transcoding settings
common transcoding settings
- transcode buffer maximum size: This value is about how much temporary space should be used for buffering a video before sending it to PS3. Default is o.k..
- Number of cores used for transcoding (dropdown): This value is bout how many cpu cores should be used for transcoding. The maximum value depends on the physical available count of “real prpocessor cores”. That means hyperthreading virtual cpu cores don’t count! If you’re not sure analyze your cpu with free tool cpu-z on windows systems. On linux have a look at the virtual proc-filesystem. In file /proc/cpuinfo you will find more details about your cpu. You also get much infos about CPUs from AMD and Intel at the wikipedia-articles. Nevertheless PMS should be able to detect and set the correct amount of cores.
- number of audio channels (dropdown): If you have a surround A/V-receiver or amplifier connected to your PS3 select 5.1, otherwise 2 channels stereo.
- AC3 audio bitrate: Here one can set the quality of digital audio sound. Your AV-receiver or amplifier has to be capable of playing this quality. Default is o.k..
- Keep DTS audio in stream: This enables playback of DTS digital surround sound via optical digital audio output (toslink) of your PS3. Keep in mind that this increases network traffic. Your AV-receiver or amplifier needs an integrated DTS-decoder for playback.
- DTS/FLAC – LPCM-remux: This enables playback of DTS digital surround sound via HDMI output of your PS3. Keep in mind that this increases network traffic. Your HDMI connected device (TV or AV-receiver or amplifier) needs an integrated DTS-decoder for playback.
- remux when audio track is AC3: Transcoding of audio will be avoided when it is AC3 (Dolby Digital). AC3 digital audio track will muxed into PS3 compatible container if necessary. This should be activated if your PS3 is connected to a TV or AV-receiver or amplifier which has an integrated Dolby Digital Decoder. This feature is not supported when using Avisynth based transcoding engines.
- maximum bandwith: This is some kind of network throttle. One may think it’s a brilliant idea to reduce network bandwith in order to get HD videos streaming via WLAN. My experience is that it won’t work as expected. You need lots of CPU power for transcoding. If that’s not a problem you will get really poor video quality when stream HD videos on low network bandwith. So better leave the default value 0. You should also note that this etting won’t affect muxed videos. You may have to enforce transcoding by choosing another transcoding engine.
- MPEG2 video quality settings (dropdown): If PMS isn’t able to stream directly or mux the audio/video to a PS3 compatible container it will transcode to MPG2, which is PS3 compatible. This costs lots of CPU power. This also will increase the network traffic because MPG2 compression isn’t very good for HD videos. You will need a 100MBit/s LAN or DLAN for playback of transcoded HD videos – WLAN won’t work (mabye some 720p videos will do). You are able to control the quality settings of MPEG2 encoding which corresponds to needed network bandwidth. So there are some parameters available to control MPG2 quality. Keyint means keyframes, keyint=3 means that every third frame is a keyframe which is a complete picture. In between there are two pictures which only contain differences to the predecessing picture. A high value for keyint will result in a lower network bandwith but will also cause bad quality in fast action scenes in movies. There are also so called quantizer values (vqmqx, vqmin, vqscale). High values result in low quality. I suggest to try out some of the Values available in dropdown.
- Definitly disable subtitles: Displaying subtitles will automatically enforce transcoding. If you won’t to avoid transcoding and definitly don’t need subtitles enable this feature.
- skip transcode for following extensions: enforce direct playback for certain filetypes
- force transcode for following extensions: enforce transcoding for certain filetypes
video files engines: MEncoder
- emhanced multicore support for h.264 HD content: Enable usage of special multicore version of mencoder tool. This will improve performance on multicore systems.
- skip loop filter deblocking for h.264: disable deblocking filter for h.264 HD videos
- A/V sync alternative method: If video and audio get out of sync disabling this might help.
- use video scaler / width / height: Usually the TV or PS3 is used to upscale the video to optimal video resolution. MEncoder is also able to do that for you which will cost additional cpu power.
- force framerate parsed from ffmpeg: If framerate isn’t recognized correctly (video is running too fast/slow) change this setting.
- deinterlace-filter: Enable deinterlace filter which will usually is done by your PS3 or TV.
