Custom Aspect Ratio

turak · #1 03-02-2005, 08:40 PM

Is there a way to setup custom aspect ratios? I have a 16x9 HD TV. Alot of shows now are being broadcasted on SD channels, but are in 16x9 format. This leaves me with black bars on the sides and the top and bottom. I would be cool if I could set up a toggle in sage to "zoom in" or overscan to cut off those bars. My TV has a "zoom 1" setting that does this for analog sources, but not for DVI. Which is what I use to connect my client to the TV.

korben_dallas · #2 03-02-2005, 09:16 PM

Not sure I'm getting your problem. Wouldn't the shows letterboxed on an SD channel be correctly ratio'd for your HD wide screen?

turak · #3 03-02-2005, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by korben_dallas

Not sure I'm getting your problem. Wouldn't the shows letterboxed on an SD channel be correctly ratio'd for your HD wide screen?

The shows are the correct ratio (at least the animated parts of the screen), but the bars on the top and bottom are part of the broadcast. So if I set it to 16x9, it just stretches it horizontally. I want it to stretch both ways. To cut off the bars on the sides and top and bottem. I suppose I could probably set it to 16x9 and adjust the overscan vertical stretch setting to remove the top and bottom bars, but the non letterboxed shows would be cut off. I was looking for a way to toggle between the "source" aspect ratio and one that would be 16x9 and stretched vertically to cut off the black bars on the top and bottom.

src666 · #4 03-02-2005, 10:18 PM

There are more than two aspect ratios used for film, and chances are the black bars on the top and bottom are to make up for the fact that the show is wider than 16x9 (many movies are 2.11:1 or 2.35:1).

When you stretch the SD program to eliminate the side bars, the remaining top and bottom bars are there to preserve the original aspect ratio. You are seeing the program as intended (as much as is possible for an SD broadcast). The same thing happens with DVDs, and there's not really going to be a solution for it.

turak · #5 03-02-2005, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by src666

There are more than two aspect ratios used for film, and chances are the black bars on the top and bottom are to make up for the fact that the show is wider than 16x9 (many movies are 2.11:1 or 2.35:1).

When you stretch the SD program to eliminate the side bars, the remaining top and bottom bars are there to preserve the original aspect ratio. You are seeing the program as intended (as much as is possible for an SD broadcast). The same thing happens with DVDs, and there's not really going to be a solution for it.

They are 16:9. They are filmed for 16:9 HD broadcasts. Then broadcasted on 4:3 SD channels. To accomidate the 4:3 nature of SD channels, they add bars to the top and bottom. When viewing these "letterboxed" SD shows from an analog source, I can use the TV's built in "zoom 1" aspect ratio to stretch these shows to fit my screen. For some reason the TV doesn't do this for digital sources like DVI. I'm just wondering if there is a way to do it in sage.

turak · #6 03-02-2005, 11:11 PM

Maybe this will help explain it better. The bars on the sides are added by the TV because it's a 4x3 source. The bars on the top and bottom are added by the broadcasters to accomidate 4x3 SD TV's.

nielm · #7 03-03-2005, 03:46 AM

Is your Sage UI being displayed 16x9, or can it be displayed 16x9 by toggling something on the TV?

If so, you might be able to play with the Fill aspect ratio settings in detailed setup. Fill allows you to change the vertical and horizontal zoom independantly, and does not preserve an aspect ratio.

If you are currently displaying the Sage UI at 4x3 with 'square pixels (ie a 4x3 resolution such as 640x480, and the TV puts vertical black bars) then set the vzoom to 150% (which gives you a 16x9 anamorphic picture) then adjust the TV to switch to 16x9 anamorphic (this is what I do... but rarely: its a pain!)

If you are currently displaying SageTV at 16x9 'square pixels' (ie a resolution such as 848x480 and with the Sage UI filling the TV), then at 'Source' resolution, the vertical black bars are added by Sage. You will probably be OK with just zooming the height by 150% and leaving the width at 100%. (this is what I would like to do, but my vidcard output does not allow 16x9 resolutions on Svideo)

Either way, have a play, and switch video-menus to background so that you can see what is happening to the video as you are changing aspect ratio.

If you cant get your TV to display the sage UI filling the screen then you are probably out of luck -- you are stuck with Sage at 4x3.

src666 · #8 03-03-2005, 11:02 AM

Ahh. For those programs, I find that my TV's 4x3 expanded mode works well.

zoundz · #9 03-03-2005, 12:04 PM

Everyone is missing his point. He is using the DVI input of his TV which, like many DVI and component inputs, does not provide any TV based zoom functions. What he is looking for is the ability to zoom the picture in the decoder to bypass this limitation. Do any of the common decoders allow for that much of a zoom? If so, is there possibly a way for SageTV to provide that as an option?

korben_dallas · #10 03-03-2005, 12:07 PM

Can Powerstrip make those alterations before the signal goes out the DVI?

src666 · #11 03-03-2005, 12:39 PM

Just as a data point I'm using DVI out as well, and I get a limited subset of the zoom functions (16x9 expanded, 4x3 zoom, 4x3 expanded). But not every TV has the same features/capabilities.

glbrown · #12 03-03-2005, 01:19 PM

What happens when you change the aspect ratio in sage setup? Don't these changes show up in DVI out? Just wondering for future reference.

-gary-

src666 · #13 03-03-2005, 01:49 PM

Yes, the changes in Sage setup are reflected in the DVI output.

nielm · #14 03-03-2005, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoundz

What he is looking for is the ability to zoom the picture in the decoder to bypass this limitation. ... is there possibly a way for SageTV to provide that as an option?

As mentioned, change the zoom settings of the Fill aspect ratio...

stanger89 · #15 03-03-2005, 03:55 PM

As neilm said, what you want to do is change the (probably 16x9 AR mode) to about 133% vertical zoom. I use that on my HDTV for letterbox recordings, and it capably removes the bars and fills the screen.

ToxMox · #16 03-03-2005, 05:25 PM

I wish Sage had aspect ratio controls like TheaterTek DVD does. It makes life so much easier to be able to do it visually.

turak · #17 03-03-2005, 06:34 PM

Setting the AR to fill or 16x9 with a vertical stretch of 133% works. Now if only you could link the overscan settings to the AR. So you could have 16x9 set to 133% vertical stretch. Then toggle to 4x3 and have it at 100% without the need change the Vstretch each time.

stanger89 · #18 03-03-2005, 06:52 PM

????

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I'm not sure what you're getting at. I never have to change the vertical zoom, I have it set to 16x9 set to 133% vertical zoom, and source set to 100% vertical zoom. I have to do nothing but change the AR based on content.

turak · #19 03-03-2005, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanger89

????

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I'm not sure what you're getting at. I never have to change the vertical zoom, I have it set to 16x9 set to 133% vertical zoom, and source set to 100% vertical zoom. I have to do nothing but change the AR based on content.

Odd. I just tried switching between AR's. It stayed at 133%. It could be because I'm using Cayers V17. It doesn't seem to handle AR changes on the client right.

turak · #20 03-03-2005, 07:56 PM

I tested it again and it looks like you are right. It's now remebering the Vstretch for each AR. Thanks for your help.

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