About transcoding

Transcoding is a powerful feature in Mezzmo that makes sure that incompatible media files are delivered to your devices and web browsers in a format that it can play. If a media file's format is not compatible with your device, then Mezzmo will convert the file on-the-fly to a format that your device does support. For example, if your device only supports playing MPEG-2 video, then Mezzmo can automatically convert all the MPEG-1, MPEG-4, WMV, and AVI video to MPEG-2 so that your device can play the video.

The supported formats for a device are defined by the device profile that is assigned to your device in the Media Devices dialog. Mezzmo contains device profiles for most popular devices such as Sony PS4 / PS3, , Microsoft Xbox One / 360, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Panasonic TVs, LG TVs, Blu-ray players and many more. Conceiva updates the list of device profiles regularly so check for updates to see if there are more profiles available.

Mezzmo uses the open source FFmpeg (http://www.ffmpeg.org) application for transcoding audio and video files to the correct formats. FFmpeg is installed on your computer when Mezzmo is installed. You can check if a more recent version of FFmpeg is available using the Transcoding Settings dialog.

Transcoding audio and video files can be very CPU and memory intensive. It is recommended that you have a modern PC with a modern CPU and at least 4GB RAM for basic transcoding. If you have high definition video, then a quad-core CPU or higher is highly recommended.

Once a file has been transcoded for a DLNA media player, then it is stored on your computer so that it does not need to be transcoded again. This reduces the extensive CPU and memory overhead on your computer, and means that your files can be played immediately the next time you play them. You have full control over removing and managing transcoded files.

All general settings for transcoding can be found in the Transcoding Settings dialog.

All device-specific settings for transcoding can be found in the Device Settings dialog for a device. Go to the Media Devices dialog and edit a device to display the Device Settings dialog.

All transcoded files for a file can be found in the Properties dialog (Transcoding tab).

You can transcode your files before streaming them to your devices and web browsers so that streaming is not affected by transcoding on-the-fly. Mezzmo has a feature called pre-transcoding that lets you transcode files before you stream them to your device or web browser. That way, Mezzmo media server will just stream the already transcoded file without any transcoding taking place.

To pre-transcode a file, right click on the file and click Pre-transcode Files.

To pre-transcode a folder or playlist of files, right click on a folder or playlist and click Pre-transcode Playlist.

To pre-transcode your entire Mezzmo library, click the Tools → Pre-transcode Library menu item.