Setup Recording Profiles
From MythTV Official Wiki
This page is up-to-date as of MythTV version 0.27.6, the current release is 33.1
This article describes the Recording Profiles Setup page of MythTV Setup.
If your tuners supply the ability to record at different quality levels or to select other parameters, the parameters can be set up here. Devices that capture the digital stream directly from digital TV do not allow quality setting options, as they simply records the incoming data without processing it. Tuners that capture analog data will allow many options for how to encode that data.
Also set up here are options for whether to trans-code the video after recording, and parameters for how to transcode video.
This is an advanced usage of MythTV. For an initial setup we recommend you leave the Recording Profile at the defaults. Transcoding is also an advanced feature which will require time and effort to set up.
There are predefined recording profiles for each type of capture card.
The following profile groups are predefined in the system. They will only be visible if you have a capture card of the specified type:
| Capture Card Type | Recording Profile Group |
| DVB-T/S/C, ATSC or ISDB-T tuner card | Hardware DVB Encoders |
| HD-PVR H.264 encoder | HD-PVR Recorders |
| HDHomeRun networked tuner | HDHomeRun Recorders |
| FireWire cable box | FireWire Input |
| Ceton cablecard tuner | Ceton Recorder |
| IPTV recorder | (none) |
| Analog to MPEG-2 encoder card (PVR-150/250/350, etc) | IVTV MPEG-2 Encoders |
| Analog to MJPEG encoder card (Matrox G200, DC10, etc) | Hardware MJPEG Encoders (Matrox G200-TV, Miro DC10, etc) |
| Analog to MPEG-4 encoder (Plextor ConvertX USB, etc) | USB Mpeg-4 Encoder (Plextor ConvertX, etc) |
| Analog capture card | Software Encoders (v4l based) |
| Import test recorder | Import Recorder |
| Demo test recorder | (none) |
| (none) | Transcoders |
In each Profile Group except Transcoders are defined these profiles:
| Default |
| Live TV |
| High Quality |
| Low Quality |
In the Transcoders group are defined these profiles:
| RTjpeg/MPEG4 |
| MPEG2 |
| High Quality |
| Medium Quality |
| Low Quality |
Once you have set up some options in recording profiles, you can select recording profiles when you schedule recordings, so that different shows can be recorded at different quality levels or with different settings.
Contents
Hardware DVB Encoders
Digital capture devices do not support encoding of the data, as it is already encoded.
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name cannot be changed here. To change the name you have to create a new Profile. | |
| Enable auto-transcode after recording | Not Checked | Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding. | |
| Recording Type | |||
| Recording Type | Normal | This option allows you to filter out unwanted streams. 'Normal' will record all relevant streams including interactive television data. 'TV Only' will record only audio, video and subtitle streams. | Available options are Normal, TV Only, Audio Only. |
HD-PVR Recorders
The HD PVR is an analog capture card with hardware encoding. There are several settings you can change to customize the space used versus the quality of recordings.
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name cannot be changed here. To change the name you have to create a new Profile. | |
| Enable auto-transcode after recording | Not Checked | Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding. | |
| Video Compression | |||
| Codec | MPEG-4 AVC Hardware Encoder | This cannot be changed. | |
| Low Resolution | |||
| Avg. Bitrate (kb/s) | 4500 | Average bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | Setting for recordings at 480p or 480i resolution. The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Max. Bitrate (kb/s) | 6000 | Maximum bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | Setting for recordings at 480p or 480i resolution. The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Medium Resolution | |||
| Avg. Bitrate (kb/s) | 9000 | Average bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | Setting for recordings at 720p resolution. The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Max. Bitrate (kb/s) | 11000 | Maximum bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | Setting for recordings at 720p resolution. The higher the value, the better the quality |
| High Resolution | |||
| Avg. Bitrate (kb/s) | 13500 | Average bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | Setting for recordings at 1080i resolution. The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Max. Bitrate (kb/s) | 20200 | Maximum bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | Setting for recordings at 1080i resolution. The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Audio Quality | |||
| Codec | AC3 Hardware Encoder | Select AC3 or AAC to determine which audio codec is used. | |
| Low Resolution | |||
Other Digital Recorder Profiles
- HDHomeRun Recorders
- Firewire Input
- Ceton Recorder
- Import Recorder
These devices record digital TV, capturing the video stream as is. Only one setting can be changed.
