remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Only supporting non-scrambled streams

Error message

Only supporting non-scrambled streams

What it means

Thrown at parse-pes.ts:33 when the PES_scrambling_control field (2 bits) is anything other than 0b00. Non-zero values mean the PES payload is scrambled (encrypted) with a conditional-access system. The library deliberately does not implement descrambling.

Source

Thrown at packages/media-parser/src/containers/transport-stream/parse-pes.ts:33

	iterator: BufferIterator;
	offset: number;
}) => {
	const ident = iterator.getUint24();
	if (ident !== 0x000001) {
		throw new Error(`Unexpected PES packet start code: ${ident.toString(16)}`);
	}

	const streamId = iterator.getUint8();
	iterator.getUint16(); // PES packet length, is most of the time 0, so useless
	iterator.startReadingBits();
	const markerBits = iterator.getBits(2);
	if (markerBits !== 0b10) {
		throw new Error(`Invalid marker bits: ${markerBits}`);
	}

	const scrambled = iterator.getBits(2);
	if (scrambled !== 0b00) {
		throw new Error(`Only supporting non-scrambled streams`);
	}

	const priority = iterator.getBits(1);
	iterator.getBits(1); // data alignment indicator
	iterator.getBits(1); // copy right
	iterator.getBits(1); // original or copy
	const ptsPresent = iterator.getBits(1);
	const dtsPresent = iterator.getBits(1);
	if (!ptsPresent && dtsPresent) {
		throw new Error(
			`DTS is present but not PTS, this is not allowed in the spec`,
		);
	}

	iterator.getBits(1); // escr flag
	iterator.getBits(1); // es rate flag
	iterator.getBits(1); // dsm trick mode flag
	iterator.getBits(1); // additional copy info flag

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Obtain a non-encrypted version of the source stream.
2. Descramble the stream with an authorized tool (e.g. tsdec for DVB-CSA) before parsing.
3. If you control the encoder, ensure PES_scrambling_control is left at 00.
4. Detect encrypted streams upstream and surface a 'content protected' message to users.

// Detect scrambled streams upstream
import {execSync} from 'node:child_process';
function isScrambled(src: string): boolean {
  try {
    const out = execSync(`ffprobe -v error -show_entries stream_flags=scrambled -of json "${src}"`).toString();
    return JSON.parse(out).streams?.some((s: any) => s.flags?.includes('scrambled')) ?? false;
  } catch { return false; }
}

try { await parseMedia({src}); }
catch (e) { if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'Only supporting non-scrambled streams') { throw new UserError('This stream is encrypted and cannot be parsed.'); } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: parsePes reads getBits(2) into 'scrambled' and throws if it is not 0b00. Triggered by encrypted broadcast streams (DVB-CSA, ATSC DES), pay-TV captures, or content-protected streams where PES_scrambling_control has been set.

Common situations: Recordings from encrypted satellite/cable/IPTV feeds; copy-protected content; streams captured from set-top boxes without descrambling; misconfigured encoders that erroneously set the scrambling bits.

Related errors

• Unexpected PES packet start code: ${ident.toString(16)}
• Invalid marker bits: ${markerBits}
• DTS is present but not PTS, this is not allowed in the spec
• PTS is required
• Invalid PTS marker bits: ${fourBits}

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cc8018da5a88f596. Report an issue: GitHub.