pardtelle is a lightweight command-line tool for sending, receiving, and analyzing MPEG Transport Streams (MPEG-TS) over UDP (unicast and multicast).
The project focuses on simplicity, transparency, and control. No hidden abstractions, no heavy frameworks — just direct TS-over-IP workflows that you can inspect, debug, and understand.
pardtelle is a low-level utility for working with MPEG-TS over UDP.
It provides essential building blocks to:
- move transport streams over IP
- inspect stream structure and timing
- test multicast and unicast delivery
- understand how transport streams behave on the wire
The tool is intentionally minimal, making it suitable both for real-world use and for learning how TS-over-IP works internally.
- Send MPEG-TS files over UDP (unicast and multicast)
- Receive UDP TS streams and write them to disk
- Analyze MPEG-TS files:
- PID statistics
- PCR timing information
- Continuity Counter (CC) error detection
- TEI error detection
- Bitrate estimation
- Realtime streaming with PCR-based bitrate pacing
- Automatic TS packet size detection (188 / 192 / 204)
- No external runtime dependencies
- Single-file executables for Windows and Linux
- Broadcast and IPTV labs
- Multicast testing and debugging
- DVB over IP experimentation
- Transport stream inspection and validation
- Learning how MPEG-TS over UDP works at a low level
Analyze a transport stream:
pardtelle analyze input.ts
Send a TS file over UDP:
pardtelle send input.ts --to 127.0.0.1:1234
Realtime multicast streaming:
pardtelle send input.ts --to 239.1.1.1:1234 --realtime --auto-rate
Receive a stream:
pardtelle recv --bind 0.0.0.0:1234 --out capture.ts
- Keep the code easy to read and reason about
- Avoid unnecessary abstractions
- Provide predictable and explicit behavior
- Stay dependency-free where possible
- Make transport streams easier to understand and debug
pardtelle is actively developed and usable for real-world testing and experimentation. The interface is CLI-first and intended to remain stable and script-friendly.
PFL — Parrot Free License