STV Import: Automatic Aspect Ratio Switcher for SageTV 4

[JParedis]

I did some more testing and:

1. I'm not sure this STVi works with latest MC16x9, actually I can even not import it anymore as I can not find how in latest version (it seems to always look for an XML -and this has an stvi extention . I can load it with the standard UI, and than it works fine.
2. The 'Display Aspect Ratio Seetings' seems only to change the way the UI is configured/build - it's set to the aspect ratio selected. However, it does not influence any signal send to the TV set to have that one switch to the selected ratio. In my case, my TV set does not get the signal when the UI is on that it has to switch to 16x9 display - so it stays on 4x3.

Just wondering if above is correct, and if anybody out there with a Euro 16x9 TV set (with scart) has got the UI properly switching to 16x9 display (and back to a 4x3 ratio if a 4x3 video is played)?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by JParedis

I did some more testing and:

1. I'm not sure this STVi works with latest MC16x9, actually I can even not import it anymore as I can not find how in latest version (it seems to always look for an XML -and this has an stvi extention . I can load it with the standard UI, and than it works fine.

I just picked up a new HD LCD TV so I'm now messing with this plugin. It does work with SageMC 6.3.0. You just have to rename the .stvi to .xml. Once renamed, it will import in SageMC. I just started messing with it, but it seems to work ok.

[JParedis]

Ah, why isn't everything in life that easy? Did rename the stvi into xml and indeed, it now works under MC16x9. Thanks for pointing this out to me!

I noticed a strange behavious, when I FFW a 16x9 video, it sets itself back to 4x3 at the moment the progress bar at the bottom is displayed. After a while it resets itself back to 16x9. As if that progress bar blocks the 16x9 indication when it comes up.

And of course, still get my UI in 4x3

[Deadbolt]

Has anyone used this with 6.0.16 beta? When I import this and then try to play a Google video the menu never disapears. I'm using a Media Extender. Anyone else see this?

Thanks!

[ke6guj]

I'm not sure which part is at fault, the Automatic Aspect ratio switcher or SageMC 6.3.0, but when the "Show Debug Window on setting AR" is enabled, the info boxs will "hang" on when a recording is first started. The debug window will appear for 3-5 seconds, but the show info boxes stay. If I do an Info trigger, I can get the boxes to disappear, and all is well until the next show is watched. Then the same behaviour happens again.

If the debug window is disabled, then the plugn works 100%

[owilsky]

Is this customization still alive? Does it work for 6.1.9 or is it obsolete?

I read somewhere that newer versions of SageTV has something like this right buildin.
I use the newest 6.1.9 and have to switch aspect ratio everytime I watch a DVD or an AVI to 16:9 and for "normal" TV recordings back to 4:3.

I remember in the days of Sage V4 I used this plugin and it worked well.

If this is build in now, can anybody point me to some link/ page in the docs where I can find any info about that?

Thanks,

Oliver on an old 4:3 TV

[nielm]

I am still using it

The only change that may need to be made is to change the option 'how to treat non-MPG TV files' to be 'Auto--Select' (so that sage-converted files auto-select AR as before)

[ke6guj]

I'm using it too.

SageTV 6.1.9 with SageMC6.3.2. To import the file in SageMC, yout need to rename the .stvi file to .xml so that SageMC can import the plugin.

[owilsky]

Thanks, works fine. Still using the default stv.

[AlexHeylin]

At the risk of getting shot down in flames.... Is it too much to expect Sage to do something sensible like auto switch display aspect when during a transmission (or recording thereof) the display aspect changes?

For example If I'm watching a Scrubs on E4, the show is broadcast in the original 4:3, but the channel default (and hence the adverts) are in 16:9. Every time the aspect ratio changes, video playback stops on the last 4:3 frame. Sounds continues and even more annoyingly even when the show resumes and aspect changes back to 4:3 video playback doesn't resume. You have to manually pause / stop / restart / seek the playback before it will actually start showing the video again. This applies to live and recordings.

