Aspect Ratio from STB

[rickgillyon]

Not sure if this should be in Hardware or Software, so bear with me...
I have two Hauppauge cards, each fed from a cable STB. Almost all of the cable programs from the STBs are 16:9, while Sage sees all the input from the Hauppauges as 4:3.

I'm trying to get a handle on why this is.
Is it the cards which tell Sage that it's 4:3 or is it Sage that just assumes it because it can't tell?
Would a different card provide a composite signal to Sage that Sage will see as 16:9?
Is it possible (e.g. via the Webserver) to change a recording to indicate that it's 16:9 rather than 4:3?
Would it be possible to write a plugin to force all recordings made on a specific tuner to flag as being 16:9?

Any clarification would be appreciated, I'm trying to see where the problem is. Recordings having the wrong AR is a bit of a disaster when viewing them on the MVP...

Thanks!
Rick

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

I'm trying to get a handle on why this is.
Is it the cards which tell Sage that it's 4:3 or is it Sage that just assumes it because it can't tell?

The cards always record in 4:3.

Would a different card provide a composite signal to Sage that Sage will see as 16:9?

Probably not, there's no way for the card to tell if the incoming signal is anamorphic or not.

Is it possible (e.g. via the Webserver) to change a recording to indicate that it's 16:9 rather than 4:3?

Not that I know of, you'd have to edit the MPEG and set the 16:9 flag.

Would it be possible to write a plugin to force all recordings made on a specific tuner to flag as being 16:9?

Have you tried Nielm's Auto Aspect Ratio plugin? Though I guess that wouldn't help since the MPG would still be 4:3.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by stanger89

The cards always record in 4:3.

They think they do, anyway. The source is 16:9.

Originally Posted by stanger89

Probably not, there's no way for the card to tell if the incoming signal is anamorphic or not.

I don't really want it to tell, I want it to mark everything as 16:9.

Originally Posted by stanger89

Not that I know of, you'd have to edit the MPEG and set the 16:9 flag.

At which point Sage probably deletes the file, right?

Originally Posted by stanger89

Have you tried Nielm's Auto Aspect Ratio plugin? Though I guess that wouldn't help since the MPG would still be 4:3.

It looks like it would work, as I could set it so that anything recorded from a certain tuner plays 16:9 - but unfortunately it doesn't work on the MVP. I really just need somehow for the recordings to be automatically marked 16:9 so the MVP treats them right.

Thanks for the input!

[nielm]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Probably not, there's no way for the card to tell if the incoming signal is anamorphic or not.

Theoretically this is what Widescreen signalingin analogue TV is for, but the Hauppauge cards don't recognise it (neither do a lot of TV sets).

But I think the problem will always be on playback -- IIRC the hardware MPEG2 decoder in the MVP's can only playback 720x576i (for PAL or 480i for NTSC) at full screen -- with no possibilities of scaling/resizing, and no WideScreenSignalling support either.. So you would still need to tell your TV that it is a 16x9 signal somehow...

But then I don't have an MVP so I could be talking complete rubbish... You could just try re-muxing a file in VideoRedo and setting the AR to 16x9 on output just to see what the MVP will do with it...

[rickgillyon]

Actually, the MVP handles the digital files from DVBT correctly. These are correctly marked with 4:3 and 16:9 as appropriate, and play correctly resized. It's the files incorrectly tagged which lead to squished display.

I wonder if any cards out there support widescreen signalling (or at least fixing the AR on all files). I wanted to avoid VideoReDo on every analogue file, but I can add it to my overnight jobs if neccessary. I guess I'd then need to copy the "fixed" version to an import folder...

[nielm]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

I guess I'd then need to copy the "fixed" version to an import folder...

nah, just replace the original (or rather save to tmp; rename orig to tmp2; rename tmp to original, delete tmp2). If the file is still valid Sage *should* not even see that it has changed

[rickgillyon]

It thought Sage would delete it if the timestamp changed! But I might have imagined it...

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

It thought Sage would delete it if the timestamp changed! But I might have imagined it...

I believe as long as the external ID number is the same the rest of the name can be changed at will. Including the extension. But I could be wrong.

BobP.

[nielm]

bob, that depends on whether you want Sage to think that it is the same old file (same filename) or a new/edited file that it should rescan (different filename)

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by nielm

bob, that depends on whether you want Sage to think that it is the same old file (same filename) or a new/edited file that it should rescan (different filename)

OK and since he would need an aspect change it would need the rescan? If so my idea wouldn't work.

[rickgillyon]

I don't care what Sage thinks, just how the MVP sees it. Guess I'll try it and see!

If VideoReDo removes any frames etc., so the size changes, Sage won't have a problem?

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

I don't care what Sage thinks, just how the MVP sees it. Guess I'll try it and see!

If VideoReDo removes any frames etc., so the size changes, Sage won't have a problem?

I wouldn't believe it would cause a problem. In any case if you backup your file before any conversion along with the WIZ.BIN file you should be able to restore those and get back to what you currently have.

BobP.

[rickgillyon]

I backup my Sage folder before I do anything...