Audio problems with .wtv files recorded by Media Center

[DrHow]

I recently added a CableCARD tuner for my HTPC. Only Windows Media Center under Windows 7 can record material from such a device, and it records the data in .wtv files. As far as I can tell, VLC can handle the video playback from .wtv files OK; but the playback of the sound hardly works for me at all. (I occasionally hear very brief bursts of sound.) If I convert to the older .dvr-ms format (used in Vista), the sound sort of works; but there are still lots of glitches in the sound. In any case, the conversion is a lengthy process that I would prefer to avoid even if it could be made to work perfectly.

Is there something I can do to make the audio play back properly when playing a .wtv file produced by Windows Media Center? There are some of these recordings that I would prefer to play using VLC as my player because of features in the VLC player that Media Center lacks, but I am currently frustrated by my inability to do so.

(I am no fan of Microsoft, but compared to my DVRs from Time Warner, Windows Media Center is a substantial improvement. So I am eager to get switched over to my CableCARD tuners for all recording off the cable. Since WMC is the only way to record the data streams, it would really be a big plus if I could also use the recordings in VLC. I suspect that many other customers of Ceton and SiliconDust (the manufacturers of CableCARD tuners which can be interfaced to PCs) would like to see VLC work properly with .wtv files.)

[Lotesdelere]

VLC does not fully support WTV for now.

Anyway, open Tools -> Messages (set Verbosity to 2) before you start the playback and then paste the full resulting log here or on Pastebin if it's too long.

Also upload a short sample of a file to either http://streams.videolan.org/upload/ or to Multiupload.com, so it will upload the file for you to several other hosts, and then post the link to the file here.

[DrHow]

OK. After it got started, it became extremely redundant, so I have edited the log as indicated by comment in [brackets] near end:

