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 they 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 will automatically convert all the MKV, AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-4 and WMV videos 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 100s of device profiles for most popular devices such as Sony PS4 / PS3, , Microsoft Xbox One / 360, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Panasonic TVs, LG TVs, Android TV, Chromecast, Blu-ray players, media 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, then the transcoded file is stored on your computer so that Mezzmo does not need to be transcode it again the next time you stream it. This reduces extensive CPU and memory usage 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 your 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 particular file can be found in the Properties dialog (Transcoding tab).

Mezzmo has a feature called pre-transcoding that lets 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. That way, Mezzmo media server will just stream the already transcoded file without any transcoding taking place. This can help fix stuttering and FF/REW problems.

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.