- switch to tsmuxer when video when h.264 video is PS3 compatible: Enable this! When MEncoder transcoding engine is used and PMS recognizes a PS3 compatible video it will switch to transcoding engine tsmuxer. The video will then be streamed directly or muxed but not transcoded! This setting will dramatically reduce the need of transcoding. Matroska video (mkv) for example aren’t supported on PS3. Mostly the contained audio and video stream is PS3 compatible. So tsmuxer creates a PS3 compatible m2ts container which contains the original audio and video stream and the PS3 is able to playback. This feature reduces both network traffic (because of better compression as MPG2) and CPU power needed for playback.
- audio language prority: Fill in the abbreviation of your native language so that PMS will automatically select the right audio track.
- subtitles language priority: Fill in the abbreviation of your native language so that PMS will automatically select the right subtitle.
- audio/subtitles language priority: I think this language selection is special for DVD playback.
- subtitles codepage: The codepage should match the codepage setting on your PS3. cp1252 should be default.
- FriBiDi mode: enable FriBiDi GNU implementation of Unicode algorhithm
- ASS/SSA subtitles: support for ASS/SSA subtitle format
- autoload *.srt/*.sub subtitles: support for SRT subtitle format
video files engines: tsmuxer
- force fps parsed from ffmpeg: If framerate isn’t recognized correctly (video is running too fast/slow) change this setting.
- mux all audio tracks: Enable it in order to get all audio tracks muxed
FFMPEG DVR-MS remux
- alternative ffmpeg path: This feature is for users of Microsoft Windows Mediacenter Edition. If you have recorded some tv shows and want to watch the DVR-MS files with PMS/PS3 you need a special version of ffmpeg. Download and unzip this file in your PMS installation directory and restart PMS.
additional infos
Engines are located on the left side (see screenshot above) under common transcoding settings. Activated engines are displayed with a green triangle icon. You can select an engine and use the arrows up/down buttons to change priority. The power plug button can be used to enable or disable an engine. Don’t forget to use save button and restart PMS if changing anything…
Some engines (videolan and avisynth) require additional software!
thanx 4 this, i have been wanting to know what options does what for weeks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this readme rox… helps me with the cryptic definitions
Thank you for this … I was hoping you can provide the PMS.conf for these settings as I am using Ubuntu Server (no GUI), and I would like to set these options especially the one for:
switch to tsmuxer when video when h.264 video is PS3 compatible
Thanks
Where do we put the DVD ISO’s. I put them in my Videos folder and thats the only folder that PMS has in its list but I see the ISO as a folder itself on the PS3 and when I click on it, it opens the folder saying nothing is in there. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=23418#p23417
Thanks for this, but i’m having issues while trying to enable “emhanced multicore support for h.264 HD conten” I click it and it pops up with a message saying i have to have it enabled in transcoding settings etc which i have, but it wont stay on. any suggestions? I have a core2duo at 3.4.
Also i installed the software for Avisyth but i haven’t for videolan. What does Videolan do exactly?
And just off topic, I have really SLOW streaming speed for folders, takes ages to display the contents, and movies take ages to “buffer” when they do they do they will play for a bit and sometimes freeze for about 5 secs and play fine. but it takes ages to fast foward. any ideas?? they are normal movies not HD and just over a normal wired l4n.
Thanks
- try different version of java (JRE)
- VLC is for experimental web streaming support
- use goto feature instead of ff
Sorry for my ignorance here, but what is the goto feature? and ff? Will this enable me to switch on “enhanced multicore support for h.264 HD content”
pms sees that i have 2 cores in common settings but it wont allow me to click the box in mencoder.
And I have the latest java, would a downgrade change anything?
Cheers,
I wrote use goto instead of ff = fast forward, it’s a PS3 feature: http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=20#p16567
Last java runtime update18 is known to make problems on several systems: http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=25114#p25114
What about reading the howto and search for similar problems already being answered in PMS forum?
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Thank you for a very informative user manual!
I’m using v1.20.400 and I see two items in the Transcoding Settings tab that don’t appear in your manual:
i) there is a check box for “Chapters #Transcode# folder support / Interval in minutes” and then a box for data entry
ii) there is a check box for “Remux DVD ISO video track (no reencode)[Avisynth not supported]”
Can you explain these two items or perhaps update the manual to include them.