_______________________________________________________________

main debug: adding item `Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv' ( file:///G:/Recorded%20TV/Masterpiece%20Mystery%21_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv )
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
qt4 debug: Adding a new MRL to recent ones: G:\Recorded TV\Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv
main debug: Creating an input for 'Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: rebuild done - 1 items, index -1
main debug: processing request item Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv node null skip 0
main debug: resyncing on Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv
main debug: Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv is at 0
main debug: starting new item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: thread started
main debug: thread (input) created at priority 1 (../.././src/input/input.c:220)
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB
main debug: using timeshift path 'C:\Users\David\AppData\Local\Temp'
main debug: `file:///G:/Recorded%20TV/Masterpiece%20Mystery%21_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv' gives access `file' demux `' path `G:\Recorded TV\Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' path='G:\Recorded TV\Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 2 candidates
main debug: no access_demux module matching "file" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.000 ms - Total 1.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.000 ms)
main debug: creating access 'file' path='G:\Recorded TV\Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: looking for access module: 2 candidates
filesystem debug: opening file `G:\Recorded TV\Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: using access module "filesystem"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.000 ms - Total 1.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.000 ms)
main debug: Using AStream*Stream
main debug: pre buffering
main debug: received first data after 0 ms
main debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 1000000 KiB/s
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 2 candidates
main debug: no stream_filter module matching "any" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
main debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' path='G:\Recorded TV\Masterpiece Mystery!_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv'
main debug: looking for demux module: 52 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\playlist
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist
qt4 debug: IM: Setting an input
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\anevia_streams.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\anevia_xml.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\appletrailers.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\bbc_co_uk.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\break.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\canalplus.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\cue.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\dailymotion.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\france2.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\googlevideo.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\jamendo.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\joox.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\katsomo.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\koreus.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\lelombrik.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\megavideo.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\metacafe.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\metachannels.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\mpora.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\pinkbike.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\rockbox_fm_presets.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\vimeo.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\youtube.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist\youtube_homepage.lua
avcodec debug: detected format: wtv
main debug: selecting program id=0
avcodec debug: adding es: audio codec = a52
avcodec debug: adding es: audio codec = a52
avcodec debug: adding es: video codec = mpgv
avcodec debug: adding es: subtitle codec = undf
avcodec warning: unsupported attachment type in ffmpeg demux
avcodec debug: adding es: attachment codec = MJPG
avcodec debug: AVFormat supported stream
avcodec debug: - format = wtv (Windows Television (WTV))
avcodec debug: - start time = 1526167
avcodec debug: - duration = 5697626881
main debug: using demux module "avcodec"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 454.000 ms - Total 454.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 454.000 ms)
main debug: looking for a subtitle file in G:\Recorded TV\
main debug: looking for decoder module: 34 candidates
main debug: using decoder module "a52"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 3.000 ms - Total 3.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 3.000 ms)
main debug: thread (decoder) created at priority 2 (../.././src/input/decoder.c:301)
main debug: thread started
main debug: looking for decoder module: 34 candidates
avcodec debug: libavcodec initialized (interface 0x350500)
avcodec debug: trying to use direct rendering
avcodec debug: ffmpeg codec (MPEG-1/2 Video) started
main debug: using decoder module "avcodec"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 25.000 ms - Total 25.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 25.000 ms)
main debug: thread started
main debug: thread (decoder) created at priority 0 (../.././src/input/decoder.c:301)
main debug: looking for meta reader module: 2 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\reader
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\reader
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\reader\filename.lua
main debug: no meta reader module matching "any" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.000 ms - Total 1.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.000 ms)
main debug: `file:///G:/Recorded%20TV/Masterpiece%20Mystery%21_KLRUDT_2011_09_18_19_58_00.wtv' successfully opened
main debug: Buffering 0%
main debug: Buffering 11%
main debug: Buffering 22%
main debug: Buffering 22%
main debug: Buffering 33%
main debug: Buffering 33%
main debug: Buffering 44%
main debug: Buffering 44%
main debug: Buffering 55%
main debug: Buffering 55%
a52 debug: A/52 channels:5 samplerate:48000 bitrate:384000
main debug: Buffering 66%
main debug: creating aout
main debug: Buffering 66%
main debug: Buffering 77%
main debug: Buffering 77%
main debug: Buffering 88%
main debug: Buffering 88%
main debug: Stream buffering done (300 ms in 1 ms)
main debug: no usable vout present, spawning one
main debug: looking for audio output module: 4 candidates
aout_directx debug: Opening DirectSound Audio Output
main debug: looking for text renderer module: 2 candidates
main debug: meta ok for en-us, need to fetch art
main debug: looking for meta fetcher module: 1 candidate
freetype debug: Using Arial as font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\arial.ttf
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher\tvrage.lua
freetype debug: using fontsize: 2
main debug: using text renderer module "freetype"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.000 ms - Total 2.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.000 ms)
main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 18 candidates
main debug: using meta fetcher module "lua"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.000 ms - Total 1.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.000 ms)
main debug: removing module "lua"
main debug: searching art for en-us
main debug: looking for art finder module: 2 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.lua
swscale debug: 32x32 chroma: YUVA -> 16x16 chroma: YUVA with scaling using Bicubic (good quality)
