mkvmerge can't recognize any track on .ts from ISDB-Tb STB
Original reporter: tomman
I've just got a DTV STB here in Venezuela, now that DTV broadcasting has started (we're using the ISDB-Tb standard, which implies H.264/AVC video and AAC audio). The box allows me to record any broadcast, which are saved to "somewhat-standard" MPEG-2 transport streams. Here is a Mediainfo log of a sample recording:
General
Complete name : H:\.eitv_pvr\2014_11_02__14_01_57___Venevision__R1___\2014_11_02__14_01_57___Venevision__R1___.ts
Format : MPEG-TS
Format profile : No PAT/PMT
File size : 2.39 MiB
Duration : 7s 296ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 744 Kbps
Video
ID : 353 (0x161)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Duration : 7s 140ms
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : MBAFF
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.601
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Audio
ID : 354 (0x162)
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : HE-AACv2 / HE-AAC / LC
Muxing mode : LATM
Duration : 7s 296ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Channel(s) : 2 channels / 1 channel / 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: L R / Front: C / Front: C
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz / 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 14ms
Aside of the .TS files, the STB writes a .IDX file (I guess it's a index for seeking), .IFO, .RAP, and a bunch of empty .MDA files.
Unfortunately, mkvmerge doesn't recognize any of the tracks inside the .ts files generated by this box (it brings the "Input file XXXX.ts does not contain tracks" message). The .ts files itself do play on MPC-HC, MPV, and very recent builds of Xine and VLC. Older libav-avconv/ffmpeg will not pick the audio track on those, but recent builds will recongize and remux them just fine.
I can provide sample recordings if required.