[Dixonary] OT: Video woes

[Jim Hart]

Yesterday I simply wanted to sit at home and watch a movie that my
daughter and SIL gave me on a USB stick.

OK I admit I'm kind of prehistoric when it comes to audiovisual stuff. I
advanced to a digital LCD tv (with the monster 32" screen!!) a few years
ago. I don't have cable, nor one of those devices that records and plays
back stuff (no I don't mean the VCR that's stored in a cupboard
somewhere), nor is my tv connected to the interweb.

This movie is a .mkv file. I can play it on my laptop using VLC Media
Player but that's about as much fun as seeing it on plane (except the
beverage service is better). The Panasonic has USB inputs but for some
reason it doesn't like these files. Yes I did RTFM which says it's OK
with .mp4 and a host of other formats I've never heard of but not .mkv.

I considered playing my laptop through the tv. I haven't done this for a
while and as I recall it requires having to turn devices off then on in
a particular sequence, before or after attaching the HDMI cable, I
forget which. Whatever it was it didn't do it this time. Anyway it's an
inelegant solution having to balance the laptop on a chair (the HDMI
cord is kind of short) and it still looks like a computer screen with
the Windows menu bar up top.

Surely a better solution is possible. The VLC menu includes a button
called "convert" which offers to create an .mp4 file. So I set it
running and soon see that it will take about as long as the movie
itself. Just as well I have a book to read. Two hours later, I excitedly
try the .mp4 file (now on a second USB stick, these are big files) in
the Panasonic. It plays! Or does it? The lion roars but there is no
sound. Gloom.

This is now a challenge so I ask Prof. Google who starts telling me
about mux and demux, and software that apparently is fast, elegant and
just what I need. I take his word for it and download the free
trialware. Maybe it doesn't take two hours but it's hardly speedy and at
the end I have another 1 GB file on the USB stick. This time it not only
plays, it also has sound! Too bad it's only a third of the movie -
that's the penalty of trialware and I'd rather not pay $59.95 for
software I may only use twice.

Further googling reveals some freeware that seems to have a good
reputation, favourable reviews and should be safe. It's getting late and
the conversion is still plodding along when I go to bed. This morning it
presents me with a 2.5 GB file. I read another chapter while it copies
over to the USB stick. Then... Hallelujah - pictures and sound!

Am I happy now? Well, I guess so. The thing is, the Panasonic doesn't
have a pause button so I'll have to get myself set up and ready to sit
still for two hours. A bit like going to a cinema I guess.

I'm sure everyone in this well educated group has a better solution.
Should I try again with the HDMI cable? Use different software? Convert
it to a DVD? I must be getting old.

Jim
aka Muddled in Melbourne (with a nod to the late Dr Wayne)





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[Daniel Widdis]

First comment: My most recommended software for changing video formats
(or ripping dvds illegally, which I wouldn't suggest doing!) is
HandBrake: https://handbrake.fr/ .

Second comment: It would be possible to burn a dvd (not from handbrake,
but find some other free dvd burning software, find out what format it
needs, and convert, then burn.) But that's so last decade.

Third comment: There are a metric butt ton (there's got to be an
obscure word for that unit of measure that I will one day deal) of ways
to stream video directly from a computer to a "smart TV", with varying
degrees of success depending on what hardware you already own. Does
your TV connect over wifi? You may be able to "Share" the video
directly from your computer and play it on the TV over wifi.

If the TV doesn't have a built in wifi capability, my first choice would
be to purchase one of the other hardware devices intended to enable
streaming video to your TV from other sources (netflix, hulu, HBO,
amazon video, etc.)... options I know would work for this include Roku
and Chromecast. Apple TV works for mac, not sure if it works on
windows; and the Amazon FireStick might work, but I'm not sure about those.

If one of these smart streaming sticks is overkill (they're reasonably
inexpensive but if you don't plan on using their features you can save a
bit) there are "wifi display dongle" options for under $20 that will do
the task wirelessly from your computer... typically the TV shows up as
an extra monitor/display that you can play a video on.

