16x9 Trancoded Content On MVP

[Taddeusz]

It's a little irritating that 16x9 content plays stretched to 4x3 I'm assuming because the transcoder doesn't mark it as such so that the MVP doesn't know to play it back correctly. Then to compound matters there doesn't seem to be any way to switch aspect ratios on the fly with the MVP.

I've tried the AR STVi but it doesn't seem to work on the MVP. And I'm guessing the reason for that, again, when the content is transcoded there is no flag set to indicate the video is actually 16x9.

Any way around this on the MVP or are we stuck until the HD extenders come out?

[jkf]

I haven't had any trouble with 16x9 content on my MVP. Mine plays back with the correct aspect ratio, and I have a fresh install of Sage with the default stv.

Does it play back with the same problem on your server?

[dvd_maniac]

Do your 16x9 videos have black bars in the actual file before transcoding to the MVP?
If so, then you won't see any difference jkf

[jkf]

No, I've been playing several 16x9 xvid's with no black bars in the files, and they play through my mvp on my 4x3 tv in the correct aspect ratio with black bars.
Also, HDTV from a hauppauge hvr-1600 is transcoded properly on it.

I just built this server this month, so its a clean xp install with all the latest updates including media player 11.
The only software installed on it so far is the latest java, a plain sagetv install, and DefilerPak for codecs.
Plus a VNC server...


Edit: Of course, as soon as I posted this, I've come across some videos that aren't playing in the right ratio. So far only seems to be .mov's

[flavius]

You could simply adjust the aspect on your TV - that's what I do.

[Taddeusz]

Actually, they are MOV's and M4V's that I'm trying to play since that's the only HD content that I currently have. Widescreen DVD's play correctly. I have some widescreen WMA files but they don't play at all. The transcoder doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

Does anyone know where I can get some short broadcast recorded files to test out? My plan is to buy an HDHR really soon.

[JParedis]

Not the first with a 16x9 issue, I did also had some problems at start to get it working as I needed it.
Maybe you can find help here.

My settings:

MVP - Aspect Ratio : SOURCE
Philips 16x9 TV - Aspect Ratio : AUTOMATIC (will try to fill screen)
For those sources with a bad aspect ratio, I use RA on the MVP - works great for me.

Regards,

Jan

[Taddeusz]

I've read that thread. I'm using the standard STV. Unless I'm totally blind the SageTV MVP software doesn't have an an aspect ratio setting other than telling it the aspect ratio of your TV. There is no "source" option. The option for changing the playback aspect ratio on-the-fly isn't there either.

Maybe I'm missing something but this seems to be a huge oversight in the MVP's SageTV software.

My TV is a 4x3 SDTV, I have no way of chaning aspect ratio on the TV. Everything has to be done on the MVP. Until I go to an HDTV this is going to be an issue but I just don't have the money coming out of my ears yet to be able to afford one.

Unfortunately it seems like these threads always end up this way. There seems to be a misunderstanding that the regular SageTV and MVP SageTV should be the same. But they're not. There are certain options missing. Particularly the options to change the aspect ratio of playback.

I think I'm going to submit a feature request because this is really something that needs corrected.

[nielm]

The MVP plays back 720x480 MPEG2 at full screen and nothing else. This is a hardware limitation, this is why there are no playback AR settings and why my Auto AR switcher plugin doesn't work.

Non-MPEG2 files are transcoded using the info in the files to resize and rescale depending on the display aspect ratio you have set in the detailed setup/multimedia.
(Look at the detailed info page to see the file info that Sage has got out of the files)

So on one 4x3 display, when I play back a 704x400 16X9 AVI, via an MVP sage re-encodes it with black bars.
On another 16X9 display, the same AVI played through an MVP gets put fullscreen...

Unless I'm totally blind the SageTV MVP software doesn't have an an aspect ratio setting other than telling it the aspect ratio of your TV.

Detailed setup/multimedia/Display AR
You are also asked this question during the config wizard.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by nielm

The MVP plays back 720x480 MPEG2 at full screen and nothing else. This is a hardware limitation, this is why there are no playback AR settings and why my Auto AR switcher plugin doesn't work.

