Notices

The article should probably be merged with the existing http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding (also note the capitalisation standard for titles in our wiki).

I don't think the differences are so large that the wiki needs two pages on it :-)

thanks so much! my recent hanbrake encodes gave me mixed results.

I'm going to write a 'dummies' guide for people who just want to 'make it work' and I'll link off your page, if that's ok. I'm currently gathering some screenshots.

Im waiting for my phone, 3 day shipping is taking 7 days but when I get it I may add some extra stuff to the wiki.

handbrake is a pretty good program but I know a lot of other programs to encode with the one I like most is MeGUI it has presets as well, and we can easily share a preset that is perfect for the N900. Though I suspect the ipod touch/phone preset is almost a perfect place to start.

Shame its only basic 3.0 support I expected better out of the N900, but as long as its lag free with no sync issues like my Sony W760 has I wont complain.

Ok folkd, a very VERY basic guide is now up here

http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_Encoding_Basic_Guide

Improve it, change it, edit it... and if it works, please could it be linked from the informational page.

I tried merging them:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding

Please tell me what you think. I think it looks logical, one subject for N900, another for the older devices (could write that one better), and the streaming and the manual encoding also as a different topic as they apply to both.

If you really don't like it revert/improve but if you do then the N900 video encoding should be redirecting to that page.

p.s - What is the capitalisation standard? Every letter capital?(except "to", etc)

There are two things which people should be interested in:

1. What tools can I use for my N900, N8x0 and 770 for various OSes to transcode video/rip DVDs?
2. What are the limits of the device if I'm doing it myself manually?

I think the separation between N900 and "older devices" is a little artifiicial as most of the information is common to both; the only difference is in the maximum qualities supported.

Wiki page names are initial capital, rest lower case. For example:

• Video encoding - consistent
• N900 Video Encoding - inconsistent (if nothing else, should be N900 video encoding)
• Video Encoding Basic Guide - inconsistent (if nothing else, should be Video encoding basic guide)

However, the intention of http://wiki.maemo.org/Video_encoding was always the "basic guide". People who want a detailed walk through of all the options of a specific tool are best dealt with with a sub-page.

Suggested organisation:

• Video encoding - overview of tools for quick easy-to-use tools which support all tablet versions (tablet-encode, ITVC, Media Converter, Handbrake (with preset)); and mention of maximum recommended resolutions/bitrates.
• Video encoding/Manual - how to manually use mencoder/Handbrake/ffmpeg/other random tool. Details the limitations (codecs, resolutions, bitrates etc.)
• Video encoding/Handbrake_on_Windows - detailed step-by-step instructions for very inexperienced users who can't extrapolate from the overview.

^Great. By all means edit and rename accordingly.

(I have problems with wiki capitalisation: if you search for 'user faq' you get no result - you have to search for 'user FAQ' which bugs me every time. )

I'm not convinced that an un-separated guide is helpful (I have no problem with a single page but honestly, pages are cheap so a landing page that links to N900 and pre-N900 guides makes the most sense to me).

The considerations are so different between N900 and pre-N900 that you'd end up with every section having two parts. Even the choice of encoding software isn't clear - Handbrake is a good fit for the N900 but as the newest version has only very basic xvid support, it's unlikely to be the right choice for the older models.

Oh, and on the subject of 5.1 AAC downmix, there's another handbrake thread with a patch:

http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14084

and a blog post regarding this in ffmpeg:

http://muzso.hu/2009/02/25/downsampl...ls-with-ffmpeg

However, you've got to patch and build your own Handbrake in either case