If I play the recorded video in VLC, you can clearly see the aspect ratio change as VLC resizes to suit amd carries on playing perfectly so this is not a fault in the original stream.

From what I read above, this plugin simply assigns an aspect ratio to each station/channel? This is clearly of no use at all in this situation so is there another solution that works and why isn't it in the default build?

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by AlexHeylin

Is it too much to expect Sage to do something sensible like auto switch display aspect when during a transmission (or recording thereof) the display aspect changes?

It isn't too much to expect which is exactly why Sage does this.

What version are you using, what sort of source and what decoder are you using?

This was broken in v5 but fixed in v6.1, but it's not only Sage that's the issue, it's the decoder you're using and the source. If it's an analogue source then the information isn't there on the stream I believe. I use the Cyberlink decoder that came with PowerDVD 6, it seemed to work best for AR.

[AlexHeylin]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

It isn't too much to expect which is exactly why Sage does this.

What version are you using, what sort of source and what decoder are you using?

Sagetv.exe = version 6.0.13.1
Source = 2 x Pinnacle 2000e Dual diversity DVT-T USB sticks
Decoder (currently) = "default" (either SageTV, Intervideo, or ffdshow)

If sage is supposed to handle this correctly, why does my SageTV frequently freeze the video on the last 4:3 frame when a channel changes to 16:9 fot the ad break? The sound continues but you usually have to change the channel and change back before video playback will continue properly.

I'm loading PowerDVD demo now and will try the using that decoder to see if it improves things. As a commercial product, I expect SageTV to include the things it needs to work properly in the first place though.

[rickgillyon]

If you re-read my answer above, I said it was fixed in 6.1. You're wasting your time trying to get it working in 6.0 (although it never locked up on me, just always retained the starting AR, so you may have other problems).

As ever, if you get no joy here, try official support. But I suspect the first thing they'll ask is for you to try the latest version...

[bialio]

Would it be possible to create a new aspect ratio via an extension / customization? Or are these part of the core SageTV and it would have to be added there?

The only real complaint I have with Sage is the lack of what my Panasonic calls "Just" - this is an aspect ratio designed to watch 4:3 material on a 16:9 set. There are two flavors of this, both of which my TV supports:

1) True 4:3 material - the image is streched to fill up the entire 16x9 space, but not stretched equally - the edges of the picture are more distorted than the middle.

2) 4:3 material with black bars on either side - this is fairly prevalent on OTA HD broadcasts, where the station tacks on black bars on either side of a 4:3 program. 'Just' in this mode truncates the bars, and then applies the same kind of stretch as in #1 above.

I can control the TV to get these aspect ratios with Sage, but that of course messes up the GUI, especially in case #2. .....

btl.

[Humanzee]

you should be able to pick one of the available aspect ratio's and then change the horizontal or vertical stretch by any desired percentage in the setup menu. In your case you'd be looking to set a higher than normal horizontal stretch. Then anytime you return to that aspect setting it should stretch for you. I'd think that "Fill" would be the one to tweak.

[bialio]

That's only a partial solution I think - the tweaking that is available on the existing aspect ratios is a uniform stretch - ie the entire picture is stretched. I want to stretch the left and right edges more than the middle gets stretched.

[Humanzee]

A Non-Linear stretch is something that I have not seen here before. It would be nice.

[ToxMox]

Any chance this will be updated now that 6.2 was released? Pretty please

[nielm]

what updates are you looking for? It works with 6.2 (just doesn't have the 6.2 themes in the setup pages)

[ToxMox]

I can't view the instructions as it seems Sage community is down but I see in the first post that this plugin allows setting AR per show title. In the current version/STV of Sage I can't find any way to do this.

EDIT: sorry...never mind. I found it while playing something back pressing options and choosing Aspect Ratio mode from the menu brings up a menu for this