How to Drop Resolution of HD .wtv files?

[mbreslin1954]

I record HD TV episodes on my PC from my cablecard (HD Homerun). I would like to drop down the resolution on some of these from what I assume to be 1080 to 720 or even smaller, for viewing on a laptop that is only 1366x768 pixels. Is there any software or combination of software that will allow me to do this? I don't recall there being much that will mess with Windows TV files. I guess what I want to do is to re-code these into a lower resolution. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mbreslin1954]

Forgot to clarify, these are ".wtv" files.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Your viewer will rescale on the fly. No need to spend countless hours transcoding.

 

[mbreslin1954]

Well, my problem is really the file size. My daughter took a job in France for seven months, and her access to U.S. TV shows is very limited. I'd like to send her the episodes of her favorite shows I record, using Dropbox, but why send a 6 GB file (1-hour show) at up-link speeds between 195 Kbps and 295 Kbps if half of the pixels are wasted anyway? Her laptop is 1366x768, and even 480 DVDs look great on it. I'd much rather send a 2 or 3 GB file, and have it only take 3 hours to transfer instead of 6-12 hours.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

You usage has now strayed into the realm of piracy, and we can not help you.

Anyway, you daughter should be able to view most US television shows online legally and for free if she just looks.

 

[mbreslin1954]

Well, last time I checked there was nothing illegal with recording TV shows. Microsoft provides it for free with Windows Media Center, while Comcast sold me the Cablecard. That's how these shows were recorded. I've paid for the broadcast from Comcast in my cable TV bill. Comcast is even willing to provide me with a DVR, I just chose to do it myself with Windows Media Center instead of getting it from them.

Thanks for nothing, I'll look elsewhere.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

Yes, you can record shows for YOUR own usage, but sending them to a person not living in your household would be construed as piracy here in the US and most other countries.

Hey, I went through a similar issue with my daughter when she moved to attend college. She asked is she could take ripped copies of some of our DVD movies, but I had to refuse and tell her if she wanted to watch them then she had to borrow the actual DVDs and bring them back!

I see you have been around here for almost two years, so I hope you understand the fine line we walk providing answers while respecting various laws (whether we fully agree with them or not).

 

[mbreslin1954]

Yeah, my mistake was in talking about my motivation. From now on "why" I want to do something will remain my business and no one else's.

BTW, Handbrake works very well. Not only will it re-encode WTV files and output in the same format, but they come out half the size (I assume it's due to H.264). It even allows one to knock down the resolution. However, I have noticed interesting behavior. When the re-encode happens on a HDD, the audio is out of sync with the video, but when done on my SSD, everything's perfect. I hope my SSD will stand up to the abuse (lots of write-erase cylces).

 

[mbreslin1954]

P.S. I've been around a lot longer than two years. I've only had a Tom's ID for two years.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

P.S. I've been around a lot longer than two years. I've only had a Tom's ID for two years.

And as you can see from my profile, I have been around since UNIX time 0

 

[mbreslin1954]

Wow! Didn't know Tom's had been around that long.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

Wow! Didn't know Tom's had been around that long.

Either that, or there was a problem importing the time from the old system to the new

Although. . .I HAVE been around here since Tom was still around. . .

 

[mbreslin1954]

Best answer selected by mbreslin1954.