Info on SageTV transcoding

[MrFusion]

Hi,

I'm trying to consolidate info on SageTV transcoding setup / configuration.

Is this documented anywhere?

My particular focus is on-the-fly transcoding for audio streaming, and playback of BD movies, using HD200s but lacking a receiver to decode DTS-MA etc.

I've looked and looked, but haven't found anything particularly authoritative or comprehensive.

Also, there was an announcement some time ago of a new property (under 'extender updates') -- "...Added property 'miniclient/disabled_audio_codecs' which allows disabling of specific audio codecs for an extender/placeshifter which will then require the server to transcode that format (i.e. you want to disable DTS pass-through)"...

Perfect, exactly what I need.

Now -- how do I use it? How do I specify a particular codec (eg WMA Lossless or DTS-MA) -- what are the options, what codec names does sage recognise, what are the parameters -- and then how do I control server-side transcoding (ie: what it is transcoded to, bitrate, etc etc)?

Any info would be much appreciated!!

[Fuzzy]

Currently, sage will not selectively transcode anything. It's all or nothing. Basically, you can either run in extender/client mode, in which case the media is played untouched, or placeshifter mode, which transcodes EVERYTHING.. video AND audio. Your best option currently, is to just add either an AC3, or Stereo PCM track to your BD rips. It isn't really that tough to do with EAC3TO.

Ideally, Sage you implement some sort of capability flags to ALL playback devices (CLIENTS, PLACESHIFTERS, EXTENDERS) to say WHAT formats it supports, and selectively transcode on the server JUST what is needed, and NOT touch the unneeded parts (COPY MODE). BUT, this isn't currently the case.

[MrFusion]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Currently, sage will not selectively transcode anything. It's all or nothing....Your best option currently, is to just add either an AC3, or Stereo PCM track to your BD rips. It isn't really that tough to do with EAC3TO.

Thanks for the reply.

So -- you're saying that Sage implemented 'miniclient/disabled_audio_codecs' on the HD200s... but that this doesn't work?

Doesn't really make sense.

Unfortunately, transcoding my entire collection of BDs and WMA Lossless isn't really a great option -- not only is it a huge amount of work, but it also breaks various other permutations & combinations (ie I have combos of PCs and HD200s as clients, some with receivers, some not; as well as other devices such as Roku Soundbridge -- which quite happily deals with WMA lossless by simply requesting the server (windows media player share) to transcode to PCM).

Surely, there must be a way to get this going! Sort of ridiculous that SageTV can play back an audio format on the server, but can't play this back on the extender (especially when there are many other solutions out there which achieve this without a hiccup)...

Anyway -- any other hints on configuring / using transcoding in a SageTV / HD200 environment?

[Fuzzy]

You don't simply transcode them, you actually ADD an additional audio track to them.. this will allow selection of the appropriate track.

[MrFusion]

Soooo... getting back on track...

Does anybody know if the HD200 property 'miniclient/disabled_audio_codecs', as noted in Sage release notes, actually works?

If so, how do we use it? What are the values which are understood? How do we control server-side behaviour?

Thanks!