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name cannot be changed here. To change the name you have to create a new Profile. | |
| Enable auto-transcode after recording | Not Checked | Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding. | |
IVTV MPEG-2 Encoders
These devices record Standard Definition Analog TV and encode it as MPEG-2.
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name cannot be changed here. To change the name you have to create a new Profile. | |
| Enable auto-transcode after recording | Not Checked | Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding. | |
| Image Size | |||
| Width | 720 | Width to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 720 or 768 for NTSC and PAL, respectively. | |
| Height | 480 | Height to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 480 or 576 for NTSC and PAL, respectively. | |
| Video Compression | |||
| Codec | MPEG-2 Hardware Encoder | This cannot be changed. | |
| Stream Type | MPEG-2 PS | Sets the type of stream generated by your PVR. | |
| Aspect Ratio | 4:3 | Sets the aspect ratio of stream generated by your PVR. | |
| Avg. Bitrate (kb/s) | 4500 | Average bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Max. Bitrate (kb/s) | 6000 | Maximum bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Audio Quality | |||
| Codec | MPEG-2 Hardware Encoder | This cannot be changed. | |
| Sampling rate | 48000 | Sets the audio sampling rate for your DSP. Ensure that you choose a sampling rate appropriate for your device. btaudio may only allow 32000. | |
| Type | Layer II | This cannot be changed. | |
| Bitrate | 384 kbps | Sets the audio bitrate | |
| SAP/Bilingual | Main Language | Chooses the language(s) to record when two languages are broadcast. Only Layer II supports the recording of two languages (Dual).Requires ivtv 0.4.0 or later. | |
| Volume (%) | 90 | Volume of the recording | |
Hardware MJPEG Encoders (Matrox G200-TV, Miro DC10, etc)
These devices record Standard Definition Analog TV and encode it as MJPEG.
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name cannot be changed here. To change the name you have to create a new Profile. | |
| Enable auto-transcode after recording | Not Checked | Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding. | |
| Image Size | |||
| Width | 480 | Width to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 720 or 768 for NTSC and PAL, respectively. | |
| Height | 480 | Height to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 480 or 576 for NTSC and PAL, respectively. | |
| Video Compression | |||
| Codec | Hardware MJPEG | This cannot be changed. | |
| Quality | 100 | Values are from 0 to 100 | |
| Horizontal Decimation | 4 | Values are 1, 2 or 4 | |
| Vertical Decimation | 4 | Values are 1, 2 or 4 | |
| Audio Quality | |||
| Codec | MP3 | Values are MP3 or Uncompressed | |
| Sampling rate | 32000 | Sets the audio sampling rate for your DSP. Ensure that you choose a sampling rate appropriate for your device. btaudio may only allow 32000. | Values are 32000, 44100, 48000. |
| MP3 quality | 7 | The higher the slider number, the lower the quality of the audio. Better quality audio (lower numbers) requires more CPU. | This is only available if you selected MP3. Values are 1 - 9.. |
| Volume (%) | 90 | Recording volume of the capture card. | |
Mpeg-4 and Software Encoders
These settings apply to the following Profile groups
- USB Mpeg-4 Encoder (Plextor ConvertX, etc)
- Software Encoders (v4l based)
These devices record Standard Definition Analog TV and encode it.