That doesn't explain why widescreen DVD's playback properly. If the MVP truely didn't have any means of rescaling the video then all DVD's would playback stretched. But that is not the case. There must be a way to get the MVP to rescale the video to 16x9 aspect ratio.

I find it difficult to believe that there absolutely is no way for SageTV to be able to do this manually since widescreen DVD's, aside from widescreen menus, seem to be able to rescale just fine.

[Taddeusz]

If it's a matter of the 16x9 flag being set in the MPEG 2 video then the transcoder should set it by using the original resolution of the video as a guide. If the video has a resolution of 1280x720 or 1920x1080 or even somewhere in between that matches a 16x9 aspect ratio, which all the MOV files I'm trying to play fall into, it should automatically encode the 16x9 flag in the video.

Either that or letterbox the video as it's being transcoded. The 16x9 flag would be the preferable method since it would give you slightly more vertical resolution for those actually on HDTV. For those of us still on SDTV's it doesn't really matter where the letterboxing gets done.

But just saying that the MVP can't rescale the video seems to be patently wrong considering the fact that 16x9 DVD's play just fine.

[dvd_maniac]

Originally Posted by nielm

Non-MPEG2 files are transcoded using the info in the files to resize and rescale depending on the display aspect ratio you have set in the detailed setup/multimedia.
(Look at the detailed info page to see the file info that Sage has got out of the files)
Detailed setup/multimedia/Display AR
You are also asked this question during the config wizard.

So I have to change the A/R from the detailed setup on the MVP or on the Sage Server?
I hope it's on the MVP...

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by nielm

So on one 4x3 display, when I play back a 704x400 16X9 AVI, via an MVP sage re-encodes it with black bars.
On another 16X9 display, the same AVI played through an MVP gets put fullscreen...

I just re-read your post. Mine only seems to do that on AVI files. I have some H.264 encoded 720p and 1080p MOV files that get stretched to fill the 4x3 screen. They don't get letterboxed as they should even though I have my display aspect ratio set to 4x3.

Maybe the transcoder isn't getting the correct information about the aspect ratio of my display or something. Why would it not work correctly on these MOV files I have?

[Taddeusz]

Just for completeness here are the MOV files that aren't being letterboxed properly (they're out of the QuickTime HD Gallery):

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/pmg.html

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide...ivestanns.html

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide...ia_taylor.html

BTW, all very good songs.

[nielm]

Ah. I see the problem. They dont rescale correctly on my screens either. This may due to them being quicktime, but I would report it as a bug anyway (and include the links).

[dblaine2]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I just re-read your post. Mine only seems to do that on AVI files. I have some H.264 encoded 720p and 1080p MOV files that get stretched to fill the 4x3 screen. They don't get letterboxed as they should even though I have my display aspect ratio set to 4x3.

Maybe the transcoder isn't getting the correct information about the aspect ratio of my display or something. Why would it not work correctly on these MOV files I have?

Hi Taddeusz,

I have this same problem... I ripped and compressed alot of my DVD's using h264. When playing them on the MVP using a 4:3 SDTV it gets stretched. I haven't poked around if I can do any TV settings to adjust this. I have messed with the AR settings in the default STV that Nielm talks about but it doesn't seem to do anything (also any settings don't seem to get saved). Have you found a solution this?

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by dblaine2

Hi Taddeusz,

I have this same problem... I ripped and compressed alot of my DVD's using h264. When playing them on the MVP using a 4:3 SDTV it gets stretched. I haven't poked around if I can do any TV settings to adjust this. I have messed with the AR settings in the default STV that Nielm talks about but it doesn't seem to do anything (also any settings don't seem to get saved). Have you found a solution this?

The problem I was having here was fixed in a later version of SageTV. This is no longer a problem for me. What version of Sage are you running? What type of files are you converting them to?

[dblaine2]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

The problem I was having here was fixed in a later version of SageTV. This is no longer a problem for me. What version of Sage are you running? What type of files are you converting them to?

6.2.10.

h.264.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by dblaine2

6.2.10.

h.264.

Try upgrading to the latest stable version. I believe the problems you're having will go away.

BTW, what kind of container are you using for your files (i.e. AVI, MKV, MOV)?

[dblaine2]

That worked. Running 6.3.10 and letterboxes return

Now why the heck is my TV recordings choppy?