main debug: using video filter2 module "swscale"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.000 ms - Total 2.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.000 ms)
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.lua
main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 18 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\03_lastfm.lua
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\meta\art\04_musicbrainz.lua
main debug: no art finder module matching "any" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 3.000 ms - Total 3.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 3.000 ms)
main debug: art not found for en-us
yuvp debug: YUVP to YUVA converter
main debug: using video filter2 module "yuvp"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 2.000 ms - Total 2.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 2.000 ms)
main debug: window size: 1920x1080
main debug: Deinterlacing available
main debug: deinterlace 1, mode blend, is_needed 0
main debug: looking for video output module: 1 candidate
vout_wrapper debug: Opening vout display wrapper
main debug: looking for vout display module: 8 candidates
aout_directx debug: found device: Primary Sound Driver
aout_directx debug: found device: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
aout_directx debug: found device: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
aout_directx debug: found device: AMD HDMI Output (AMD High Definition Audio Device)
aout_directx debug: found device: Realtek Digital Output(Optical) (Realtek High Definition Audio)
aout_directx debug: device supports 5 channels
aout_directx debug: device supports 4 channels
aout_directx debug: device supports 2 channels
aout_directx debug: device supports 1 channel
aout_directx debug: Windows says your SpeakerConfig is stereo
direct3d debug: creating Vout EventThread
direct3d debug: DirectXCreateWindow
main debug: looking for vout window hwnd module: 3 candidates
qt4 debug: requesting video...
aout_directx debug: creating DirectSoundThread
main debug: thread (DirectSound Notification Thread) created at priority 15 (../../.././modules/audio_output/directx.c:321)
main debug: thread started
main debug: using audio output module "aout_directx"
aout_directx debug: DirectSoundThread ready
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 45.000 ms - Total 45.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 45.000 ms)
main debug: output 's16l' 48000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/4 bytes
main debug: mixer 'f32l' 48000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes
main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'s16l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 13 candidates
audio_format debug: f32l->s16l, bits per sample: 32->16
main debug: using audio filter module "audio_format"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.000 ms - Total 1.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.000 ms)
main debug: found a filter for the whole conversion
main debug: looking for audio mixer module: 3 candidates
main debug: using audio mixer module "float32_mixer"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: input 'a52 ' 48000 Hz 3F2R frame=1536 samples/1536 bytes
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 1 candidate
scaletempo debug: format: 48000 rate, 2 nch, 4 bps, fl32
scaletempo debug: params: 30 stride, 0.200 overlap, 14 search
scaletempo debug: 1.000 scale, 1440.000 stride_in, 1440 stride_out, 1152 standing, 288 overlap, 672 search, 2400 queue, fl32 mode
main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: filter(s) 'a52 '->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R->Stereo
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 13 candidates
main debug: using audio filter module "a52tofloat32"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.000 ms - Total 1.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.000 ms)
main debug: found a filter for the whole conversion
main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 52800 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 13 candidates
main debug: using audio filter module "ugly_resampler"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: found a filter for the whole conversion
main debug: End of audio preroll
qt4 debug: Video was requested 0, 0
main debug: using vout window hwnd module "qt4"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 36.000 ms - Total 36.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 36.000 ms)
direct3d debug: created video sub-window
direct3d debug: Vout EventThread running
direct3d debug: disabling screen saver
main debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1938x1125 window
direct3d warning: trying surface pixel format: YV12
direct3d debug: selected surface pixel format is YV12
direct3d debug: Direct3D scene created successfully
direct3d debug: Direct3D device adapter successfully initialized
main debug: using vout display module "direct3d"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 111.000 ms - Total 111.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 111.000 ms)
main debug: using video output module "vout_wrapper"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 111.000 ms - Total 111.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 111.000 ms)
main debug: got 1 direct buffer(s)
main debug: pic render sz 1920x1080, of (0,0), vsz 1920x1080, 4cc I420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0
main debug: pic in sz 1920x1080, of (0,0), vsz 1920x1080, 4cc I420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0
main debug: pic out sz 1920x1080, of (0,0), vsz 1920x1080, 4cc I420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0
main debug: direct render, mapping render pictures 0-23 to system pictures 1-24
main debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1354x625 window
main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 1 candidate
deinterlace debug: using blend deinterlace method
deinterlace debug: deinterlacing
main debug: using video filter2 module "deinterlace"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: Filter 'deinterlace' (068540bc) appended to chain
avcodec debug: using direct rendering
main debug: End of video preroll
main debug: Received first picture
freetype debug: using fontsize: 67
main debug: looking for video blending module: 1 candidate
blend debug: chroma: YUVA -> I420
main debug: using video blending module "blend"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: Decoder buffering done in 170 ms
main warning: PTS is out of range (354767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (290767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (258767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (226767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (194767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (197767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (165767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (133767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (101767), dropping buffer
main debug: Post-processing available
main debug: Filter 068540bc removed from chain
main debug: removing module "deinterlace"
main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 1 candidate
deinterlace debug: using blend deinterlace method
deinterlace debug: deinterlacing
main debug: using video filter2 module "deinterlace"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.000 ms - Total 0.000 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.000 ms)
main debug: Filter 'deinterlace' (03276394) appended to chain
main warning: vlc_object_find_name(postproc) is not safe!
main warning: late picture skipped (79634 > -4007)
main warning: late picture skipped (46267 > -4007)
main warning: late picture skipped (12900 > -4007)
main debug: Detected interlaced video
main debug: deinterlace 1, mode blend, is_needed 1
main warning: PTS is out of range (211767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (179767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (147767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (115767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (250767), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (218767), dropping buffer