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name cannot be changed here. To change the name you have to create a new Profile. | |
| Enable auto-transcode after recording | Not Checked | Automatically transcode when a recording is made using this profile and the recording's schedule is configured to allow transcoding. | |
| Image Size | |||
| Width | 480 | Width to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 720 or 768 for NTSC and PAL, respectively. | |
| Height | 480 | Height to use for encoding. Note: PVR-x50 cards may produce ghosting if this is not set to 480 or 576 for NTSC and PAL, respectively. | |
| Video Compression | |||
| Codec | MPEG-4 or RTjpeg | Values are:
MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 for USB Mpeg-4 Encoder (Plextor ConvertX, etc). RTjpeg or MPEG-4 for Software Encoders (v4l based). | |
| Codec: MPEG-4 | |||
| Bitrate (kb/s) | 2200 | Bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Maximum Quality | 2 | Modifying the default may have severe consequences. | Values are from 1 to 31. Lower values represent higher quality but more disk space used. |
| Minimum Quality | 15 | Modifying the default may have severe consequences. | Values are from 1 to 31. Lower values represent higher quality but more disk space used. |
| Max quality difference between frames | 3 | Modifying the default may have severe consequences. | Values are from 1 to 31. |
| Scale bitrate for frame size | Checked | If set, the bitrate specified will be used for 640x480. If other resolutions are used, the bitrate will be scaled appropriately. | |
| Enable high-quality encoding | Not Checked | If set, the MPEG4 encoder will use 'high-quality' encoding options. This requires much more processing, but can result in better video. | |
| Enable Enable 4MV encoding | Not Checked | If set, the MPEG4 encoder will use '4MV' motion-vector encoding. This requires much more processing, but can result in better video. It is highly recommended that the HQ option is enabled if 4MV is enabled. | |
| Enable interlaced DCT encoding | Not Checked | If set, the MPEG4 encoder will use interlaced DCT encoding. You may want this when encoding interlaced video; however, this is experimental and may cause damaged video. | |
| Enable interlaced motion estimation | Not Checked | If set, the MPEG4 encoder will use interlaced motion estimation. You may want this when encoding interlaced video; however, this is experimental and may cause damaged video. | |
| Number of threads | 1 | Threads to use for software encoding. Set to a value less than or equal to the number of processors on the backend that will be doing the encoding. | |
| Codec: MPEG-2 | |||
| Avg. Bitrate (kb/s) | 4500 | Average bitrate in kilobits/second. As a guide, 2200 kb/s is approximately 1 GB/hour. | The higher the value, the better the quality |
| Scale bitrate for frame size | Checked | If set, the bitrate specified will be used for 640x480. If other resolutions are used, the bitrate will be scaled appropriately. | |
| Number of threads | 1 | Threads to use for software encoding. Set to a value less than or equal to the number of processors on the backend that will be doing the encoding. | |
| Codec: RTjpeg | |||
| RTjpeg Quality | 170 | Higher is better quality. | Values are 1 to 255 |
| Luma filter | 0 | Lower is better. | Values are 0 to 31 |
| Chroma filter | 0 | Lower is better. | Values are 0 to 31 |
| Audio Quality | |||
| Codec | MP3 | Values are MP3 or Uncompressed | |
| Sampling rate | 32000 | Sets the audio sampling rate for your DSP. Ensure that you choose a sampling rate appropriate for your device. btaudio may only allow 32000. | Values are 32000, 44100, 48000. |
| MP3 quality | 7 | The higher the slider number, the lower the quality of the audio. Better quality audio (lower numbers) requires more CPU. | This is only available if you selected MP3. Values are 1 - 9.. |
| Volume (%) | 90 | Recording volume of the capture card. | |
Transcoders
| Setting | Default Value | Settings Page's Description | Additional Comments |
| Profile | |||
| Profile name | Default | The name can be changed here. Changing the name updates the profile with a new name. Unless you are sure of what you are doing, do not update the name. | |
| Custom Filters | Blank | Filters used when transcoding with this profile. This value must be blank to perform lossless transcoding. Format: [[<filter>=<options>,]...] | |
| Lossless transcoding | Not Checked | Only reencode where absolutely needed (normally only around cutpoints). Otherwise keep audio and video formats identical to the source. This should result in the highest quality, but won't save as much space. | |
| Resize video while transcoding | Not Checked | Allows the transcoder to resize the video during transcoding. | |
| Video Compression | |||
| Settings here are the same as for #Mpeg-4 and Software Encoders, but only MPEG-4 or RTjpeg can be selected as encoders. | |||
| Audio Quality | |||
| Settings here are the same as for #Mpeg-4 and Software Encoders | |||
