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2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2026 3:15 pm
by jtmaher
I just wanted to publish some tweaks that I made to the Sony-BraviaHX.conf renderer so that it is more compatible with 2010 Bravias. Here it is:
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#----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Profile for Sony Bravia HX series TVs.
# See DefaultRenderer.conf for descriptions of all the available options.
#
RendererName = Sony Bravia HX
RendererIcon = braviahx.png
# ============================================================================
# This renderer has sent the following string/s:
#
# X-AV-Client-Info: av=5.0; cn="Sony Corporation"; mn="BRAVIA KDL-55HX750"; mv="1.7";
# ============================================================================
#
UserAgentAdditionalHeader = X-AV-Client-Info
UserAgentAdditionalHeaderSearch = BRAVIA KDL.+HX
UpnpDetailsSearch = KDL.+HX
LoadingPriority = 2
SeekByTime = true
DLNALocalizationRequired = true
CreateDLNATreeFaster = true
TranscodeVideo = MPEGTS-H264-AC3
DefaultVBVBufSize = true
DLNAProfileChanges = AVC_TS_NA=AVC_TS_HD_50_AC3_T|AVC_TS_NA_ISO=AVC_TS_HD_50_AC3_T|MPEG_TS_SD_NA=MPEG_TS_SD_NA_ISO
AccurateDLNAOrgPN = true
# !!! Only add the following line if you want to transcode a video into AVCHD format !!!
CustomFFmpegOptions = -c:v copy -mpegts_m2ts_mode 1
MuxNonMod4Resolution = true
HalveBitrate = true
# Our Bravia HX-specific notes:
# H.264 within AVI containers is not supported, nor is GMC or QPEL.
# Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) is not supported.
# Supported video formats:
Supported = f:mpegps|mpegts v:mpeg1|mpeg2 a:ac3|lpcm|mpa m:video/mpeg
Supported = f:mpegts v:mp4|h264 a:ac3 m:video/vnd.dlna.mpeg-tts
# Supported audio formats:
Supported = f:mp3 n:2 m:audio/mpeg
Supported = f:wav n:2 s:48000 m:audio/wav
Supported = f:wav a:dts|lpcm n:6 s:48000 m:audio/wav
The changes I made allow 2010 Bravias, such as the KDL-55HX800, to correctly display AVCHD files, and to remux MP4 files into AVCHD. Prior to this, UMS would waste CPU cycles by transcoding MP4 and AVCHD files to MPEG2-TS files. One caveat of this renderer, though, is that it will only work with FFMpeg, and not Mencoder or VLC. This is because Mencoder and VLC do not have AVCHD muxers, like what FFmpeg's -mpegts_m2ts_mode 1 does.
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2026 4:26 am
by mik_s
I'm not an expert with FFmpeg options but I think that custom option would always copy any video stream but for older devices that cannot play modern formats like h265 it will be unable to play.
I tried looking at the FFmpeg documentation for what "mpegts_m2ts_mode" does but there is nothing about that and could not find anywhere else that mentions it after a very quick google search.
I vaguely remember that AVCHD is part of h264 standard so if the TV plays MP4 using h264 it should also play this.
Best way to test is if you try playing without transcoding (select "no transcoding" from the #--TRANSCODE--# folder) and it it will play all you need to do is set this as a supported format so UMS does not automatically transcode.
From the original conf it does list MP4 as supported so it should not be transcoding those unless it uses a higher level limit
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# The maximum H.264 level supported by the renderer.
# Default: 4.1
H264LevelLimit =
but the logs would show the exact reason for transcoding. When they are in trace mode search for "Final verdict:" then check the previous entries to see the decision process.
I suspect the HD in AVCHD is a higher level and you might just need to set this higher.
I know sometime some devices can play a higher level than is listed in their specs but might not apply to all videos, so they show the highest that is guaranteed to be able to play.
The TranscodeVideo would be better as it uses the default MPEGPS-MPEG2-AC3 profile if not set which it never was in this conf.
Most graphics cards will be able to do this in hardware instead of using the CPU.
Maybe this was made before other profiles were added.
There is already an option to remux video streams if the audio is not supported which would probably work here.
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2026 7:42 am
by jtmaher
Thanks for your quick reply, mik_s! I should have stated that this renderer is meant for H.264/AVC video only. It will not work with H.265/HEVC video, or any of the other new-fangled video formats. AVCHD is just AVC video + AC-3 audio in a specially formatted MPEG2-TS container. That's what "mpegts_m2ts_mode" does. Despite what it says in the renderer, my 2010 Sony Bravia does not support MP4 video. That's why I have configured it to remux MP4 video to AVCHD. Hopefully, this will help to clarify you, and other readers of this thread.
