AP-E1 - what do you do with the files

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:55

Recorded a few programs with the APE and they play back beautifully on the S1.

Copied one of the files to my PC in three different ways-

to the PC from the S1 using the network copy from the filelist - this creates a directory with loads of 32k files in it just like the usual BW copy does.
copy from the PC using Wizfx as .TS file - creates a single .TS file
copy from the PC using wizfx as tvwiz file - creates a directory as above with the 32k files in it

The question I have is what can i do with these files on the PC? Tried to play them with VLC, Media classic, Windows Media Player and Nero Showtime with the following results -

VLC - audio fine but scrambled video - then errored
Media Classic - same as VLC
Windows MP - scrambled video, no audio and then error
Nero - perfect video but no audio.

Would appreciate some suggestions on this. Also want to edit the files but will worry about that later.

regards

Smeg

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 14:30

Try KM Player.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 15:21

Hi Smeg,

I just picked up the LiDiC and will get it hooked up ASAP. I will report back when I have tried some captures.

Regards,
Ian.

j s · Post by **j s** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 15:23

smeg888 wrote:copy from the PC using Wizfx as .TS file - creates a single .TS file

Try running this thru either ProjectX or pvaStrumento and see what they think? They might even be able to fix whatever the problem is.

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 15:52

make sure you have the latest H264 codecs installed http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Matroska_Pack.htm

also see my post in http://www.beyonwiz.com.au/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1477 regarding aspect ratio problem.

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 16:06

Gully wrote:Try KM Player.

Forgot about that one, sadly it got an error and then just locked up, had to stop it with Task Manager.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 19:55

"The KMPLayer" works very well on my machine, where as VLC is all green blobs for HD.
Regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 21:16

There is a serious problem with the LiDiC in the way it interprets composite video from a VHS machine - MediaInfo report below. To be able to make a viable DVD from these files you need a conversion program to correct the PAR and the aspect ratio - so far I haven't found one. Normally Womble will open MPEG 4 files but not his type. There is also a loss of colour saturation between a signal going in and coming out of the LiDiC. Maybe it will be corrected when the BW media player itself is fixed in firmware but I'm worried about the LiDiC itself. Does nay one know if the firmware within it can be updated?

General #0
Complete name : G:\beyonwiz\5MillionMiles.ts
Format : MPEG-4 Transport
Format/Family : MPEG-4
File size : 1.94 GiB
PlayTime : 1h 35mn
Bit rate : 2920 Kbps

Video #0
Codec : AVC
Codec/Info : MPEG-4 AVC
Codec profile : Main@L3.0
PlayTime : 1h 35mn
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Aspect ratio : 5/4
Standard : PAL
Language : English
PixelAspectRatio : 1.000
DisplayAspectRatio : 1.250

Audio #0
Codec : AAC
Codec/Family : AAC
Video0 delay : 4mn 12s
Language : English

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:41

tonymy01 wrote:"The KMPLayer" works very well on my machine, where as VLC is all green blobs for HD.
Regards

I tried KMPlayer with both the single TS file and the separate TVWiz TS files and both caused KMP to get a filter error and then it just froze. Even downloaded the latest version of KMP.

This is all very frustrating, the files play fine on the BW, and I'm willing to put up with the way it squashes the aspect ratio, but the device really isn't that much use to me if I can't get the files off the BW. It was supposed to be a method of archiving off my IQ.

May as well go back to my $75 USB video capture device, the quality is a bit dodgy but at least I can view and edit the files.

Anyone else had any success??

Wondering if a simple solution for BW is to add a converter of some sorts to WizFx.

regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:14

There is a serious issue with the way it handles aspect ratios and what it expects from the video source. I have tried 2 DVD players and got the same results under the following conditions.

1. Output of DVD player set to 16:9

LiDiC performed ok with no visible aspect ratio distortion, however it you took the LiDiC by-pass output to the same monitor the image was horizontally squeezed.

2. Output of DVD Player set to 4:3 Pan and Scan or Letterbox

LiDiC squeezed the image vertically to an unacceptable degree a movie "The Mummy" shot in 2.35:1 appeared more like 3.5:1

With 3 different VHS players that do not have a screen size facility in the menu, they all presume they are connected to a 4:3 TV the resulting image via LiDiC is squeezed horizontal so as to produce a PAR value 5/4. Interestingly the by-pass output produces a perfect 4:3 image.