[lots and lots more of same, with occasional:]

main warning: computed PTS is out of range (51767), clearing out

[DrHow]

I recorded about a minute of Jeopardy to make a sample; but, in retrospect, even that seems too big. I have verified that sound does not play properly from this file either. I hope it is not an issue that this is not the same file as the one I played to get the message log.

I used the VideoLan uploader. It did not give me a link after the upload, and I had no Trac Ticket number to tie to it. In the description, I did include a a link back to this thread, and I referenced this fact in the Trac Ticket field. The file size was 69MB. I hope you can find it without difficulty.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

The Jeopardy wtv file works perfectly in VLC 1.2

[DrHow]

The Jeopardy wtv file works perfectly in VLC 1.2

I am really glad to hear that. I am unable to find a way to download this new version from the VideoLAN web site. When might I hope to be able to install it? Is there anything I can do in the meantime?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Nightly Build of VLC

[DrHow]

Nightly Build of VLC

Well, actually I did find those; but I was scared off by "WARNING: The nightly builds are UNSTABLE and may not work at all. There is absolutely NO SUPPORT for it from the VideoLAN Team." So I am a bit surprised that you are steering me in that direction. Perhaps I can infer that you now have more confidence in these builds than is implied by the warning. I wonder if you could point me to a particular recent build that is known not to have any obvious serious problems. If so, I will give it a try.

I would be more inclined to try something that you would be willing to call a "beta" release. How long until we might hope to see something like that?

[VLC_help]

Download .zip or .7z from there, extract it to some folder and start vlc.exe from that folder. Nothing will explode.

[DrHow]

Download .zip or .7z from there, extract it to some folder and start vlc.exe from that folder. Nothing will explode.

With the above encouragement, I was reassured that trying a recent build in the manner described would not mess up my current installation. And YES, it does work! Quite well. It even picks up my customizations. I am happy.

[DrHow]

The programs I was most interested in playing with VLC at first were football games. As it turns out, the files I tried first were from local broadcast stations which were clear QAM on the cable. What I have discovered is that most programs recorded from encrypted channels will not play at all in VLC. It's not just an audio problem. They don't play at all, though there is no obvious indication of why not. (It acts like it is playing something. The screen goes some uniform color and there is a bit of flickering at the top.) There was one exception in that I did successfully play a Monday Night Football game recorded from ESPN, which is encrypted; so it took me a while to realize the thing which normally distinguishes what is playable or not. What did clue me in was that I was trying Windows Media Player, and it would not play files recorded from encrypted channels either. (But it told me why.)

So, am I interpreting this correctly?: Is it really true that if a .wtv file came from a channel that is encrypted on the cable, then VLC cannot be expected to be able to play it?

BTW - My experience with the game from ESPN exhibited a problem with VLC. Time Warner inserts local commercials into ESPN feeds. Some of these commercials are 480i or 1080i instead of the 720p format that ESPN uses. The format changes gave VLC a lot of problems. It would pause for a very long time when it hit one of those different format segments. The truth is that even TW's DVRs have some difficulty rendering those patches when you fast forward; but at least it does not slow down the fast forwarding as it does (big time) with VLC. (WMC actually handles the format changes even more gracefully than the TW DVRs do.) As far as I am concerned, it would suffice to have an option in VLC to simply skip over sections that are in the 'wrong' format, rather than having it practically stop in its attempt to deal with them. There was something in the file (toward end of halftime) that actually crashed VLC with an assertion failure. Not too surprising with a nightly build. I was able to skip over that by navigating with mouse on progress bar.

[VLC_help]

s far as I am concerned, it would suffice to have an option in VLC to simply skip over sections that are in the 'wrong' format, rather than having it practically stop in its attempt to deal with them.

Configuration for this would be hard. And if there is a noticeable slowdown during stream changes, it is most likely a bug in somewhere.

[DrHow]

So, am I interpreting this correctly?: Is it really true that if a .wtv file came from a channel that is encrypted on the cable, then VLC cannot be expected to be able to play it?

My main question did not get answered. Could we try again, please?

In the meantime, I have learned how to be a little more precise about the nature of the copy protection: While such a show is being recorded, it says "CCI Protection: protected-copyonce" in the status for the tuner. However, it strikes me that, as long as I am not asking VLC to record anything, there is no particular reason why it should not be able to cooperate with a playback request.

One thing that is not clear to me, and for which someone may be able to clue me in: I do not know for sure whether decryption has already occurred when the .wtv file is being recorded on the disk, or if decryption must occur during playback based on keys provided by the CableCARD. I had been assuming that the stream coming from the tuner device had already been decrypted, but it occurs to me that the actual decryption may not be what an M-card does. The fact that VLC can play the encrypted but unprotected files from ESPN strongly suggests that decryption has already occurred before the stream is recorded on disk; but that would not fully explain how VLC is behaving for me.