Can you change viewable area on SageTV Theater with SD output?

[dinki]

I'm using my SageTV Theater HD2000 using the composite output to my SD tv. I'm noticing that the signal is being clipped a lot more than when I had my HTPC's video out tied to the same tv. I realize that this is probably a problem with the TV and how it processes the signal, but is there any way that I can define the area of the tv for the actual video display similar to how the UI can be adjusted?

[dinki]

Perhaps I should have said it another way. On the PC, I can change the aspect ratio by a percentage (like 125%). Can this be done on the HD2000 in extender mode? I'd like to set it to something like 90% to get more on the screen. Any ideas?

[stanger89]

You can adjust the OSD/UI size so it fits within the TV, but the AR controls work very differently on the extenders, and I've not found a way to "forcibly add" bars.

[dinki]

I was obviously overlooking the 'Edit AR' button but I have had zero success in making the changes I need to make. I am able to change the horizontal/vertical scaling percentages and the left/top offsets, but they don't appear to make much of a difference. I've changed the horizontal scaling from values of -300% to +300% and the display remains the same. Maybe I'm not understanding what I need to do, but this just does not seem to be working properly at all.

Can I not change the AR using the composite out? I find it odd that the different predefined AR actually do change the video displayed, but when I try to change one of them my changes don't seem to have any affect.

Lastly, how do you go about requesting support for the SageTV Theater? I used the support request off the homepage and have not received any reply in two-and-a-half days.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by dinki

I was obviously overlooking the 'Edit AR' button but I have had zero success in making the changes I need to make. I am able to change the horizontal/vertical scaling percentages and the left/top offsets, but they don't appear to make much of a difference. I've changed the horizontal scaling from values of -300% to +300% and the display remains the same. Maybe I'm not understanding what I need to do, but this just does not seem to be working properly at all.

That sounds like you're using SageMC and you're editing the "PC" scaling options. Those have zero effect on the extenders. And like I said above, I've never been able to shrink the video.

[dinki]

Yes, you are correct. I am using SageMC.

Isn't it odd that when I select the different predefined AR that the video changes accordingly? If these work, why can they not be modified to create the display I'm trying to get?

Thanks for the info. It's a lot more information than I've received from tech support.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by dinki

Lastly, how do you go about requesting support for the SageTV Theater? I used the support request off the homepage and have not received any reply in two-and-a-half days.

They respond within 72 hours. If you have no reply by then, then either they didn't get your request or you didn't get their reply - check your spam folders because it seems to be common for their response to get blocked as spam.

If you had told them you are using SageMC, you will hear that they do not support SageMC and to try working on your issue in the default STV.

In this case, you have to edit the AR modes in the default STV. I don't think the extenders' AR editing code has been added to SageMC, but I could be wrong. And, you cannot edit the default extender AR modes; you'll need to copy one & edit the copy.

- Andy

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by dinki

Isn't it odd that when I select the different predefined AR that the video changes accordingly? If these work, why can they not be modified to create the display I'm trying to get?

The ARs you edit in SageMC aren't the ones used by the extender. And AFAIK SageMC was never updated to support editing ARs on the extender.

[dinki]

Originally Posted by Opus4

In this case, you have to edit the AR modes in the default STV. I don't think the extenders' AR editing code has been added to SageMC, but I could be wrong. And, you cannot edit the default extender AR modes; you'll need to copy one & edit the copy.

Ahhh.. makes sense. How do I go about copying and editing the AR? I'm guessing this is stored somewhere on the SageTV server?

Thanks for the help guys.

[stanger89]

ARs for the PC (which is what SageMC edits) and the extender are completely different. You can't copy settings from one to the other.

And again, like I said (though I guess not directly), you can't shrink the image with the extender's ARs. You can crop, zoom, stretch, but you can't force the extender to "pad" the image with black bars.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by dinki

Ahhh.. makes sense. How do I go about copying and editing the AR? I'm guessing this is stored somewhere on the SageTV server?

See the SageTV PDF manual, starting on p. 119 for "Aspect Ratio Mode selection dialog". You will copy an existing one by creating a new one & choosing an existing AR to base it on.

Copying from one extender to another is harder because you would need to manually copy the property for it from one extender's properties file to another properties file... or just reproduce what you did to create the new one. The custom AR modes are stored in the advanced_aspect_ratio_extra_modes property for each extender's <mac address>.properties file on the server, in SageTV's "clients" subfolder.

- Andy

[dinki]

Andy, Thank you for the detailed explanation. Is this all for nothing though? Stanger89 is reporting that I will not be able to shrink the image.

[dinki]

I checked my junk mail and tech support did indeed write back. I thought I had added them to my whitelist but I guess I had not. Here's what they said:

Unfortunately we don't officially support that, but you can refer to this
thread for making your own.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...2&postcount=10

The post is very informative and it appears that you can add blackstrips to the custom AR:

The blackstrip values control how much black can be added on the sides horizontally and vertically.

I'm guessing this is the approach that I'll need to take. Is it that the extenders won't use this value?

[stanger89]

You can try, but I've never seen it work

[dinki]

Originally Posted by stanger89

You can try, but I've never seen it work

This continues to be the case. I guess I'm hardheaded .. well, I know I'm hardheaded. I find it hard to fathom why a supported command doesn't work on a blessed piece of hardware/software like the SageTV Theater.

For the record, this is what I tried:

advanced_aspect_ratio_extra_modes=Squeeze|blackstrip\=2000,2000

[stanger89]

FWIW, it's important to read carefully exactly what it is, it's not a setting to force the addition of padding, it's a setting to limit how much padding can be added when the AR of the source video doesn't match the display AR.

IIRC default is 4096, which is half the screen basically no limit, "Source" uses this to allow the extender to pad as much as necessary. "Fill" sets blackstrip to 0, which forces the extender to not add any padding.

[dinki]

One of the developers said there is one way to do it. You can shrink it by
using the Studio and then just reduce the size of the Video widget that
draws the video.

The Studio is the development kit that comes. Here are some links for you:
http://www.sagetv.com/studio.html
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13823 A getting started
thread.

So I guess I've got some research to do. Might be easier just to spring for that $1.5k tv instead! :/