I would suggest the unit is withheld from sale temporarily until these issues can be resolved as I'm sure they can. Also as the resulting file either TS of Wiz is actually a MPEG4 Transport file and very few PC players exist to handle these files and as far as I can find no editing package either - Womble for example works but doesn't pick up the sound. WinAVI converter also fails to detect sound and of course ProjectX is not designed for MPEG4 files. There is something about the header that crashes MPEGStreamclip. So all in all I have to give a fail classication to the LiDiC at the moment.

Very disappointing result

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:22

I should put a caveat about "The KMPlayer"... I was referring to HD files from the wiz, I have never seen a LiDiC to test the playback of its filetypes.
Regards

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:42

tonymy01 wrote:I should put a caveat about "The KMPlayer"... I was referring to HD files from the wiz, I have never seen a LiDiC to test the playback of its filetypes.
Regards

OK. you had me going, tried all sorts of things to get it to work.

The LiDiC files are apparently quite different.

regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:53

smeg888 wrote:
tonymy01 wrote:I should put a caveat about "The KMPlayer"... I was referring to HD files from the wiz, I have never seen a LiDiC to test the playback of its filetypes.
Regards
OK. you had me going, tried all sorts of things to get it to work.

The LiDiC files are apparently quite different.

regards

I tried KMPlayer with the LiDiC MPEG-4 Transport files and no-go.
I also tried ConvertXtoDVD with a couple of the LiDiC files as this program is normally very tolerant of file types and does support H264 etc. However with the LiDiC version it gave an error message PAFF interlacing is not implemented and then froze the program and then crashed the computer!!!

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:35

netmask wrote:
smeg888 wrote:
tonymy01 wrote:I should put a caveat about "The KMPlayer"... I was referring to HD files from the wiz, I have never seen a LiDiC to test the playback of its filetypes.
Regards
OK. you had me going, tried all sorts of things to get it to work.

The LiDiC files are apparently quite different.

regards
I tried KMPlayer with the LiDiC MPEG-4 Transport files and no-go.
I also tried ConvertXtoDVD with a couple of the LiDiC files as this program is normally very tolerant of file types and does support H264 etc. However with the LiDiC version it gave an error message PAFF interlacing is not implemented and then froze the program and then crashed the computer!!!

But other than that things went quite well.

NGcomm · Post by **NGcomm** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 15:36

I too am disapointed with the LiDiC as I purchased it to get Transact and a combo DVD/VCR through the DP-P1 which has been working fine (except for some small errors noted elsewhere). Through these inputs I wanted to then record my old VCR's, the last of my audio and video collection to be transfered onto the media server.

After recording a VCR this morning (rubbish signal even in SVideo compared to direct compasite output to TV). Transfered to PC and as noted above - no matter what I did I can't convert it to something playable on the media server (preferable XVID so the two Medigates through the house can also play them).

Question, what is the point of this if the files have to stay in a format that can't be converted as once they fill up the BW HD, that's it.

Hope the issues of both conversion quality and file conversion is solved quickly.

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 09:35

Minor break through. I downloaded and installed FFDShow with it's codecs and can now watch .TS files recorded by the E1 using Media Player Classic.

I suppose that's something at least I can now watch the files on my PC.

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 09:37

What version of FFDshow ? Might be worth posting all the details and site location so other may replicate

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:08

Just installed the latest beta version of VLC http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32/latest/ and it also plays back LiDiC MPEG-4 transport files. When I have time I'll explore VLC as in theory it may be able to convert to a more friendly format for editing.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 13:42

Thanks for the link, this version of VLC plays all my HD files now without the green/purple screen (I forgot which colour) too.
Regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 14:07

Green actually on my system until I found the beta site - I have also found Elecard XMuxer Pro will demux into video .h264 and audio .aac
I'm currently in the process of converting the .aac to .wav so I can try editing the file in Womble or whatever!

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 15:05

Success of sorts!

