Converting DVR-MS Files Created by Media Center PCs
Now your
Personal Video Recorder can also be your Windows PC.
A Media Center PC is a Windows system enhanced for home
entertainment, with built-in TV and PVR features that
let you view and record broadcast quality television.
Media Center PCs use the DVR-MS file format to record
video. The DVR-MS format derives its name from
DVR, Digital Video Recorder, and MS, Microsoft.
A DVR-MS file is encoded using MPEG-2 video and
audio compression. A DVR-MS file can also be
copy-protected by its creator. Copy-protected
files can only be played back on the Media Center PC used
to record them.
Windows
Media Center allows applications to seek in, pause, and
rewind a live video stream without interrupting the
recording of the stream. Transitions between live
and recorded content are seamless. However, a
major disadvantage is the large file sizes of DVR-MS
files. A two-hour TV show recorded in DVR-MS at
the Best quality setting can take up to 5.5 GB on your
hard disk. This is reason enough to convert your
DVR-MS files to some other format like WMV for easy
distribution and storage. DVR-MS files cannot be
edited easily either. If you want to remove
commercials or do other editing, it is necessary to
convert your DVR-MS files to another format (like AVI)
which can be easily edited. (Note that you cannot
convert copy-protected files into another format.)
Conversion
of DVR-MS files usually takes a long time, since they
are high resolution and very large. Digital Media
Converter makes it easy to convert your DVR-MS files
to other video formats. You can batch-convert all
your video and audio files between: VCD, DVD, AVI (DivX,
MS MPEG4, uncompressed, etc), MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (PAL,
NTSC), MOV, WMA, WMV, and WAV formats.
DVR-MS file Conversion Requirements
Before converting DVR-MS files, you need to make sure
that your PC meets the following requirements:
- Requirements for Windows
Versions that come with Media Center, and all Windows
Vista PCs
- MPEG 2 Decoder: An MPEG 2 decoder allows you to
play and work with DVR-MS files. You can download
a free MPEG 2 decoder from the following link:
http://www.deskshare.com/download/mpeg2decoder.exe
- Requirements
for Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP
You will need to make the following upgrades to your Windows XP Operating System Windows XP (SP2): Service Pack 2 is
a free update to Windows XP. It contains
up-to-date drivers, tools, security updates,
patches, and customer-requested product changes.
To learn more about how to install Service Pack
2, simply click on the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx
- Windows Media Player 9 or higher:
The Windows Media Player 9 contains a lot of
enhanced features, along with wide codec support
for different formats. To learn more and
to download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/player.aspx
- DirectX 9C: DirectX 9.0c improves
the graphics, security, and performance of your
operating system. Download and install
this update for your Windows 98, Windows ME,
Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, or Windows
XP-based system from the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en
- MPEG 2 Decoder: An MPEG 2 decoder allows
you to work with files compressed using the MPEG
2 technique, including DVR-MS files. You
can download a free MPEG 2 decoder from the
following link:
http://www.deskshare.com/download/mpeg2decoder.exe