What formatting is required for the video files?

[Cap10]

I know there is the TSVConverter program for converting videos (great tool by the way) but I saw somewhere that the TinyTV also will play MP4 video.

Are only certain formats supported? Such as, what audio and video codecs will it play? While TSVConverter is great for ease of use, I would like to use something like HandBrake to re-encode and resize my video files in bulk.

[lennevia]

Hi there,

The .tsv format is the only format that will play on our TVs due to their programming.

You can convert mp4 to tsv using the converter, but the TV's will not play mp4 videos innately. The converter is built around ffmpeg. You could use a different tool and formatting if that's what is preferable, but you would be responsible for the programming.

Cheers,
Réna

[Cap10]

What is a TSV file? I thought it was just a known video format that was just given a .tsv extension for this project. All I can find is Tab Separated Values or a Time Shifted Video, I'm assuming the latter but as far as I can tell it's just a format used by DVR boxes made in China.

This is the only webpage I can find about TSV files and ffmpeg: https://trac.ffmpeg.org/ticket/3154

I mean I guess the TSVConverter tool is the only way to make compatible videos, but now I just want to understand what the hell this format even is.

[lennevia]

https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TSV-Converter-Tutorial/

The format is custom. TSV stands for tiny screen video.

[Cap10]

I see that now. You posted the source code in another thread. Thankfully it's Python, I'm a systems engineer and Python is the one of the few languages I actually know. Looks like if I get a library called "Tkinter" I can go through this myself.

It keeps getting hung up and freezing on me when I try converting a larger file, I'll try running it through the Python uncompiled. Looking at doConvert() it seems like you're using straight up rawvideo with bhr565be format. So yeah, I don't know of any other tools that output that.

Really cool project, not questioning your choice in formatting at all, just seeing if there were other options for converting the video files. Thanks for posting the code!

[lennevia]

Hmm. It shouldn't get hung up on a file just due to its size. It may be taking a long time without providing in-progress feedback, or it's possible there is a DRM blocking your ability to convert the video.

[decisioncheer]

Can I convert MP4 to TSV using a conversion tool? foodle

[lennevia]

Yes, our conversion tool is packaged in a Windows application or MacOS application with a tutorial here: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TSV-Converter-Tutorial/

We're working on a new app version for the future since the MacOS app has been shown to work inconsistently depending on the version of MacOS. I would give you a version of the new app, but it's too large to attach in the forum.

Cheers,
Réna

[copasetic]

I just saw this (pardon the duplicate post). Every file I have converted has ended losing the audio stream. I am not sure if it's the type of .mp4 I am starting with or something else, as there are not many settings in the tsv converter. software   I'll try a few different ones in the meantime.

[lennevia]

Hello!

There's a bug in the newest TinyTV App so it's not currently converting the audio streams properly of the custom .tsv videos.

Until there's a fix for the TinyTV App, use the TSV Converter app here: https://learn.tinycircuits.com/Kits/TSV-Converter-Tutorial/

Cheers,
Réna