1.To extract the audio use Elecard XMuxer Pro
Then convert to wav or mp3 format using say CoolEdit Pro or any audio editor that will recognise aac files

2. To extract and convert the video to MPEG2 for easy editing use WinAVI (it doesn't find any audio but then you already have it! see item 1.)

Then load the video and audio into Womble and export a MPEG2 file with embedded audio ready for authoring to DVD.

So I guess the girls and boys at Beyonwiz Headquarters will need to come up with a standalone conversion program that takes a LiDiC generated TS or Wiz format set and pops out a standard MPEG2 file for easy editing on a PC. Otherwise the LiDiC will become a commercial lemon - it's not worth it if you have to leave the files on the BW and it's presently way too complicated to do a conversion. Hope that helps and I hope someone at BeyonWiz Headquarters comments. I'm not an official beta tester but after the last few days I feel I earned my stripes..

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 18:05

netmask wrote:So I guess the girls and boys at Beyonwiz Headquarters will need to come up with a standalone conversion program that takes a LiDiC generated TS or Wiz format set and pops out a standard MPEG2 file for easy editing on a PC. Otherwise the LiDiC will become a commercial lemon - it's not worth it if you have to leave the files on the BW and it's presently way too complicated to do a conversion.

While it would be nice if they changed WizFX to also convert the wiz files, that would leave Mac and Linux users out in the cold. It would be far better if the wiz recorded LiDiC files in exactly the same format as normal wiztv files.

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 07:19

My thoughts entirely. Seems silly to have 2 standards of encoding but I didn't want to suggest that as the decoder chip in the LiDiC is probably a specific MPEG4 decoder so that would render all existing LiDIC's useless.

My guess is the decision to use a MPEG4 decoder chip rather than a MPEG2 decoder was probably made on a cost basis without thinking through the total process. Still it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with some conversion software as there are plenty of models in the MPEG4 camera world to base it on - pity none of them seem to work with BW's version of MPEG4!

Anyway I finally have a backup copy of my decaying VHS of '5 Million Miles To Earth' to burn on DVD!! The going price for an original DVD issue collectors edition for this B grade Hammer production in the USA is $137

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 08:07

smeg888 wrote:Minor break through. I downloaded and installed FFDShow with it's codecs and can now watch .TS files recorded by the E1 using Media Player Classic.

I suppose that's something at least I can now watch the files on my PC.

FFDShow - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:31

smeg888 wrote:
smeg888 wrote:Minor break through. I downloaded and installed FFDShow with it's codecs and can now watch .TS files recorded by the E1 using Media Player Classic.

I suppose that's something at least I can now watch the files on my PC.
FFDShow - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow

Found a one-shop stop solution TMPGenc 4 Xpress (US$100) will do the job converting to MPEG2 or a range of other formats

TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress gives you the freedom to take almost any video file and encode it to your desired file format including DivX 6 AVI, QuickTime, MPEG 4-ISO, H.264, DVD-Video, DVD-VR, HDV camcorder, and much more. This powerful software provides you with functions and features ranging from a simple cut-editor tool to multiple powerful video filtering and effects.

So there you are a simple solution

So far I haven't been able to find any simple freeware or shareware solution. TMPGenc is a good stable of editing programs for any one interested in manipulating video files

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 07:31

netmask wrote:
smeg888 wrote:
smeg888 wrote:Minor break through. I downloaded and installed FFDShow with it's codecs and can now watch .TS files recorded by the E1 using Media Player Classic.

I suppose that's something at least I can now watch the files on my PC.
FFDShow - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow
Found a one-shop stop solution TMPGenc 4 Xpress (US$100) will do the job converting to MPEG2 or a range of other formats

TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress gives you the freedom to take almost any video file and encode it to your desired file format including DivX 6 AVI, QuickTime, MPEG 4-ISO, H.264, DVD-Video, DVD-VR, HDV camcorder, and much more. This powerful software provides you with functions and features ranging from a simple cut-editor tool to multiple powerful video filtering and effects.
So there you are a simple solution So far I haven't been able to find any simple freeware or shareware solution. TMPGenc is a good stable of editing programs for any one interested in manipulating video files

