Hiyas,

I'm afraid I'm fairly new at this. I've searched the forums here and on Miglia's and Elgato's sites without resolving this one, so I fear that I've come up with a novel problem.

I purchased a TVMini HD a couple of weeks ago, and have installed it on an Intel Mini that I'd purchased about a month ago.

Within the EyeTV program everything seems to be working well. Picture quality is great, QAM reception is excellent. Things are recording when they're supposed to.

So, in that regard, no complaints at all.

The problem comes in trying to figure out how to archive materials.

I've got editing within EyeTV down without a problem. The program seems to clip things neatly and leave me with a good file.

I've also discovered forum posts explaining that EyeTV packages contain the native MPEG-2 stream. I've viewed the file information and copied that into other locations without a problem.

The problem comes when I try to play back an MPEG-2 stream that I've exported from EyeTV or copied directly out of the EyeTV package.

When I do that, it looks terrible. (I've used VLC on the mini and assorted programs on a PC.) Essentially, everything looks very interlaced, and the interlacing looks like it's not lining up quite right. For instance, the edge of a person's face looks like it's got a "zipper" effect going on.

I'm afraid that's not a great description, but I'm hoping that it might make sense to somebody.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? Would screen captures help?

Thanks in advance!

I would try exporting your shows as an MPEG Program stream from within EyeTV. There's no conversion involved, it will simply copy the MPEG-2 stream w/ multi-channel audio out of the EyeTV folder to where you wish to store it. At that point you can convert the file with a better tool (VisualHub) which can also help with deinterlacing, or find a better player that may eliminate the interlacing issues. Have you tried turning on the deinterlacing in VLC? Sometimes the setting doesn't stick until the file starts playing.

I know, not real helpful but that's about all you can do.

...The problem comes when I try to play back an MPEG-2 stream that I've exported from EyeTV or copied directly out of the EyeTV package.

When I do that, it looks terrible. (I've used VLC on the mini and assorted programs on a PC.) Essentially, everything looks very interlaced, and the interlacing looks like it's not lining up quite right. For instance, the edge of a person's face looks like it's got a "zipper" effect going on.

So, just to be sure, from the EyeTV Programs window, you used the Export command (from the File menu, by right-clicking or from the 'sprocket') to bring up a Save as dialog in which you chose MPEG Program Stream as the Format.

Is the resulting file about the same size as the original? My HD recordings run from 6 to 8 gigs per hour. Are you in that ball park? When I export as Program Stream, the resulting file is usually a few percent smaller than the original. I think null packets are being stripped out but that's only a guess.

Craig

So, just to be sure, from the EyeTV Programs window, you used the Export command (from the File menu, by right-clicking or from the 'sprocket') to bring up a Save as dialog in which you chose MPEG Program Stream as the Format.


Yep, I've done that method.

I've also tried just copying the file directly out of the ".eyetv" package.

In both cases, I get the same result.

As in your case, my file sizes are about 6 GB/Hour.

In VLC, go to Video > Deinterlace to switch it on. This just comes with the territory for interlaced (1080i) shows, nothing wrong with your files.