Best regards,
Richard
@Richard:
i) PMS is now able to automatically create chapters. You have to set an interval, e.g. 15min. This has been introduced to avoid using “fast forward”. For me “goto” feature is still best choice. But I don’t know if every renderer supports this feature – PS3 definitly does…
ii) I believe this means that tsmuxer engine is being used for playback of isos instead of mencoder engine – so no transcoding is necessary.
In the new beta there is a new line in transcoding settings.
Remux DVD ISO Video track.
What is it and should i check it or not?
Got another problem.
I’ve got dvd’s ripped to an iso file. But when i am playing these files on my ps3 it only shows the movie, not the menu with options etc. I would really like to have a menu because i ripped music dvd’s where i need to switch to different chapters(songs) which is not possible now.
Can you help?
@Jordy
ISO are transcoded to MPG2 with MEncoder engine by default. With latest PMS version and Tsmuxer Engine muxing can be used instead of transcoding. That means less network traffic and less cpu utilization.
DVD menus aren’t supported. You can use audio track selection in virtual folder #transcoded#. You may also use automatic chapter creation feature. Both is forcing transcoding.
But DVD menus are supported when u put a dvd in the bluray player of the PS3. Why can’t u use it with PMS then?
There is a huge difference between access to a local drive and streaming. Afaik UPNP/DLNA specs don’t contain this feature.
When i use audio track selection in virtual folder #transcoded#. i can choise dutch but when i look there are no subtitles ( when i view the iso direcht on the computer i get the right subtitles) How do i fix this ? pms 1.20.412 / w7 / 64 bit / ps3 slim
thanks
@lextriplex
I don’t use subtitles at all so please post your question at the PMS forum: http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/index.php
Thanx for the tutorial!
One question: How do I force PMS to use WMV9 (vcodec=WMV3) instead of WMV8 (vcodec=WMV2) that is used by default when a renderer is set to WMV (e.g. XBox 360) for transcoding in general?
Got a Fritz!Media 8040 here to connect with my old tube and would like to stream my divx, xvid, vob, mpeg2 files but it supports WMV9 only
Also wrote an own renderer config file for it but I just get a black screen and only sound when I try to stream any type of video.
Somebody got a clue?
@Martin
Afaik there’s no support for encoding to WMV9.
You may also ask for that in PMS forum or start a rfe at google code, where PMS project is located.
Hm, sounds not that well. Ok, I’ll ask in PSM forum but thanx for the reply.
@ lextriplex
In order to get dutch subs you need to fill in like this :
mencoder_sublangs = nl,nld,dut
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I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed with this type of software set up and options. There fore leaving everything in the default settings except for the transcoding buffer and the ip filter I have had ZERO problems. I think most people are the cause of their own problems just by trying to adjust something they don’t truly understand.
Thank you this great software!
Hi !
Thanks for a great program.
However I cant get the spoken sound to work ???? Everything else works perfekt :9 Any ideas?
@Dagge
Your description lacks information.
Hi!
Sorry
I use vers. 1.50.0 on a windows server 64 bit NTFS format, cabel to router then to PS3 trough cabel again so no wireless streaming
When I play MKV files I get music and great picture but when persons speak I cant hear it ??? So is it my PS3 thats wrong or do I have to do another set up in Media server program ? Or what kind of information do you want?
Thansk again
// Dagge
@Dagge
First of all you have to sort out what causes the problem.
1. So you have to start playback of that file on your PC/Notebook with a media player like Windows Media Player or VLC. If that is working fine take next step.
2. Use mediainfo tool to find out what container format, what kind of audio channels, how many audio channels and what audiocodecs are being used.
3. Know your PS3s audio setup! Is PS3 analog or digital connected to your TV or home theatre? If connected digtal is it HDMI or Toslink? How many channels are supported (Stereo, 5.1, 7.1)? What Dolby Digital or DTS standards are supported?
4. Is PMS correctly configured for your PS3s audio setup?
5. It might be possible that your center speaker which mostly used for speech isn’t connected or configured. So test your audio setup!
6. Try different transcoding engines… Maybe there is a problem with default transcoding engine tsmuxer, so try mencoder…
Good luck!