Hi Netmask

I downoaded and installed the trial Version of TMPGenc, it converted the video fine, but did not recognise that it had any audio. I used the .TS file generated by WizFx did you use that or the separate 32k TVWiz files??

regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 08:57

I downloaded the file off the LiDIC using WizFX and the TS option. I then simply imported that file into TMPGenc and converted it to PAL MPEG2. I had to set all the parameters like frame size and PAL and MPEG2 etc but apart from that it was ok. I also just tried a small 32M file from a TVWIZ format and that was ok as well - the results as reported by MediaInfo

General #0
Complete name : C:\Documents and Settings\Netmask\Desktop\0021.mpg
Format : MPEG-2 Program
Format/Family : MPEG-2
File size : 45.7 MiB
PlayTime : 1mn 32s
Bit rate : 4167 Kbps

Video #0
Codec : MPEG-2 Video
Codec profile : Main@Main
Codec settings/Matri : Custom
PlayTime : 1mn 31s
Bit rate : 4000 Kbps
Bit rate mode : CBR
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Aspect ratio : 4/3
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Chroma : 4:2:0
Interlacement : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.386

Audio #0
Codec : MPEG-1 Audio layer 2
PlayTime : 1mn 31s
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Bit rate mode : CBR
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Writing library : Xing (new)

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 15:58

SMEG888 make sure when using TMPGenc the FFDshow audio and video icons are activated in the startup group. I've transferred three ancient VHS movies all looking and sounding quite good. Must admit I agree with Copyright Dave that *they* should have used the same MPEG2 format but thats the way the mop flops I guess...

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 16:20

Well MPEG4 is much more suited to this than MPEG2, it would be a waste of B/W to compress a VHS tape to MPEG2!
They just need to get it to be a reasonable MPEG4 format that is playable more easily. I suppose MPEG4 in a TS bucket isn't really well supported by too many things.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 18:20

Matroska (MKV) is ideal for that.

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 07:33

netmask wrote:SMEG888 make sure when using TMPGenc the FFDshow audio and video icons are activated in the startup group. I've transferred three ancient VHS movies all looking and sounding quite good. Must admit I agree with Copyright Dave that *they* should have used the same MPEG2 format but thats the way the mop flops I guess...

Hi Netmask

Had a look, where exactly do I activate the icons? Bound to me somewhere obvious, but I could see it.

Thanks for your help on this.

regards

Smeg

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 08:46

Whenever I use a video player or when I import a TS video file into TMPGenc, the FFDShow icons appear - I simply installed FFDShow after you mentioned it enabled Media Player Classic and VLC.

So basically I open TMPGenc import a file, the audio and video icons appear in the startup group and that's it.

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 15:26

netmask wrote:Whenever I use a video player or when I import a TS video file into TMPGenc, the FFDShow icons appear - I simply installed FFDShow after you mentioned it enabled Media Player Classic and VLC.

So basically I open TMPGenc import a file, the audio and video icons appear in the startup group and that's it.

Hi Netmask

I think I'm just being dumb. Can you lead me thru this one slowly. I'v got FFDShow installed. I've got the trial version of TMPGenc. Just can't get it to decode any audio.

What do I have to check in FFD to get the icons to appear, and where do they appear?

Sorry about my frustrating slowness here.

regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 16:00

You shouldn't have to do anything - if you are converting a BW LiDiC TS format file to MPEG2
the FFDShow icons will just appear in the bottom right hand corner of the screen in the start-up group.

When you play a LiDiC TS file in Media Player Classic do the FFDShow icons appear? They do in my system but only when I play a LiDIC TS file.

Just guessing and I haven't tried this but I'm beginning to think FFDshow will only kick in when you are transferring to a bog standard MPEG2 file in TMPGenc?

So can you let me know all of the settings you are using to convert the file in TMPGenc Express?

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 17:00

netmask wrote:You shouldn't have to do anything - if you are converting a BW LiDiC TS format file to MPEG2
the FFDShow icons will just appear in the bottom right hand corner of the screen in the start-up group.

When you play a LiDiC TS file in Media Player Classic do the FFDShow icons appear? They do in my system but only when I play a LiDIC TS file.

