It sounds like plex records in .ts format. I have heard that tivimate records in .ts and an hour of content has a file size of about 1gb. Don’t know but I suppose that is standard HD video. What kind of file size does plex produce?
Plex Documentation → Live TV & DVR → Frequently Asked Questions
→ How much space does a recording take?
Most digital antennas and such receive their content in MPEG2 format (.ts files) from boradcasters. The size depends on each station and what they are capable of. Check out Rabbit Ears and find your stations you receive. It will tell you the video streams and bitrate info as well as audio streams and bitrates. There are online calculators that will figure file sizes with those inputs.
Yes thank you and FordGuy61. I am not the expert on this but that is what I get. The recorder takes what it gets from the signal and mpeg2 is considered pretty large. If you convert it or it is mpeg4 it is much smaller. Other than ota if I record m3u streams aren’t they usually more like the mpeg4 size? Actually i don’t do tons of this, so the size isn’t a big deal but if I don’t have to write so much I would like to cut it down and know what I will be doing.
There’s an experimental feature available that can convert (transcode) MPEG2 to H.264 while recording. It’s in your Live TV & DVR settings once you subscribe to a Plex Pass and set up your DVR (click the gear next to your listings):
Enable “Convert Video While Recording” if you’d like to try it. However, it is an experimental feature and, as such, could have issues. I don’t generally recommend it (yet) but your mileage may vary.
Note: The recorded file will still be in a transport stream container (.ts file) but the video stream contained within will be H.264. Eventually this will support H.265 as well.
I had heard there was a setting to do some kind of conversion. That may be what they meant. I am willing to be a guinea pig as my recordings are use and then delete not archive. And until I am sure I can record two ways so I don’t miss something. Thanks.
You cannot “record m3u streams”.
m3u files are just playlists. They only contain text with the address(es) of the actual media file(s).
It might be more economical to store the raw mpeg2 stream, rather than transcoding it on-the-fly during the recording. The highest data rate you can expect are 40 mbps. But only when tuning into a cable tv station in HD and high data rate.
Over the air, the theoretical maximum is 20 mbps for HD content.
If you only receive SD content, the data rates are much lower.
That’s megabit per second, not megabyte. 8 megabit = 1 megabyte (roughly)
Today’s hard drives are more than adequate to handle such bitrates. There is no need to use an expensive SSD for these recordings – particularly if you watch them only once, if ever.
One day of recording the highest data rate HD programming will take up maximal ~430 GB. If you want to record several stations in parallel, multiply these numbers accordingly.
Typical run-of-the-mill hard drives come with a capacity of 4 TB to 12 TB.
There are special hard drive models which are optimized for digital video recorders and CCTV uses. Particularly if you want to record more than one station in parallel 24/7, you should go for these specialized models.
I’m well aware that a m3u is a list of stream addresses. What do users get for file size when you record video from those m3u list addresses typically?
Plex doesn’t record those.
If you would „record“ such a playlist, the resulting file size will depend on what content is behind it… could be pretty much anything with varying bitrates etc.
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