TS Analyze

A command-line MPEG-2 TS (transport stream) analyzer. It reads a TS file or a live UDP stream and decodes the tables and bitstreams defined by the DVB / ATSC / ISDB broadcasting standards.

A TS packet starts with a 4-byte header; the total packet length is normally 188 bytes, and may be 192 or 204 bytes depending on the standard.

Construct TS packets we will get PES / PSI packets.
PSI is structured for search and other auxiliary functions.
PES contains ES packets which could be audio or video streams.

With this understanding you can start decoding a TS stream or file.

• Use basic rules from ISO 13818-1 and ETSI EN 300 468 to decode MPEG-2 TS (PAT / PMT / CAT / TSDT / NIT / SDT / BAT / EIT / TDT / TOT)
• Use EN 300 743 to decode subtitle
• Use ETSI ETS 300 706 to decode teletext
• Print PSI/SI/PSIP table information and several subsystem statistics
• Print descriptors for the DVB / ATSC / ISDB standards
• Output the result as plain text, JSON, YAML, or an interactive HTML viewer

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Compile

Optionally install pybind11 to also build the Python binding.

Linux & macOS

git clone https://github.com/junka/tsanalyze.git
cd tsanalyze
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

Windows (MSVC)

git clone https://github.com/junka/tsanalyze.git
cd tsanalyze
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -G Ninja -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="C:/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake"
cmake --build .

After building, the tsanalyze executable sits in the build directory.

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Usage

Basic invocation:

./tsanalyze /path/to/some.ts

The CLI accepts the following options:

Option	Description
-h, --help	Show this help
-f, --format	Select input format: file or udp
-o, --output	Save output to stdout, txt, json, yaml, or html
-s, --table	Show only the selected table(s): pat, cat, pmt, tsdt, nit, sdt, bat, tdt
-p, --pid	Show a selected PID only
-S, --stats	Show all TS stats
-d, --details	Show all PES infos
-b, --brief	Show all infos in brief (default)
-v, --version	Show version

Analyze a file

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts

Analyze a live UDP stream

./tsanalyze -f udp udp://url_of_stream

Press Ctrl + C to stop and print the information received so far.

Select tables to print

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -s pat -s cat

Show TS statistics

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -S

Show a single PID

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -p 0x10

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Output formats

Use -o to choose how the decoded tables are written out. When the target is a real output file (anything but stdout), the result is stored next to the input as <input>.<ext> (e.g. stream.ts + -o html produces stream.ts.html).

Plain text (-o stdout, default)

Human readable tree of every recognized table and descriptor.

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -o stdout

JSON (-o json)

A strict, valid JSON tree of all tables — handy for piping into jq, python, etc.

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -o json        # -> tsfile.ts.json

YAML (-o yaml)

A YAML tree. Duplicate mapping keys (e.g. several CA_descriptors in one program, or multiple versions of the same table) are made unique automatically, so the output always conforms to the YAML spec.

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -o yaml        # -> tsfile.ts.yaml

HTML (-o html)

Embeds the parsed result in a self-contained, interactive single-file viewer (no external dependencies) — open it directly in any browser:

./tsanalyze tsfile.ts -o html        # -> tsfile.ts.html

The HTML viewer offers:

• Table cards — each table/table-group is rendered as a card with a colored header.
• Expand / collapse — click the - / + toggle beside any section to fold or unfold its children.
• Version pagination — when a stream carries many versions of the same table, use the ◀ / ▶ arrows to page through the different versions (e.g. 1 / 14).

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Tests

Test TS streams are generated at build time and exercised through CTest:

cd build
ctest

The suite validates robustness against truncated / garbage streams, DVB / ISDB / ATSC PSIP table decoding, descriptor parsing, and JSON / YAML well-formedness.

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Descriptors

Not every descriptor is implemented yet. See doc/descriptor.md to learn how to add new descriptors.