Just guessing and I haven't tried this but I'm beginning to think FFDshow will only kick in when you are transferring to a bog standard MPEG2 file in TMPGenc?

So can you let me know all of the settings you are using to convert the file in TMPGenc Express?

mmm, interesting. Both A and V icons appear in the tray when I play a TS file in Media Player Classic.

Hower in TMPGEnc when I load the file the Video icon appears in the tray (when I have the load file dialogue up), there is no Audio Icon. The video icon then disappears when I go back in to the main display of TMPGEnc.

At thispoint TMPGenc shows that the file haqs no audio.

Appreciate your help on this, if I can't get this conversion to work the E1 is going back to it's maker!

regards

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 17:40

I doubt if there is any thing wrong with the LiDiC . Since Media Player Classic plays the file with audio your problem is more likely due to the way FFDShow works on your computer and/or the trial version of TMPGenc Express is partially crippled. I do know that the no longer supported or available from TMPGenc Version 3 also works so maybe you might be able to find that version and give it a go. It's a pity the LiDiC wasn't released with a suite of software to handle conversion on a PC and MAC like most hardware encoders are. Even the Aldi DVD maker has a basic editor. I'm very happy with the concept and will persevere but it needs more work for the average user who just wants to record VHS and maybe Foxtel onto their PC. I can send you my FFDShow config files but I didn't alter anything I just installed the program and went with the defaults. The text is really too long to post here but you can pm me if you like and I'll send them to you. Just might help

PS I produced an AVI file using TMPGenc and that worked ok as well - got to select DivX 6 as the video encoder and set the audio as MP3

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 07:51

Hi Guys,

Are you working with the .ts file or the .tvwiz directory structure? I tried my first LiDiC captures last night and found that many programs object to the .ts version of the file but quite happily played the contents of the .tvwiz folder.

I believe that others have complained about invalid .ts file headers from WizFX and this may well also be affecting LiDiC recordings.

More investigations to follow (as time permits).

Regards,
Ian.

smeg888 · Post by **smeg888** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:12

IanSav wrote:Hi Guys,

Are you working with the .ts file or the .tvwiz directory structure? I tried my first LiDiC captures last night and found that many programs object to the .ts version of the file but quite happily played the contents of the .tvwiz folder.

I believe that others have complained about invalid .ts file headers from WizFX and this may well also be affecting LiDiC recordings.

More investigations to follow (as time permits).

Regards,
Ian.

Hi Ian

I've tried both. Can get the .ts file from WizFx to play in Media Player Classic with the FFDSHow codecs loaded.

If I rename all the 0000n files in the TVWix directory to .ts you can then drop the whole directory in to Media Player Classic and it plays. Trouble is that it treats each 0000n file as a separate file meaing that there is a sub-sceond pause between the playing of each file, realistically making this appraoch unusable.

Still unable to convert either to another format, I get the video ok but no audio, but will continue my discussions with Netmask who seems to have this working.

Playing either file types they have the problem with the slight squeezing of the the 16:9 down to 15:9ish, they also appear to be overly bright, similar effect to upping the gamma on a video display. I'm not sure if it is my imagination but the colour seems to be better on the TVWiz directory files.

I'm still weighing up if the E1 is worth the trouble, my $75 USB capture device probably doesn't give quite as good quality picture, but it does generate an playable/editable MPG stream. Also gives me one step MPG file on the PC rather than 3 with the E1 (record on the BW, transfer to the PC, convert to MPG (if I can ever get this to work)). I'm not really interested in any of the other functionality like live pause, chase play etc, I can do that on my PC or IQ, I really just want to use it for archiving Foxtel shows.

regards

Smeg

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:34

I have confirmed with all of my experiments that the LiDiC produces a 5:4 aspect ratio out of an originating 4:3 off a standard VHS player - I have unfortunately had some experience over my professional life that many people can't perceive the difference

Maybe I'm being a little harsh... When you connect a standard DVD player as the source and copy a widescreen movie (The Mummy) to the LiDIC ithe resulting file plays back via the BW squashed. All of this before you transfer to a PC or MAC and try to edit the file.

