STV Import: Automatic Aspect Ratio Switcher for SageTV 4

[nielm]

Often you have video sources that use a variety of aspect ratios:

• 4x3 shows
• 16x9 shows letterboxed (with top/bottom black bars)
• 16x9 anamorphic shows (vertically stretched with no black bars) labelled as 4x3 (usually encoded from a STB)
• 16x9 anamorphic shows labelled with a 16x9 AR (usually DVD's, or Digital TV captures)
• 4x3 non-square pixel AVIs (eg 720x480)
• 16x9 non-square pixel AVIs (eg 720x480)

In Sage this often means switching aspect ratio depending on which channel/source the show was recorded from, with each aspect ratio set up to resize the video to the correct proportions.

This plugin allows these Aspect Ratio settings to be stored per:

• show title
• channel
• capture device

or any combination of these, so that when the show is played back, the aspect ratio is switched automatically

See the Wiki for more information and download/installation instructions

Also see Wiki Page on Aspect Ratios.




History
v 1.2 - 15/Nov/2005 for SageTV 4
* (Java update only) Fixed bug where title-only Auto AR modes were not matched

v 1.1 - 15/Nov/2005 for SageTV 4

[nielm]

This currently does not handle imported videos very well -- there are 2 settings, one for DVDs (default 'source' which assumes the dvd decoder sets the correct AR on playback), and one for AVI's (default 'source' which assumes the AVIs have 'square' pixels...)

Any suggestions on how to handle imported videos?

[AMCooper63]

I'm not a programmer so I have no idea how difficult this would be. But I'll explain my situation. I just bought a new 16x9 DLP TV. Sage works great and records all these 4x3 broadcasts. Often these 4x3 broadcasts are of 16x9 content. In the end I get a black frame left and right because of the 4x3 broadcast and then I get black fram top and bottom because of the 16x9 content. If I weren't watching Save via the PC or HDMI input, (Tuner, S-video, or composite) I'd be able to use the zoom control on my TV. But it won't Zoom either PC nor HDMI.

What I really want is something that will crop the original video top and bottom and then display it in the 16x9 format. I also need this for making DVDs from the content. Anyone think it's possible?

[nielm]

You will have to figure out how to tell the TV that it is a 16x9 source so that the Sage UI fills the screen... (on my TV this is separate to the Zoom controls), and the use the sage aspect ratios to resize 4x3 and 16x9 videos to fit.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by nielm

Any suggestions on how to handle imported videos?

We could look for an AR flag stored in the database

I just need to know how we want to do that.

[sleonard]

Originally Posted by AMCooper63

I'm not a programmer so I have no idea how difficult this would be. But I'll explain my situation. I just bought a new 16x9 DLP TV. Sage works great and records all these 4x3 broadcasts. Often these 4x3 broadcasts are of 16x9 content. In the end I get a black frame left and right because of the 4x3 broadcast and then I get black fram top and bottom because of the 16x9 content. If I weren't watching Save via the PC or HDMI input, (Tuner, S-video, or composite) I'd be able to use the zoom control on my TV. But it won't Zoom either PC nor HDMI.

What I really want is something that will crop the original video top and bottom and then display it in the 16x9 format. I also need this for making DVDs from the content. Anyone think it's possible?

Here's is how I handle that on my 16x9 DLP. (Without this import. I'm d/l it to try tonight) For these shows, I set the aspect ratio to 16x9 which by default stretches the video to fill the width but leaves the top and bottom black bars but in Sage's detailed setup I have the vertical zoom set to ~133% which also stretches the video vertically so that the top and bottom black bars are pushed off the screen leaving 16x9 video perfectly filling my 16x9 screen. I had to play with the vertical zoom % a little bit to find the correct amount but once I got it it works for all 16x9 shows of this kind.

Right now I have 2 buttons on my remote programmed for A/R. One for source and one for the vertically stretched 16x9. I don't use any other of Sage's aspect ratio's since there is no need. Source works for all 4x3 SDTV shows as well as DVD's. 4X3 shows are 4X3 with black bars on the sides (I don't like the fill option which stretches them horizontally making everything look short and fat), the A/R on DVD's are handled automatically by Sage's DVD player and the nVidia decoder. 4X3 DVD'd are 4X3, 16X9 DVD's are correctly zoomed to fill the screen, and 2.35 DVD's are correctly zoomed with just a bit of letterboxing.


Nielm, looking forward to seeing this in action since my woman refuses to use the 2 buttons I programmed. If I last watched a 16X9 show and one of her 4X3 shows comes on she just leaves it with the top and bottom stretched off the screen. If Sage is in 4X3 and a 16X9 show comes on she just watches it with the black bars all the way around and wasting a large percentage of the expensive screen real estate. I don't have any HDTV tuners yet but I assume those will need to use source as well.

