Best HEVC converter?

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

I’ve been trying to convert a TV episode with HEVC video to a format that’s recognized on my WDTVLive
Streaming player.

I thought that converting to MP4 would work, but the conversion doesn’t get any response at all from WD.

(The original file at least prompts an ‘unrecognized format’ message)

Any suggestions about a suitable conversion app?

My OS is W7 Ultimate 64bit.

Thanks for reading.

2

You have to do a Full Re-Encode from HEVC (H.265) to AVC (H.264) to be able to play the file on any WDTV.

Heaps of free software can do it … eg. Handbrake is popular : HandBrake 1.6.1 Free Download - VideoHelp

But i like ShanaEncoder … faster and easier to use IMO : ShanaEncoder download | SourceForge.net

But remember a few things … (1) It’s gonna take a long time to re-encode (2) You will lose video quality (3) The filesize will increase more than triple or quadruple the size.(4) You must make sure the video encoding is within WDTV specifications.

Video notes:

  1. MPEG-2 Max (MP@HL 1920x1080ip30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).
  2. MPEG4.2 Max (ASP@L5 1920x1080p30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).
  3. EG-4.10 (H.264) Max (BP@L3.0 720x480p30 or 720x576p25, MP@L4.1 and HP@L4.1 1920×1080p30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).
  4. SMPTE 421M (VC-1) Max (AP@L3 and MP@HL 1920×1080p30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).
  5. WMV9 Max (MP@HL 1920×1080p30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40). Does not supprot WMV7 and WMV8. Does not support Screen, Image and Image Version 2 profiles.
  6. AVS Mac (Jizhun@L6.0 1920×1080p30 or 1280x720p60) , bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).
  7. AVC does not support ‘High10.’

The other option is to buy a new media player that supports HEVC

My $50 (AUD) 4K Android Amlogic S905X Box can play HEVC(H.265/X.365) @ 4K (3840x2160) Resolution with a Bit Depth 10 Bits (High 10/H10p) … perfectly

3

JoeySmyth: Thanks for your in-depth and informative reply.

I’ll try ShanaEncoder.

While I was waiting for advice, I did a conversion using StaxRip. This worked OK for video, although, as you mentioned, it doubled the size of the file.

This isn’t a problem, ATM. However, the audio was screwed. It started as AAC and ended up as ‘Opus’, which WD described as ‘unknown’.

Re your suggestion about the S905X, it’s a good call. I just wish I’d come here earlier and found your advice, because I went down the Vero 4K track about six weeks back, and, to cut a long story short, am just waiting for a replacement box to come from UK.

So, in the meantime, I’m struggling with the WDTVLive Streamer.

Any thoughts on the StaxRip audio issue?

4

Have never used StaxRip and have never heard of “Opus” audio track.

2 Ways to sort the problem

(1) Demux the audio from the original video and mux it into you converted file and remove the “Opus” Audio track. Tools needed … MKVToolNix (MKVMerge / MKVExtract)

(2) Open your converted file in ShanaEncoder and under “Quick Settings”

Select “Video: Codec *copy” and “Audio: Codec *AAC”

This will not re-process the Video stream … only the Audio stream. Which shouldn’t take very long … dunno, maybe about 10mins ?

5

JoeySmyth: Thanks again for your help. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the SHANA version to work 100%.

I had it playing with sound, but without subtitles, which were built-in to the HEVC original.

And when I added a renamed srt file to the containing folder, it worked on the PC via Pot Player.

But through WDTVLive after the srt was added to the folder, the movie ran at what seemed to be 2x or 4x speed. The subs were there, out of sync, and sound. But video was rapid.

So I gave up and got some fresh copies of the TV show that didn’t need tweaking. Problem solved.

BTW, re WDTV media players, I’ve never seen an explanation of why WD gave up on the project.

Any idea why this happened?

6

WDTV’s came out around the time (2008) when there wasn’t much choice to be able to playback media (High Definition) on a TV without having to using a Computer/Laptop.

so, they were filling a gap in the market.

10 Years later … the market is now saturated with media players (a lot at low cost) that offer a lot more flexability, performance and media compatibility.

So, in my opinion … they decided shift focus back to their core business model which is Hard Drives and Digital Storage (of which, they are one of the few players in a very huge market of hard drive manufacturers … WD, Seagate, Samsung and a few others.)

8

Thanks for the comment on my original post.
However, I’ve moved on since then.
I no longer have any problems with media types, format, subtitle syncing etc etc.
My Vero 4K handles everything faultlessly.