HDHR, Sage, and aspect ratios

[Ken C]

Just finished installing a HDHomerun. All went well, enabled only the HD channels, a total of 8. Sage finds them, they show up in the Sage EPG. And the video quality is great.

The problem is aspect ratio, Sage wants to show them in "source" which seems to be 4:3. I checked to be sure I was tuned to a 16:9 HD channel, yes.

Changing the aspect ratio to "Zoom A" fills the screen.

Is there a way to lock the HD channels to a different aspect ratio from the analog channels ? Or did I screw up during the setup ?

[gplasky]

Something's messed up somewhere. I have the HDHR and all the HD stations are showing 16:9 when using source. When commercials come on it's 4:3 with the black bars on the side and then back to 16:9. There are digital channels that broadcast in both 4:3 and 16:9. Make sure you have chosen and enabled the correct ones. It sounds like you have them both enabled.

Gerry

[Ken C]

Gerry,

At least I know something is not right. I did check the channels to make sure they were currently broadcasting in 16:9 HD and they were. I'll go through the tuner setup again

Should it make any difference watching through the HD100 ?

[gplasky]

Shouldn't-that's what I watch it on.

Gerry

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Ken C

The problem is aspect ratio, Sage wants to show them in "source" which seems to be 4:3. I checked to be sure I was tuned to a 16:9 HD channel, yes.

Are you sure it's not a channel broadcasting pillarboxed 4:3?

[Ken C]

Ok, a couple of shows, Numbers and CSI, were recorded and marked as HD. Both at least fill horizontally but they are still letterboxed, black bars on top and bottom with the Sage aspect ratio set to 'Source'. Normal ?

Setting Sage to 'Fill' does exactly that, no black bars.

Are the shows not 16:9 but some other aspect ratio ?

[Ken C]

Tried to set the aspect ratio to 'Fill' in Detailed Setup-Multimedia but it won't "stick". Make the change in Detailed Setup, head back to play a recording and it reverts back to 'Source'. How do I get the change to "stick" ?

BTW, excellent picture using the HD100 and the Sammy LCD !

[stanger89]

What resolution are you running? What do you have your Display Aspect Ratio set to?

[Ken C]

Ok, changed the Display Aspect Ratio to 16:9 and that fixed the HD video, no letterboxing, the screen is filled. But, now, the SD videos are 'pillarboxed', vertical black bars on the sides. If I change from the default 'Source' to 'Fill', the 4:3 fills the screen nut, again, the setting won't "stick".

Possibly, what is needed are two setups, one for 16:9 and one for 4:3 ??

[stanger89]

Well technically pillarboxed 4:3 is correct. If you want the default AR to be Fill, you can change that in the properties file (a search should find how).

[Ken C]

Thanks, Stanger. I'll try changing it in the properties file, assuming I can find it.

Might be something to ask for in an upcoming release.

[Ken C]

Lots of lines in the properties file dealing with aspect ratios, but nothing obvious. I think I'll change the Display Aspect Ratio back to 4:3 and just change the HD (16:9) recordings to 'Fill' when watched as I currently have lots more SD (4:3) videos.

I would think as HD becomes more prevalent Sage could address this problem. But, not being a programmer, no idea how difficult this might be.

[stanger89]

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...t+aspect+ratio

[Ken C]

Ok, that did the trick, thanks again, Stanger ! Both the 16:9 and 4:3 videos fill the screen. As there are a bunch more SD videos, I left the Display Aspect Ratio set to 4:3. The 'Fill' mode works on the HD. Doesn't look like there is any loss of picture.

And, "She_who_must_be_obeyed" also likes the HD picture !! Life is good ...