SMEG888 tracked down that the installation of the latest FFDShow enabled playback on the computer with sound and I have confirmed that the aspect ratios reproduce correctly on a PC MediaInfo reports the following

General #0
Complete name : G:\beyonwiz\5MillionMiles.ts
Format : MPEG-4 Transport
Format/Family : MPEG-4
File size : 1.94 GiB
PlayTime : 1h 35mn
Bit rate : 2920 Kbps

Video #0
Codec : AVC
Codec/Info : MPEG-4 AVC
Codec profile : Main@L3.0
PlayTime : 1h 35mn
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Aspect ratio : 5/4
Standard : PAL
Language : English
PixelAspectRatio : 1.000
DisplayAspectRatio : 1.250

Audio #0
Codec : AAC
Codec/Family : AAC
Video0 delay : 4mn 12s
Language : English

So at the present time the BW cannot reproduce a file derived from the LiDiC in correct aspect ratio.

I have found that TMPGenc Express versions 3 or 4 will happily decode (video and audio) a LiDiC created TS file to whatever format you want as long as FFDShow is installed on the computer.

I would love to know if anyone does know if the firmware in the LiDiC is capable of being updated?

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 15:59

netmask wrote:I have confirmed with all of my experiments that the LiDiC produces a 5:4 aspect ratio out of an originating 4:3

the LiDiC the resulting file plays back via the BW squashed.

netmask wrote:I would love to know if anyone does know if the firmware in the LiDiC is capable of being updated?

Don't know. There is no RS232 port or host USB port etc. So I'd say no, unless the slave USB can be used, or there's a header inside. I haven't opened one up (I'd need a dead one to play surgeon on). It looks like it either clips together or has screws hidden behind the stick-on rubber feet. I'm guessing, by the fact that there's no obviously suitable external connection and no obviously easy way to open one up, that they are not intended to be firmware upgradable (at least not by end-users).

prl · Post by **prl** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 16:41

Dave? wrote:...
netmask wrote:I would love to know if anyone does know if the firmware in the LiDiC is capable of being updated?
Don't know. There is no RS232 port or host USB port etc. So I'd say no, unless the slave USB can be used, or there's a header inside. I haven't opened one up (I'd need a dead one to play surgeon on). It looks like it either clips together or has screws hidden behind the stick-on rubber feet. I'm guessing, by the fact that there's no obviously suitable external connection and no obviously easy way to open one up, that they are not intended to be firmware upgradable (at least not by end-users).

The 1.05.197 firmware package contains the files ql201baudfw.bin, ql201bvidfw.bin and qlusbfwb_im.bin in wizdvp/lidic

. I'd be very surprised if they weren't (parts of) the LiDiC firmware. I'd further guess that the first one is the audio coder and the second one the video coder.

So it looks like a LiDiC firmware upgrade will just be distributed in the normal BW firmware upgrade package, and presumably uploaded over the USB link. There's presumably a minimal system in it that at least supports upload/boot.

Edit: From the names of the firmware files, I'd guess that the main chip in the LiDiC is a Qpixel QL201B. There are more documents about the chip if you follow the Firmware link on that page. Chip CPU is an ARM9 running at "81Mhz up to 167Mhz (120Mhz typical)". 200mW typical average power consumption.

Edit: A bit more digging in the firmware files - they're definitely (part of) the firmware and the chip is definitely the QL201B.

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 18:58

prl wrote:So it looks like a LiDiC firmware upgrade will just be distributed in the normal BW firmware upgrade package, and presumably uploaded over the USB link. There's presumably a minimal system in it that at least supports upload/boot.

Cool! And thanks!

So it would seem that the wiz is capable of upgrading the LiDiC's firmware via the USB cable. Pretty damn clever actually. A user upgrades their BW and it also upgrades their LiDiC.

It should be easy enough to create a PC application that transfers the bin files and issues the appropriate command (reboot?). Though it's totally unecessary seeing as the BW will do it automatically - and you can't use a LiDiC without connecting it to a BW with appropriate firmware.

