Transcoding Videos

How to speed up your video's upload time with transcoding.

To ensure compatibility and optimal performance of your videos on TelemetryTV, it's important to adhere to the following requirements and guidelines:

TelemetryTV Requirements:

TelemetryTV utilizes dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) to stream videos using browser technology. This allows for large video sizes (up to 1GB) and smooth streaming with minimal delay.

If the videos you upload are not DASH compatible, TelemetryTV will automatically transcode them to a suitable format during the upload process. Transcoded videos will display "Transcoded by TelemetryTV" after uploading.

TelemetryTV will also generate a thumbnail for your video after the upload is complete.

Please note that this transcoding and thumbnail generation process may take some time, particularly for larger videos.

It's recommended to transcode your videos before uploading to have more control and potentially faster processing.

Upload Video Formats:

TelemetryTV accepts and transcodes videos in the following supported formats:

  • MP4
  • WebM
  • OGG
  • MOV (Quicktime)
  • AVI

Playback Video Formats:

TelemetryTV media players require videos to be in the following format for playback:

  • MP4 (not OGG, MPEG, Quicktime, AVI, FLV, etc.)
    Videos should support fragmented playback for DASH streaming and should be under 1GB in size.

Supported Playback Codecs:

TelemetryTV supports the following playback codecs:

  • H.264 (preferred format for faster transcoding)
  • VP9 (medium speed encoding)
  • H.265 (limited device compatibility)
  • AAC for audio

TelemetryTV uses H.264 over H.265 or VP9 due to faster transcoding. However, newer codecs may provide smaller file sizes. It's recommended to experiment with different codecs and test performance on the devices you intend to use, as device compatibility may vary.

Please note that H.265 is generally not supported on most devices (except on Android with supported hardware), and AV1 is not currently supported.

Checking Compatibility:

You can check the compatibility of your videos before uploading by using MP4Box and the "-info" command. Ensure that the output shows the file as fragmented, suitable for progressive download, and does not have the "tmcd" codec parameters.

Transcoding Videos Yourself

To transcode your videos yourself and bypass TelemetryTV's transcoding process, you can use the CLI tool ffmpeg. Here is the command line for transcoding a video with ffmpeg in the format supported by TelemetryTV:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -f mp4 -c:v h264 -c:a aac -movflags empty_moov+omit_tfhd_offset+frag_keyframe+default_base_moof+faststart output.mp4 -write_tmcd 0

To transcode your video, follow these steps:

  1. Install ffmpeg on your computer.
  2. Open the command line or terminal.
  3. Use the above command, replacing input.mp4 with the name of your video file and output.mp4 with the desired name for the transcoded video file.
  4. Execute the command to transcode the video.
  5. Once the transcoding is complete, upload the resulting video file to TelemetryTV. It will be ready to use once the upload is finished.

Alternatively, you can use graphical tools like Handbrake to perform the transcoding and conversion to support MPEG DASH.

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Transcoding Your Own Videos

Please note that transcoding videos yourself using ffmpeg or similar tools is an advanced process. It's recommended to familiarize yourself with viewing and understanding your videos' properties before attempting transcoding.

By transcoding, you can optimize them for TelemetryTV's playback format, potentially speeding up the upload process and ensuring compatibility with TelemetryTV's requirements.