Dan

On 12/26/15 6:53 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
> Yesterday I simply wanted to sit at home and watch a movie that my
> daughter and SIL gave me on a USB stick.
>
> OK I admit I'm kind of prehistoric when it comes to audiovisual stuff.
> I advanced to a digital LCD tv (with the monster 32" screen!!) a few
> years ago. I don't have cable, nor one of those devices that records
> and plays back stuff (no I don't mean the VCR that's stored in a
> cupboard somewhere), nor is my tv connected to the interweb.
>
> This movie is a .mkv file. I can play it on my laptop using VLC Media
> Player but that's about as much fun as seeing it on plane (except the
> beverage service is better). The Panasonic has USB inputs but for
> some reason it doesn't like these files. Yes I did RTFM which says
> it's OK with .mp4 and a host of other formats I've never heard of but
> not .mkv.
>
> I considered playing my laptop through the tv. I haven't done this for
> a while and as I recall it requires having to turn devices off then on
> in a particular sequence, before or after attaching the HDMI cable, I
> forget which. Whatever it was it didn't do it this time. Anyway it's
> an inelegant solution having to balance the laptop on a chair (the
> HDMI cord is kind of short) and it still looks like a computer screen
> with the Windows menu bar up top.
>
> Surely a better solution is possible. The VLC menu includes a button
> called "convert" which offers to create an .mp4 file. So I set it
> running and soon see that it will take about as long as the movie
> itself. Just as well I have a book to read. Two hours later, I
> excitedly try the .mp4 file (now on a second USB stick, these are big
> files) in the Panasonic. It plays! Or does it? The lion roars but
> there is no sound. Gloom.
>
> This is now a challenge so I ask Prof. Google who starts telling me
> about mux and demux, and software that apparently is fast, elegant and
> just what I need. I take his word for it and download the free
> trialware. Maybe it doesn't take two hours but it's hardly speedy and
> at the end I have another 1 GB file on the USB stick. This time it not
> only plays, it also has sound! Too bad it's only a third of the movie
> - that's the penalty of trialware and I'd rather not pay $59.95 for
> software I may only use twice.
>
> Further googling reveals some freeware that seems to have a good
> reputation, favourable reviews and should be safe. It's getting late
> and the conversion is still plodding along when I go to bed. This
> morning it presents me with a 2.5 GB file. I read another chapter
> while it copies over to the USB stick. Then... Hallelujah - pictures
> and sound!
>
> Am I happy now? Well, I guess so. The thing is, the Panasonic doesn't
> have a pause button so I'll have to get myself set up and ready to sit
> still for two hours. A bit like going to a cinema I guess.
>
> I'm sure everyone in this well educated group has a better solution.
> Should I try again with the HDMI cable? Use different software?
> Convert it to a DVD? I must be getting old.
>
> Jim
> aka Muddled in Melbourne (with a nod to the late Dr Wayne)
>
>
>
>
>

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[Jim Hart]

Thanks Dan, most enlightening.

1. I've seen many mentions of HandBrake online, obviously it's widely used.
I had already got Freemake which does similar things so I'll start there.

2. I still have my old dvd player and (more surprisingly) some blank disks,
so I have now burned a dvd. Yes, very last decade, if not last century, but
then so am I.

3. The wifi option sounds interesting but my tv is not at all smart. It
can't understand half the buttons on its remote control so it already feels
inadequate and I fear that buying a dongle would only make it more
self-conscious. At least it's comfortable with the dvd player so maybe I'll
just leave it at that.