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 12:02 am
by mik_s
Its fine if all your videos are only AVCHD but for most people they have many different combinations of formats and this is where UMS will have to transcode into a supported format.
Since AVC is just h264 that stream would just be copied as long as the transcoding profile matches it.
I think all you need to change from the original conf is the transcoding profile so if a video uses h264 it will be remuxed instead of transcoded automatically into the MPEGTS container.
Do you have a link to information about "-mpegts_m2ts_mode 1". I get nothing when searching for it, just that it enables or disable that mode.
UMS does use the option "-f mpegts" which may be the same thing.
Edit: I did find something about Blu-ray compatibility but that the "-f mpegts" should handle it.
Maybe all you need for CustomFFmpegOptions is just "-mpegts_m2ts_mode 1" and that will allow other videos using other codecs to correctly transcode and be playable.
Are you sure your TV does not support MP4. What model is it? Do you have a link to its manual to check its specs?
It just might be the level limit of the MP4s you have that can be too high to be able to play.
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 10:25 am
by jtmaher
I am 100% sure that my TV (KDL-55HX800) cannot play MP4s without them being remuxed into AVCHD. It's just too old, LOL! What happens if I remove "-c:v copy" from the FFMpeg options is that it will waste CPU cycles, and reduce image quality, by re-encoding the video as H.264/AVC. I distinctly remember that this would happen with an online stream. When I didn't have
set, the image quality was terrible, and my PC's wimpy quad-core CPU was being tortured. Here's a link to documentation about M2TS mode (search for it using Ctrl-f):
https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/ja ... ats.1.html. It's a special parameter to "-f mpegts" that explicitly tells it to add an additional 4 bytes to each packet. Sony has a weird non-standard implementation of MPEG2-TS that they use for DLNA on legacy devices such as my TV. Also, Perplexity agrees with me about this. See this Perplexity session for a deep-dive about what this mode is:
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-s ... vxoAYkxjBw.
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 12:36 pm
by mik_s
I could not find any detailed info on supported formats for media on model but did find some info about some of what it can decode from
here page 11
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Digital:
MPEG-2 MP@ML/HL (Australian model),
MPEG-2 MP@ML/HL, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC MP/HP@L4 (New Zealand and Singaporean model)
If it is just the MP4 container that is not supported then remuxing to should be working for h264 with the original conf.
Just remove the MP4 line from supported formats.
As I said there could be other factors why it is not working for you but I would need to see your logs to see the decision being made to transcode when the transcoding profile is set to MPEGTS-H264-AC3
From those links it explains that the M2TS (BDAV) is about Blu-ray with some extra bytes in the header but should not alter playback compatibility on the TV itself.
The additional 4 bytes in each BDAV packet carry Blu-ray-specific data, notably an arrival timestamp and copy-control-related information. BDAV is arranged in 6,144-byte aligned units (32 × 192-byte packets), matching Blu-ray’s 2,048-byte sector layout.
Did you try playing MP4s using the "no transcoding" option from the #--TRANSCODE--# folder?
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 2:38 pm
by jtmaher
Maybe you're right, but I am too afraid to change the configuration file. I would rather just keep it the way it is, since it works for what I need it to do. Also, it was not just the transcoding settings that I had to change. I also had to alter the DLNA PN flags just to get AVCHD files to appear on my TV! To do that, I had to use Wireshark to intercept traffic from the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. WMP uses DirectShow to remux MP4 to AVCHD. It is really incredible the amount of work that has to be done just to watch digital movies and streaming channels on this ancient TV!
Re: 2010 Sony Bravia Tweaks
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2026 5:11 am
by jtmaher
So, here's what I did to improve the renderer based on mik_s's suggestions:
1) I downloaded Universal Media Server 7.4.0 (the last version that has support for ffmpeg.webfilters).
2) I downloaded the latest version of ffmpeg from Gyan.dev, renamed it to ffmpeg64.exe, and replaced the ffmpeg64.exe in the win32 directory of UMS installation.
3) I removed the -c:v copy from CustomFFmpegOptions in renderer.
4) I added
to the OPTIONS section of ffmpeg.webfilters.
5) I changed DLNAProfileChanges to the following:
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DLNAProfileChanges = MPEG_TS_SD_NA=AVC_TS_HD_50_AC3_T|MPEG_TS_HD_NA=AVC_TS_HD_50_AC3_T
.
Now, I can successfully play web streams in AVC with stream copying, and I can also play AV1-encoded files, without having to restart UMS!