Use VLC to capture/record DVB-T2 channel, or...

[Jim Lesurf]

I can get VLC to watch/hear the TV channels OK. Had to spend some time
looked at various webpages, but that turned out to be quite simple. Works
nicely for SD and HD..

Question is how to then get it to record the channel to a file? Ideally
with no transcoding but just containering in a convenient format like mpv
or similar.

The web page I read that explained the simple way to get them to play OK
simply said "then press ctrl+R to record". However that just pops up a
window with blanks to enter more info. Not sure what to do from that point
on. I'd hoped it would default to whatever was being found and rendered for
display.

So is there a simple way to do that, and then just press a magic key to end
the recording when done?

I've found loads of pages showing loooooong command line ways, often
telling me different things!

Or is there a desktop prog I can use to do this more easily? In the past I
wrote my old very simple run-in-a-terminal one using the dvb-apps, etc. But
that just gut the raw transport stream for the channel, and I think being
able to see what I'm getting and ensure I got it right, etc, may be useful
whilst vlc does any useful trans-packing etc as it goes.

Ta,

Jim

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[Marco Moock]

Am Sonntag, 18. September 2022, um 13:11:25 Uhr schrieb Jim Lesurf:

> Question is how to then get it to record the channel to a file?

Enable "extended control" in the view button in the menu bar
(translated from German, may differ in English).
A new toolbar appears with a big red button, press it to record, press
it again to stop. It will be saved to your home directory on Linux,
maybe to Videos if that folder exists.

I tried it out with a .wav playing, it works.

[Jim Lesurf]

In article <tg75nc$g59q$2...@dont-email.me>, Marco Moock <mo...@posteo.de>
wrote:

Thanks! :-) Yes, got that working.

Here the name is "Advanced controls".

I can then playback and record OK from DVB-T2. I'm letting it record as .ts
at present as I'm not sure what recontainers might ensure no transcoding.

One struggle was that I couldn't initially see the 'red button'. But then
found a red 'blob' beside "record" at the bottom of the "playback" menu.
:-)

FWIW The automatic choice of mux bandwidth doesn't seem to work. Have to
set it to 8MHz each time. Maybe this is because the UK UHF TV band is now
packed almost solid with the transmissions. Dunno. But it works. :-)

Output goes to the "Downloads" directory on the machine. I think the
'capture' option on a menu may also work the same but perhaps doesn't then
render and display the video as it goes. Not tried it for this yet although
I have occasionally used it to convert things in the past. However the
machine I'm using is fast enough that symultaneously rendering it and
recording it is trivial. So I'll probably let it show what it is getting as
it records as a check that all is well.

Thanks again,

[NY]

"Jim Lesurf" <no...@audiomisc.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5a2a5a6...@audiomisc.co.uk...

> FWIW The automatic choice of mux bandwidth doesn't seem to work. Have to
> set it to 8MHz each time. Maybe this is because the UK UHF TV band is now
> packed almost solid with the transmissions. Dunno. But it works. :-)

That's odd. I've found that VLC records perfectly well:

- Media | Open Capture Device
- Capture Mode = TV-digital
- Tuner card 0 (the default), Delivery system DVB-T (even for a T2 mux!),
Mux frequency = 482 kHz (yes, really!) or 482000 kHz, Bandwidth=Automatic or
8 MHz.
- Play button

There is something rather cool about being able to record a whole multiplex
to a single .ts file, and then being able to play back that ts file and
select one of the several channels that it contains.

[Jim Lesurf]

In article <tgakbq$182li$1...@dont-email.me>, NY <m...@privacy.invalid> wrote:
> "Jim Lesurf" <no...@audiomisc.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:5a2a5a6...@audiomisc.co.uk...

> > FWIW The automatic choice of mux bandwidth doesn't seem to work. Have
> > to set it to 8MHz each time. Maybe this is because the UK UHF TV band
> > is now packed almost solid with the transmissions. Dunno. But it
> > works. :-)

> That's odd. I've found that VLC records perfectly well:

Maybe its a quirk of the dongle I'm using. Dunno. But if I leave the
bandwidth 'automatic' it goes on searching until I tell it to stop.

> There is something rather cool about being able to record a whole
> multiplex to a single .ts file, and then being able to play back that
> ts file and select one of the several channels that it contains.

Yes. FWIW many years ago I wrote a simple capture prog for the dongle to do
that so I can then run some stats on the details of the info streams in the
multiplex. Think I used it for a webpage or article, but now can't recall
the details.

Until now I've tended to use a similar 'home brew' prog to record a
selected station. But VLC looks now a simpler way to go. And useful that it
can show what is being recorded.