[nielm]

Originally Posted by sleonard

Nielm, looking forward to seeing this in action since my woman refuses to use the 2 buttons I programmed. If I last watched a 16X9 show and one of her 4X3 shows comes on she just leaves it with the top and bottom stretched off the screen. If Sage is in 4X3 and a 16X9 show comes on she just watches it with the black bars all the way around and wasting a large percentage of the expensive screen real estate. I don't have any HDTV tuners yet but I assume those will need to use source as well.

Sounds very very familiar and is the entire reason for this plugin's existance!

[malore]

Cool, now if only I had a new TV to use this on.

[mikejaner]

Awsome plugin Neilm. I can't wait to try it out tonight.

[nielm]

v 1.2 - 15/Nov/2005 for SageTV 4
* (Java update only) Fixed a bug where title-only Auto AR modes were not matched

As this is a java update, if it is already installed, you only need to unzip it into the SageTV dir and restart Sage, no re-importing necessary...

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by stanger89

We could look for an AR flag stored in the database

I just need to know how we want to do that.

Any thoughts neilm?

[nielm]

Originally Posted by stanger89

We could look for an AR flag stored in the database

I just need to know how we want to do that.

What AR flag in the database? And where would it get it's value from?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by nielm

What AR flag in the database? And where would it get it's value from?

We could add one (not sure where though, that's the question), from DVD Profiler/IMDB, possibly from SA (with Jere's help).

[sleonard]

Neilm,

I am trying to d/l the updated java file but get this message:

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /~nielm/nielm_modules/autoaspect/autoaspect_1_2.zip on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/1.3.33 Server at www.sage-community.org Port 80

[AMCooper63]

The problem isn't the Sage interface. I have my computer running at 1280x720 which is perfect for my 720p DLP TV. I don't distort any of my play back aspect ratios. I always use source for my aspect ratio. All analog video plays back in the center of the screen at about 960x720. Frequently the content on the station is actually in 16x9, which would make it 960x540. I am quite willing to select on a per view basis "Zoom" which would make my video effectively stretch to 1280x960. The 960 of course won't fit on the screen, so the top and bottom 120 pixels would get cut off.

As for the one suggestion of the 133% vertical stretch, what do you do about your user interface? I've gone that route, but my interface stretches off the screen. But you may have something there. If I had a menu option to toggle stretch 133% both vertical and horizontal that would solve my problem. Then hit the toggle again to reset back to 100% . Can the Studio do this some how?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by AMCooper63

As for the one suggestion of the 133% vertical stretch, what do you do about your user interface?

Nothing horizontal and vertical zoom have no effect on the UI.

[sleonard]

Originally Posted by AMCooper63

The problem isn't the Sage interface. I have my computer running at 1280x720 which is perfect for my 720p DLP TV. I don't distort any of my play back aspect ratios. I always use source for my aspect ratio. All analog video plays back in the center of the screen at about 960x720. Frequently the content on the station is actually in 16x9, which would make it 960x540. I am quite willing to select on a per view basis "Zoom" which would make my video effectively stretch to 1280x960. The 960 of course won't fit on the screen, so the top and bottom 120 pixels would get cut off.

As for the one suggestion of the 133% vertical stretch, what do you do about your user interface? I've gone that route, but my interface stretches off the screen. But you may have something there. If I had a menu option to toggle stretch 133% both vertical and horizontal that would solve my problem. Then hit the toggle again to reset back to 100% . Can the Studio do this some how?

As Stranger said the stretch has no effect on the UI. Go to Detailed Setup / Multimedia and choose the 16X9 Aspect ratio. Then go one setting down to Aspect Ratio Settings and click Modify. Change the Vertical Stretch to ~130 to 133 % and leave the Horizontal Stretch alone.

Now, when you choose the 16X9 AR in Sage SDTV shows that are in a 16X9 format will expand to fit your screen correctly. You may need to play slightly with those settings a bit. I found that 130% Vertical and 102% Horizontal work perfect for my Sammy DLP.

As to my last post about the updated java file for this import. Is anyone else having a problem d/l it?

[sleonard]

Also, I run my computer at 1280X720 to my 720p DLP. It sounds like you might be confusing the overscan settings that do affect the UI with the AR settings that I described in the above post.

[nielm]

Originally Posted by sleonard

I am trying to d/l the updated java file but get this message:

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /~nielm/nielm_modules/autoaspect/autoaspect_1_2.zip on this server.

Sorry -- forgot to make it readable! Fixed now..

[nielm]

Originally Posted by AMCooper63

If I had a menu option to toggle stretch 133% both vertical and horizontal that would solve my problem. Then hit the toggle again to reset back to 100% . Can the Studio do this some how?

This is what Sage's Aspect ratios are for! See the linked page on the wiki about AspectRatios for a more detailed explanation...