File Playback and Conversion FAQ For SlingCatcher

Q: How do I know if my video and audio files will play on SlingCatcher?

A: SlingCatcher supports a wide variety of video and audio formats.  For a detailed listing of what SlingCatcher can play, see the table titled SlingCatcher Media Format Support Detail, below. This info can get a bit complicated since supported formats are a combination of file format, compression format (codec), bit rate, resolution, and other parameters.  Of course, the surest way to find out if your file will play on SlingCatcher is ... try playing it on SlingCatcher.  A SlingCatcher is unable to play this file message means that you're out of luck, at least as far as that particular file goes.

Q: What should I do if my video/audio file(s) are not supported by SlingCatcher?

A: You can use a video converter application to convert your files.  There are many such programs out there, for example, Windows Movie Maker, Roxio Crunch, and others.

Q: How can I use a video converter application to convert my files for playback on SlingCatcher?

A: If you want to convert an incompatible file into one that can be played by SlingCatcher, set your converter program to the settings in the following table. That'll help make sure that your conversion is successful.

File Conversion Targets for conversion programs

**Note: SlingCatcher can play back the vast majority of MPEG-2 high definition clips natively, so conversion of these clips should not be required.  SlingCatcher can also play back Windows Media clips natively up to 1280x720 resolution, up to 5.5 Mbps.  See SlingCatcher Media Format Support Detail, below, for more details.

SlingCatcher Media Format Support Detail

This table lists the codecs, file formats, resolutions, bit rates, and other details of files that can be played back on SlingCatcher using a USB hard disk drive.

Click this table to enlarge it.

Q: What is the difference between a codec (such as WMV, MPEG-4, etc.) and a file format (.mp4, .mov, .wmv, etc.)?

A: The codec refers to the compression format used. These can be internationally recognized standards such as MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, or can also be proprietary formats that are commonly used such as Windows Media (WMV).  The file format is the container that the compressed audio or video is wrapped in, such as .mp4 or .ts;  it does not indicate necessarily what video compression format is inside. For example, the .mp4 file format could serve as a container for MPEG-4 video or H.264.  So it is not possible to determine if a file is playable on SlingCatcher just by looking at the file format or codec or bit rate or resolution; you must know the combination of these, which is listed in the table.

Q: I’m trying to play a file that looks like it is supported, but it doesn't play. Why not?

A: As mentioned above, there are many different combinations of files formats, codecs, resolutions, bit rates, sampling rates, so while a file may look like it is supported, this is not necessarily the case. There are some tools that can be used to determine what the various combinations are for a given file. An example of one of these is MediaInfo. See the link below for more information.

This is an open-source program that reports what the file format, codec, bit rate, resolution, and sampling rate are for a file. Once you extract this information from a file, check it against the information listed in the table to determine if the file is supported by SlingCatcher or not.