s
Nominal bit rate : 2 398 Kbps
Width : 1 024 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.163
Writing library : x264 core 129
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=4 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2398 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.41 / aq=1:1.00
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : A_AAC
Duration : 42mn 21s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Is it possible to change the settings, and how?

The other thing I notice is that the resulting files that MakeMKV makes are around twice the size of those made by the other programme I use. What is the reason for this?

I hope you understand what I am trying to ask you

Thank you.

[ndjamena]

h.264/AVC/MPEG4 Part 10 + AAC = Handbrake

http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

MakeMKV->Handbrake =

[carlwaring]

But that's a two-step process Although it takes much longer, I can do it in one step with another program.

Thanks for the other info though; if I knew what it meant and how to implement it

[ndjamena]

The Manual for a random current Panasonic TV I downloaded lists every DVD codec as supported within MKVs.

Are you converting DVDs or Blu Ray? What model of TV do you have? How old is it? Have you updated to the latest firmware?

[carlwaring]

The Manual for a random current Panasonic TV I downloaded lists every DVD codec as supported within MKVs.

I think the audio codec is the issue rather than the video.

Are you converting DVDs or Blu Ray?
What model of TV do you have?
How old is it?
Have you updated to the latest firmware?

Mainly DVDs.
TX-L37E30B
3 years or so I think
Yes

From the manual:
Container: MKV
File extension: .mkv
Video codec: H.264 BP / MP / HP
Audio codec: MPEG, MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS core

Doesn't help, really!

[ndjamena]

Yes, it does. Dolby Digital is AC3, DTS Core is DTS, other than the never used PCM that is both of the DVD compliant Audio Codecs.

The video is the problem, it only takes h.264 while DVDs are exclusively MPEG2. If you've got a working solution then you might as well use it, but if you'd like to give it a go you could try re-encoding with handbrake and just pass-through the audio. Your file has Anamorphic removed, which may be necessary as well, if it is then encoding 4:3 DVDs for your TV with handbrake would be a waste of time (some players just ignore any SAR/DAR/PAR settings and fill the whole screen no matter what). However, if it works you'll be left with superior audio since what you have now has been encoded as lossy twice.

[carlwaring]

Thanks for the informative reply. I always thought it was the audio that was the issue, not the video. Shows you how much I don't know

If you've got a working solution then you might as well use it...

Indeed I might just do that. It's just that, if I could get it working right, MakeMKV is a lot faster; encoding 4 eps of TV show in around 20 mins as opposed to nearly 3 hours with the other program!