black side bars if video is 60fps

[skavinger]

i did many searches in the forums but couldn't find anything on this.
i got a HVR-950 and started recording some HD programs.

first issue is that the programs that are at 60fps regardless of resolution will play as a square in the center of my tv (fills from top to bottom but not left to right) . please help me figure this one out. what i tried so far was to change the decoder to sage default, tried overlay, tried full screen exclusive, tried all aspect modes, tried changing from 1280x800@60 to "HDTV" 1280x720@60 in ATI contol panel, i also updated the video driver.

second issue is that the EPG support for my ATSC channel lineup sucks ..... all "no data" except about 2 or 3. i have a spare computer for video editing in another room that i loaded the trial of beyondtv on for testing an idea to fix the first issue by recording through it and copying the tp files over to sage but they still don't play full screen if at 60fps. i don't like beyondtv so far and don't plan to switch to it but i have to say that it found the whole lineup for every channel that my HVR-950 was able to pick up. is there a way to get my ATSC channels in sagetv and have the full / correct EPG info?



here is the hardware / software info:

sagetv 6.3.10.166
winxp pro sp2 oem

ati x1250 video
amd 690g chipset
amd 2.2Ghz x2 CPU
using HDMI out to magnavox 32 inch LCD
windvd 6 or 7 decoder ... but it don't mater as sage decoder does same.

newest drivers.....

let me know if you need more info.
and thanks for all help.

[Taddeusz]

Are all HD recordings this way? It sounds like you're running into programs that are actually SD recordings broadcast "pillarboxed" so that the black bars are encoded into the video to keep the proper aspect ratio. If you really want these programs to fill your screen you must adjust your TV so the non-black parts fill the screen. Of course, then you will end up with a distorted picture.

[skavinger]

well, the videos in question play in media player classic and beyondtv without the bars. i upgraded windvd from 7 to "9 plus blu-ray" last night and still acting the same. if the videos are 29.97fps 1080i or 720i/p they show up full screen. thank you for a response though. any and every response is good right now.

[skavinger]

btw .... i know what you are talking about with the "pillarbox" as almost all commercials are in that format when i playback even the files that work.

[skavinger]

someone please give me some more suggestions to try, it is driving me nuts....

[Taddeusz]

Can you post a picture of what it looks like?