Some .ts files recorded with the DM 7025 seem to exhibit strange problems when played back in VLC (0.8.6a):
- The audio track is present, but silent.
- The video periodically breaks up in blocks and automatically skips forward – several minutes at a time.
- The seek bar (at the bottom of the VLC window) works erratically.
At first, I suspected this was a problem with VLC itself, since Media Player Classic (and the DM 7025) seemed to play back the same files fine. However, the VLC folks now claim that the problem is caused by missing PTS information in the audio stream, and that it is either the broadcaster’s fault, or possibly a bug in DM 7025 (Enigma 2).
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The curious thing about this problem is that it consistently only occurs on certain multiplexes and channels – not all of them. Nonetheless, only the DM 7025 seems to be affected. Other DVR-type devices (or recordings made with ordinary DVB cards from the same source) do not seem to suffer from this problem.
In my case, the problem is present on local DVB-T channels broadcast by YLE – the Finnish equivalent of BBC. If you take a look at the above-mentioned VLC bug report, the original poster seems to have the same problem with some Polish DVB-S channels. I have also seen reports from my fellow countrymen who seem to have the same problem with their DM 7025s, YLE’s channels, and VLC, so it’s not just me.
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Would someone of the developers please take a closer look at this problem and see if the VLC folks are right? (I can provide sample .ts files on request; just e-mail me and ask.) It would also help if people who have seen this problem themselves would post information about the channels on which it occurs, and where they get those channels from.