Hmm, I just had a thought. I was wondering how we can tell which firmware version a LiDiC has (even though it's not an issue because I assume as soon as it's connected to a BW with a later firmware that the LiDiC's firmware will be updated). This got me to think about connecting the LiDiC's USB cable to a PC. Then I thought why not write some PC software to use the LiDiC as an analogue USB A/V input device. Probably easier to just buy a USB A/V input device/card.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 22:13

Dave? wrote:
prl wrote:So it looks like a LiDiC firmware upgrade will just be distributed in the normal BW firmware upgrade package, and presumably uploaded over the USB link. There's presumably a minimal system in it that at least supports upload/boot.
Cool! And thanks!

So it would seem that the wiz is capable of upgrading the LiDiC's firmware via the USB cable. Pretty damn clever actually. A user upgrades their BW and it also upgrades their LiDiC.

It should be easy enough to create a PC application that transfers the bin files and issues the appropriate command (reboot?). Though it's totally unecessary seeing as the BW will do it automatically - and you can't use a LiDiC without connecting it to a BW with appropriate firmware.

Hmm, I just had a thought. I was wondering how we can tell which firmware version a LiDiC has (even though it's not an issue because I assume as soon as it's connected to a BW with a later firmware that the LiDiC's firmware will be updated). This got me to think about connecting the LiDiC's USB cable to a PC. Then I thought why not write some PC software to use the LiDiC as an analogue USB A/V input device. Probably easier to just buy a USB A/V input device/card.

No problem. It could be a bit tricky injecting the code like that, because I suspect the code is injected by the main app (wizdvp); I can't find anything that looks like a "boot the LiDiC" command. And to make things more difficult, the LiDiC FW is in a read-only file system (romfs)

Any LiDiC FW mods would probably have to be bundled into a new .wrp, the way the background changer does it.

There wasn't an obvious version number in the LiDiC firmware, but I admit I haven't looked very hard.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 02:34

Hi Smeg,

smeg888 wrote:I've tried both. Can get the .ts file from WizFx to play in Media Player Classic with the FFDSHow codecs loaded.

If I rename all the 0000n files in the TVWix directory to .ts you can then drop the whole directory in to Media Player Classic and it plays. Trouble is that it treats each 0000n file as a separate file meaing that there is a sub-sceond pause between the playing of each file, realistically making this appraoch unusable.

I just dropped the first file in the .tvwiz directory on the current version of VLC and it played video and audio fine (and continuously). I have not have time to play with conversions yet.

The picture is awfully bright. There is definitely something not right with the capture parameters.

More testing to come, as long as the owner lets me keep their box.

Regards,
Ian.

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 02:49

prl wrote:There wasn't an obvious version number in the LiDiC firmware, but I admit I haven't looked very hard.

I had a quick look too and couldn't see anything obvious.

DaveR · Post by **DaveR** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 02:56

IanSav wrote:Hi Smeg,
smeg888 wrote:I've tried both. Can get the .ts file from WizFx to play in Media Player Classic with the FFDSHow codecs loaded.

If I rename all the 0000n files in the TVWix directory to .ts you can then drop the whole directory in to Media Player Classic and it plays. Trouble is that it treats each 0000n file as a separate file meaing that there is a sub-sceond pause between the playing of each file, realistically making this appraoch unusable.
I just dropped the first file in the .tvwiz directory on the current version of VLC and it played video and audio fine (and continuously). I have not have time to play with conversions yet.

I just used WizFX to transfer a short tvwiz recording. And I then used WizFX to convert the directroy into a single .ts file. But when I tried to use WizFX to transfer the same recording as a .ts file it kept failing part way through (though it did create a small .ts file).

I tried playing both .ts files and the numbered files from the tvwiz directory with KMPlayer. The first time it 'played' the converted .ts file with an all black video and no audio. It played the 'failed transfer' .ts file and the tvwiz number files ok. Then I tried the converted .ts again and it played ok!

Comparing the 2 .ts files showed that they were exactly the same up to the point where the transfer failed.

I have not yet tried playing these files on the BW, but will do so via both network and USB.

j s · Post by **j s** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:25

Is a TS file a valid container format for an mpeg4 stream?

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:43

Yes. You can put anything you like in TS. It can even encapsulate IPv4 (Internet) traffic.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:12

peteru wrote:Yes. You can put anything you like in TS. It can even encapsulate IPv4 (Internet) traffic.

Gee. that would make interesting viewing!