DCR to TS Converter

DCR to TS: A Kodak Negative Wrapped in a Broadcast Stream

Two unrelated things use the .dcr extension. This page handles the Kodak one: Kodak Digital Camera Raw, the undeveloped sensor capture written by the professional DCS bodies and digital backs Kodak sold until it wound the line down in 2005. The other .dcr belongs to Macromedia and later Adobe Director — a Shockwave media file, not an image, and nothing an image tool can read. If a file is rejected here, check which of the two you actually have.

A .ts is at the opposite end of the media world: an MPEG-2 transport stream, standardised as ISO/IEC 13818-1 and ITU-T H.222.0, built from fixed 188-byte packets so that broadcast, IPTV and HLS chains can survive a corrupted packet without losing the file. Putting one still photograph into it is an unusual request, and it is worth being clear about what comes out the other end before you start.

What the Conversion Actually Produces

We converted a single still through this pipeline and read the result back with a stream probe. These are properties of the route, not of any particular photo:

The frame-size cap is the one that surprises photographers. A Kodak DCS Pro 14n frame of roughly 4500 x 3000 pixels comes out of the clamp at 4096 x 2730; a DCS 760 at roughly 3040 x 2008 passes through untouched. Even at 4096 pixels wide, though, the stream is far larger than most transport-stream hardware expects — broadcast and IPTV decoders are built around 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160 — so setting a Preset Resolution is usually the difference between a file that plays and one that does not.

How to Convert DCR to TS

1. Upload Your DCR File: Drag the .dcr onto the page or click "+ Add Files". Several Kodak frames can be queued and they all render with the same settings.
2. Set Merge Strategy and Image Duration: Merge strategy opens on Merge images, which places multiple photos back to back in one transport stream; Video per image writes a separate .ts for each instead. Image Duration opens at 5 seconds and ranges from 1/60 s per frame up to 10 seconds per frame.
3. Choose Video Codec, Resolution and Background Color: Video Codec opens on H.264, the codec transport streams most commonly carry. Video resolution opens on Keep original; Preset Resolutions (144p to 4320p), Fixed Resolutions (720x480 up to 7680x4320) and explicit Width, Height or Width x Height are the alternatives. Background Color opens on White and fills any gap when the frame shape you pick does not match the photo's own.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the .ts. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are developed and encoded on our servers, and are deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.

Under File Compression, only three modes render on a still-image source: Quality Preset (which opens on "Very High (Recommended)" and is the default mode), Constant Quality and Constraint Quality, both showing a CRF slider that runs 16 to 51 on the H.264 default. The bitrate and target-file-size modes are deliberately not offered, because a still has no source bitrate for them to work from. That also means Quality Preset does nothing useful if you switch the codec to MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX or Xvid — those have no CRF mode, and on a still there is no source bitrate to scale. Stay on H.264 or H.265 unless a decoder forces your hand.

Which Kodak Cameras Wrote .dcr

The raw decoder underneath this converter lists the Kodak professional line by model. These are the bodies and backs whose files land here:

Every one of them is at least two decades old, which is the practical reason these files need converting at all: the software that shipped with them does not run on a current operating system, and general-purpose viewers were never able to open a raw file in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the TS have any sound?

No, and there is nothing that could give it any. A photograph has no audio track, and this page does not render audio controls at all for that reason — the whole group is suppressed on a still-image source. A real broadcast transport stream normally carries AC-3, MP2 or AAC alongside the picture; if your playout chain requires an audio track to be present, lay one over the file in an editor afterwards.

Why is my Kodak frame smaller in the video than in the raw file?

Because the pipeline caps the long edge at 4096 pixels before encoding. A DCS Pro 14n's roughly 4500-pixel-wide frame becomes 4096 x 2730; anything at or below 4096 on both axes passes through unchanged. There is no setting that lifts the cap, and in practice you want to go much further down anyway — very few transport-stream decoders handle a 4096-pixel-wide picture.

Do I lose the raw editing latitude?

Completely, and permanently in the output. A DCR stores an undeveloped sensor mosaic recorded at roughly 12 to 14 bits per channel, which is why highlight recovery and white-balance changes are possible after the shot. To become video, it has to be demosaiced into ordinary RGB and encoded at 8 bits per channel, with the camera's white balance and a standard tone curve baked in. Keep the .dcr as your master; treat the .ts as a delivery copy.

Why is there a white border around my photo?

Because the frame shape you chose does not match the photo's aspect ratio, and the gap is filled with the Background Color — which opens on White. A 3:2 Kodak frame placed inside a 16:9 raster leaves bars on the sides. Pick a different colour from the dropdown, choose a frame shape closer to the photo's own, or leave Video resolution on Keep original so no padding is needed.

Can I put several photos into one transport stream?

Yes. Queue them and leave Merge strategy on Merge images: each developed frame is encoded back to back into a single .ts in upload order, each held for the Image Duration you set. Video per image gives you one file per photo instead. Neither mode adds transitions, motion or audio — the result is a run of held stills, which is exactly what a slate sequence is.

Should I convert to TS at all, or is something else better?

For almost every purpose, something else. If you want to look at, print or share the photograph, DCR to JPG gives you a picture every device opens, and DCR to TIFF gives a lossless editing master. If you want a clip, DCR to MP4 plays natively almost everywhere while a bare transport stream generally does not. TS earns its place only inside a broadcast, IPTV, set-top or HLS-segment workflow that specifically requires the 188-byte stream.

Is a .ts the same as the .m2ts or .mts from a camcorder?

Not quite. All three carry MPEG transport streams, but .m2ts and .mts use the BDAV variant, in which every 188-byte packet is prefixed with a four-byte arrival timestamp for 192 bytes total. This page writes the plain 188-byte form — we confirmed the sync byte sits at offset 0 in the output. Broadcast, IPTV and HLS tooling expects that; Blu-ray authoring and AVCHD import tools expect the 192-byte variant.

Why do the colours differ from what the camera's screen showed?

Because the screen was showing a JPEG the camera generated using its own picture style, while the DCR holds only the sensor mosaic. Any converter has to apply its own neutral development, so modest shifts in warmth and contrast against that in-camera preview are expected — particularly on cameras of this vintage, where raw processing has improved enormously since the files were shot. Develop the DCR in a raw editor first if the colour has to be exact.

Which video codec should I choose?

H.264 unless something specific requires otherwise; it is the default and the most broadly supported payload for a transport stream. MPEG-2 is the period-correct choice for older DVB and ATSC equipment. Avoid MPEG-1, MPEG-4, DivX and Xvid here: none of them supports the quality-based rate control this page offers, and on a still-image source the preset has no source bitrate to scale, so you lose control of the encode.

What happens to my Kodak raw file after conversion?

It is uploaded over an encrypted connection, developed and encoded on our servers, and both the upload and the output are deleted automatically after a few hours. No account is needed, no watermark is applied, and nothing is shared or made public. The DCR converter hub lists the other targets available for these files.