Which to buy...DVD recorder or box that records onto hard drive?

Woby_Tide

Cricri wrote: »

But according to the size, the files do seem to be compressed? If so, in what format, and why are they flagged as .TS (you just rang my bell)?

they are recorded at the bitrate and compression settings that the broadcaster is sending them(unlike say a DVD recorder which takes the stream , converts it, compresses it and then stores it). And the format as before is 'Transport Stream' hence .ts It's a form of MPEG2 hence whey some PC's can play them by changing the extension, others need converting first before then changing to DVD compliant format with software.

dogran_2

There are some tools here http://www.hummy.org.uk/invison/index.php?act=downloads that supposedly do a '1 click' operation to download the files off the humax & convert them ready for burning to a dvd. I'll be getting a humax in a week or two & cant wait..

Cricri

Cool, I'll have more info for the housemate, we'll have to give a go to the tools pointed out by dogran and try to read them according to Woby_Tide info (renaming them to .VOB maybe?).
Thanks!

Woby_Tide

Cricri wrote: »

Cool, I'll have more info for the housemate, we'll have to give a go to the tools pointed out by dogran and try to read them according to Woby_Tide info (renaming them to .VOB maybe?).
Thanks!

.vob is a DVD format. Renaming to .mpeg sometimes works but this all depends on how the signal was transmitted in the first place and whether the streams are compliant. If the broadcast changed ratios at any point during teh recording then renaming might not work. Something like pvastrumento or hdtv2mpeg are normally enough to quickly convert to a genuine MPEG file