expand 4:3 to 16:9

[OlliL]

Hi,

I have some 4:3 AVIs and my Sony Bravia 40EX716 stretches them all to 16:6.
How can I transcode them so they get black bars added on both sides? I tried

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codec_spec_script = container == avi :: -vf expand=aspect=16/9

and now I have black bars on both sides but also on top and on the bottom.... so I'm back to stretched 16:9 but with black bars all around it
Any help is apprechiated as I tried now with quite a lot of options and settings to get it working but it is always the same - stretched to 16:9 or black bars all around it.

[squadjot]

try

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-vf expand=::::1:16/9

I actually just made a reply about render conf for Bravia, look here
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=558#p3107

Theres also link for some apsect ratio test files

[squadjot]

Also.. i'm not entirely sure.. but if you enter these things into conf files you might need to escape forward slashes like this

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-vf expand=::::1:16\/9

[OlliL]

this was my first try - also no success.
I tried multiple combinations of those (one at a time of course)

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container == avi :: -vf expand=::::1:16/9 -lavcopts aspect=16/9 -oac copy -mc 0
container == avi :: -vf expand=::::0:16/9,softskip -lavcopts aspect=16/9 -oac copy -mc 0
container == avi :: -vf expand=aspect=16/9,scale=-2:240 -lavcopts aspect=16/9 -oac copy -mc 0

Escaping is not needed, I can see the parameters passed to mencoder and they are correct. I also see direct effects if I remove the lavcopts aspect so 16/9 is working without any escaping in general.

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 -lavcopts aspect=16/9

I need this one for real 16:9 movies. If I don't have this in, a 16:9 movie gets black bars on top and the bottom.

[squadjot]

Weird.. i'd guess that the TV would display 16/9 perfectly fine?.. any obvious reasons it's not?
And, it's not a sreen mode issue? (remote button).. guess not, you seem like you're pretty capable =)

Edit: i never messed with -lavcopts, looking it up now..

[OlliL]

1) Without any options:
- A regular 16:9 video (624x352) gets black bars on top and bottom - so it is squished in its hight
- A regular 4:3 video (720x540) gets stretched to the full screen of the TV - so it is stretched in its width

2)With option "-lavcopts aspect=16/9":
- A regular 16:9 video (624x352) is displayed perfectly
- A regular 4:3 video (720x540) gets stretched to the full screen of the TV - so it is stretched in its width

3)With option "-vf expand=::::1:16/9":
- A regular 16:9 video (624x352) gets black bars on top and bottom - so it is squished in its hight
- A regular 4:3 video (720x540) gets black bars on top and bottom and on the left and right - so it is stretched in its width

4)With option "-vf expand=::::1:16/9 -lavcopts aspect=16/9":
- same as 3)

5)With option "-vf expand=::::1:16/9 -aspect 16:9":
- same as 2)

6)With option "-vf expand=::::1:16/9 -aspect 4:3":
- A regular 16:9 video (624x352) gets black bars on the left and right - so it is squished in its width
- A regular 4:3 video (720x540) gets black bars on top and bottom and on the left and right - so it is stretched in its width

7)With option "-aspect 4:3":
- same as 2)

It looks like I need -lavcopts to get the propper height, but -lavcopts is ignored when I use -vf expand so I'm falling back to bars on top and bottom like w/o -lavcopts.

I captured the mencoder flags. There was one combination, which creats MPEG files which are displayed perfectly for 4:3 on the TV when I play the MPEG files directly through UMS without any transcoding. But the same(!) flags with on-the-fly-transcoding and it is displayed wrong - even if the resulting video should be the same. I can test this tomorrow once more, but - Is there a possibility that there is some meta-information sent to the TV for height and width or aspect or does the TV find this all out by itself? If so - how can I manipulate this?

[OlliL]

I now tried generating MPEG files to play them directly.

The Source video is 720x540

with:
"-vf expand=::::1:16/9" ---> a 960x540 MPEG file gets generated ---> This is displayed with black bars on top, bottom left and right.

I then checked a 16:9 video which is displayed nicely without any problem for its dimension. It has 624x352 so I tried this:

"-vf expand=::::1:16/9,scale=624:352" ---> a 624x352 MPEG file is generated ---> i get exactly what I want! black bars on left and right, and full heigt -> voila!

And to get this now displayed correctly "on the fly" transcoded I need this:
"-vf expand=::::1:16/9,scale=624:352 -lavcopts aspect=16/9"

Can someone enlight my why this is all needed?

[squadjot]

Your TV is sick!

"Play them directly" ? ..what do you mean. I guess you know that mencoder has to come in play for the vf expand stuff to kick in.
What happens if you add a srt file to the video?

Can i ask.. what movies DO display correct? , is it only avi's? (sorry if i missed out on something)

[OlliL]

Play them directly = MPEG which is just fed 1:1 to the TV without mencoder, ffmpeg or whatever involved. UMS just hands out the file to the TV because no transcoding is needed.

What files are displayed correctly... no idea I must admit.
I have Matroska files in 1280x720. For those I need "-aspect 4:3" to get them displayed correctly - otherwise I get black bars on top and bottom. I really would like to know why I'm always getting this black bars on the top and bottom when I don't add flags to mencoder

Am I the only one with a Sony Bravia?
http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/topics ... DL-40EX716

[squadjot]

And you are sure it's not just because you need to push your "screen mode" button on your remote?, or set aspect through options somehow?

Screen Mode: http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/iManuals/eg ... t_aep.html

Edit: The page you link to, or any sony page i can find, does not give very detailed info about the TV
I found this other link: http://www.prad.de/en/tvguide/screen5965.html
The display specs looks like they are the same as on my BraviaW5500
Using the -vf expand i mentioned i can litterally box any format into 16:9,
which offcourse displays correct as expected, the TV is 16:9 , and so is yours,
- why i can't understand why files that is already 16/9 does not display correct.. they display show correct even without any vf expand or such.

Edit2: try pack and upload debug files, maybe some of the devs can figure something out from that