Aspect Ratio Woes

[martincmartin]

I've got an HD PVR, which is working pretty well, but it records in a squirely aspect ratio, 720x480 for SD, and doesn't seem to set the right values in the H.264 file, because if I select "source" aspect ratio, it looks wrong. So I select "fill", but then, when I want to watch a ripped DVD, I have to switch it to "source", and when I switch back to recorded TV shows, "fill." It's a pain, and hit to the WAF*. Is there any way to tell SageTV to use "fill" for recordings and "source" for things in the media center? Or any way to tell the HD PVR to set the right bits? Or any other way to avoid manually changing the aspect ratio all the time?

Thanks,
Martin

[Fuzzy]

Do you by chance have Sage's Display aspect set wrong? 720x480 is standard 480i resolution, and is the same as the DVD's you are watching. It should be tagged as 4:3. What is your source into the HD-PVR? It might be doing some scaling prior to the HD-PVR that is throwing off the aspects (Dish STB's have different aspect/zoom settings for HD and SD).

[david1234]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Do you by chance have Sage's Display aspect set wrong? 720x480 is standard 480i resolution, and is the same as the DVD's you are watching. It should be tagged as 4:3. What is your source into the HD-PVR? It might be doing some scaling prior to the HD-PVR that is throwing off the aspects (Dish STB's have different aspect/zoom settings for HD and SD).

I don't mean to get picky, but 720x480 is 480p widescreen. It's a 16x9 format. 480i is 640x480.

I don't have an hdpvr, but it sounds like it's recording an anomorphic widescreen.

[martincmartin]

Originally Posted by david1234

I don't mean to get picky, but 720x480 is 480p widescreen. It's a 16x9 format. 480i is 640x480.

Actually, if pixels are square, 720x480 is neither. 720/480 = 1.5. 4/3 = 1.3333, and 16/9 = 1.7777.

The HD PVR's inputs are component video, which is an analog signal, so it doesn't have an inherent number of columns. Fuzzy's right that 720x480 is a standard aspect ratio, but the HD PVR must not be marking it 4:3, so Sage TV is assuming it's square pixels.

[Rico66]

Originally Posted by martincmartin

I've got an HD PVR, which is working pretty well, but it records in a squirely aspect ratio, 720x480 for SD, and doesn't seem to set the right values in the H.264 file, because if I select "source" aspect ratio, it looks wrong. So I select "fill", but then, when I want to watch a ripped DVD, I have to switch it to "source", and when I switch back to recorded TV shows, "fill." It's a pain, and hit to the WAF*. Is there any way to tell SageTV to use "fill" for recordings and "source" for things in the media center? Or any way to tell the HD PVR to set the right bits? Or any other way to avoid manually changing the aspect ratio all the time?

Thanks,
Martin

You can use the aspect ratio stvi to define specific ratios for different devices and also for different channels if necessary.

[martincmartin]

Originally Posted by Rico66

You can use the aspect ratio stvi to define specific ratios for different devices and also for different channels if necessary.

That's perfect, thanks!

[david1234]

Originally Posted by martincmartin

Actually, if pixels are square, 720x480 is neither. 720/480 = 1.5. 4/3 = 1.3333, and 16/9 = 1.7777.

Didn't even think about square pixels... there are way too many formats!