thanks for all the advice,
Jim


On Monday, 28 December 2015 05:15:49 UTC+11, Daniel Widdis wrote:
>
> First comment: My most recommended software for changing video formats
> (or ripping dvds illegally, which I wouldn't suggest doing!) is
> HandBrake: https://handbrake.fr/ .
>
> Second comment: It would be possible to burn a dvd (not from handbrake,
> but find some other free dvd burning software, find out what format it
> needs, and convert, then burn.) But that's so last decade.
>
> Third comment: There are a metric butt ton (there's got to be an
> obscure word for that unit of measure that I will one day deal) of ways
> to stream video directly from a computer to a "smart TV", with varying
> degrees of success depending on what hardware you already own. Does
> your TV connect over wifi? You may be able to "Share" the video
> directly from your computer and play it on the TV over wifi.
>
> If the TV doesn't have a built in wifi capability, my first choice would
> be to purchase one of the other hardware devices intended to enable
> streaming video to your TV from other sources (netflix, hulu, HBO,
> amazon video, etc.)... options I know would work for this include Roku
> and Chromecast. Apple TV works for mac, not sure if it works on
> windows; and the Amazon FireStick might work, but I'm not sure about
> those.
>
> If one of these smart streaming sticks is overkill (they're reasonably
> inexpensive but if you don't plan on using their features you can save a
> bit) there are "wifi display dongle" options for under $20 that will do
> the task wirelessly from your computer... typically the TV shows up as
> an extra monitor/display that you can play a video on.
>
> Dan
>
> On 12/26/15 6:53 PM, Jim Hart wrote:
> > Yesterday I simply wanted to sit at home and watch a movie that my
> > daughter and SIL gave me on a USB stick.
> >
> > OK I admit I'm kind of prehistoric when it comes to audiovisual stuff.
> > I advanced to a digital LCD tv (with the monster 32" screen!!) a few
> > years ago. I don't have cable, nor one of those devices that records
> > and plays back stuff (no I don't mean the VCR that's stored in a
> > cupboard somewhere), nor is my tv connected to the interweb.
> >
> > This movie is a .mkv file. I can play it on my laptop using VLC Media
> > Player but that's about as much fun as seeing it on plane (except the
> > beverage service is better). The Panasonic has USB inputs but for
> > some reason it doesn't like these files. Yes I did RTFM which says
> > it's OK with .mp4 and a host of other formats I've never heard of but
> > not .mkv.
> >
> > I considered playing my laptop through the tv. I haven't done this for
> > a while and as I recall it requires having to turn devices off then on
> > in a particular sequence, before or after attaching the HDMI cable, I
> > forget which. Whatever it was it didn't do it this time. Anyway it's
> > an inelegant solution having to balance the laptop on a chair (the
> > HDMI cord is kind of short) and it still looks like a computer screen
> > with the Windows menu bar up top.
> >
> > Surely a better solution is possible. The VLC menu includes a button
> > called "convert" which offers to create an .mp4 file. So I set it
> > running and soon see that it will take about as long as the movie
> > itself. Just as well I have a book to read. Two hours later, I
> > excitedly try the .mp4 file (now on a second USB stick, these are big
> > files) in the Panasonic. It plays! Or does it? The lion roars but
> > there is no sound. Gloom.
> >
> > This is now a challenge so I ask Prof. Google who starts telling me
> > about mux and demux, and software that apparently is fast, elegant and
> > just what I need. I take his word for it and download the free
> > trialware. Maybe it doesn't take two hours but it's hardly speedy and
> > at the end I have another 1 GB file on the USB stick. This time it not
> > only plays, it also has sound! Too bad it's only a third of the movie
> > - that's the penalty of trialware and I'd rather not pay $59.95 for
> > software I may only use twice.
> >
> > Further googling reveals some freeware that seems to have a good
> > reputation, favourable reviews and should be safe. It's getting late
> > and the conversion is still plodding along when I go to bed. This
> > morning it presents me with a 2.5 GB file. I read another chapter
> > while it copies over to the USB stick. Then... Hallelujah - pictures
> > and sound!
> >
> > Am I happy now? Well, I guess so. The thing is, the Panasonic doesn't
> > have a pause button so I'll have to get myself set up and ready to sit
> > still for two hours. A bit like going to a cinema I guess.
> >
> > I'm sure everyone in this well educated group has a better solution.
> > Should I try again with the HDMI cable? Use different software?
> > Convert it to a DVD? I must be getting old.
> >
> > Jim
> > aka Muddled in Melbourne (with a nod to the late Dr Wayne)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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