Hi,
I've got a rather unusual setup here:
I have got vdr running on my xbox and the xbox is connected to a 16:9 tv. I am using vdr-xine to display the video stream.
Now my problem is that xine always outputs in 4:3 pixel aspect ratio, thus if I view a 16:9 movie I have black bars. I still can zoom in on my tv to get a picture without bars but with a loss in qualtiy.
So the question is if it is possible to automagically switch xine to output with a 16:9 pixel aspect ratio when such a stream is detected. (meaning no black bars on the "x11" window but of course a horizontally compressed picture). Then I could simply activate the widescreen mode on my tv which would not require zooming but simply displaying the picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
kind regards Philip
Hi,
Philip Lawatsch wrote:
I have got vdr running on my xbox and the xbox is connected to a 16:9 tv. I am using vdr-xine to display the video stream.
Now my problem is that xine always outputs in 4:3 pixel aspect ratio, thus if I view a 16:9 movie I have black bars. I still can zoom in on my tv to get a picture without bars but with a loss in qualtiy.
So the question is if it is possible to automagically switch xine to output with a 16:9 pixel aspect ratio when such a stream is detected. (meaning no black bars on the "x11" window but of course a horizontally compressed picture). Then I could simply activate the widescreen mode on my tv which would not require zooming but simply displaying the picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Maybe it's as simple as setting a fixed aspect ratio for xine:
-r <mode> Set aspect ratio of video output. Modes are: 'auto', 'square', '4:3', 'anamorphic', 'dvb'.
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
Bye.
On Wednesday 04 May 2005 21:53, Reinhard Nissl wrote:
Maybe it's as simple as setting a fixed aspect ratio for xine:
-r <mode> Set aspect ratio of video output. Modes are: 'auto', 'square', '4:3', 'anamorphic', 'dvb'.
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
I'm playing about with xine command-line options to get the xine plugin going at its best.
Reinhard: what is the full set of xine options that you are using?
Cheers,
Laz
Reinhard Nissl wrote:
So the question is if it is possible to automagically switch xine to output with a 16:9 pixel aspect ratio when such a stream is detected. (meaning no black bars on the "x11" window but of course a horizontally compressed picture). Then I could simply activate the widescreen mode on my tv which would not require zooming but simply displaying the picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Maybe it's as simple as setting a fixed aspect ratio for xine:
-r <mode> Set aspect ratio of video output. Modes are: 'auto', 'square', '4:3', 'anamorphic', 'dvb'.
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
Yea, this seems to work, but not quite as expected though. For something currently running on 3sat it works as expected but when I replay some of my recordings i still have black bars.
Could it be that some stations (pro 7, "Blade II") simply send 16:9 video encoded with black bars into a 4:3 format?
kind regards Philip
On Wednesday 04 May 2005 22:47, Philip Lawatsch wrote:
Reinhard Nissl wrote:
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
Yea, this seems to work, but not quite as expected though. For something currently running on 3sat it works as expected but when I replay some of my recordings i still have black bars.
Could it be that some stations (pro 7, "Blade II") simply send 16:9 video encoded with black bars into a 4:3 format?
I've just been replaying a recording which should have been 16:9 but was squashed horizontally to give a "4:3 within a 16:9 frame" type of thing, looking like some of the older stuff that the BBC broadcasts but this time the aspect ratio is wrong! I think the BBC broadcast everything as 16:9 but use AFD headers, or something, for programmes that should be 4:3. On my old system with a dxr3, I get a black box all of the way round (I think there are patches for the dxr3 to expand it back up but they only work for NTSC).
Would it be worth having an aspect ratio config option for the xine plugin to force it one way or the other, if it gets it wrong?
This is on DVB-T in the UK.
Cheers,
Laz
Hi,
Philip Lawatsch wrote:
So the question is if it is possible to automagically switch xine to output with a 16:9 pixel aspect ratio when such a stream is detected. (meaning no black bars on the "x11" window but of course a horizontally compressed picture). Then I could simply activate the widescreen mode on my tv which would not require zooming but simply displaying the picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Maybe it's as simple as setting a fixed aspect ratio for xine:
-r <mode> Set aspect ratio of video output. Modes are: 'auto', 'square', '4:3', 'anamorphic', 'dvb'.
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
Yea, this seems to work, but not quite as expected though. For something currently running on 3sat it works as expected but when I replay some of my recordings i still have black bars.
Could it be that some stations (pro 7, "Blade II") simply send 16:9 video encoded with black bars into a 4:3 format?
You're right. I've experienced too, that Pro7 has moved it's logo into the 16:9 area when they are broadcasting movies. But why do they not signal a 16:9 broadcast?
Maybe they want to safe bandwith which is consumed by dolby sound on the other hand.
Isn't it interesting too, that ARD's and ZDF's current themes often look like "colored" 4:3 frames for 16:9 content (e. g. sport reports on ARD's Morgenmagazin and movie announcements on ZDF)?
Anyway, I've been playing for quite a while know with the idea of cropping away the black bars of Pro7's 16:9 broadcasts. I've already done the opposite (crop away the black bars 4:3 broadcasts in 16:9 frames, see post plugin expand's centre_cut_out_mode), so it doesn't seem to be to complicated to get implemented. It's just a matter of time ;-)
Bye.
Hi,
Laz wrote:
Maybe it's as simple as setting a fixed aspect ratio for xine:
-r <mode> Set aspect ratio of video output. Modes are: 'auto', 'square', '4:3', 'anamorphic', 'dvb'.
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
I'm playing about with xine command-line options to get the xine plugin going at its best.
Reinhard: what is the full set of xine options that you are using?
Well, I think that other people make use of much more options than I've discovered so far ;-)
This is how I run xine at the moment:
xine --verbose=2 -V vidix -A alsa -Dtvtime:method=Greedy2Frame,cheap_mode=0,pulldown=0,use_progressive_frame_flag=1 --post vdr vdr:/tmp/vdr-xine/stream#demux:mpeg_pes
Bye.
Hi,
Laz wrote:
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
Yea, this seems to work, but not quite as expected though. For something currently running on 3sat it works as expected but when I replay some of my recordings i still have black bars.
Could it be that some stations (pro 7, "Blade II") simply send 16:9 video encoded with black bars into a 4:3 format?
I've just been replaying a recording which should have been 16:9 but was squashed horizontally to give a "4:3 within a 16:9 frame" type of thing, looking like some of the older stuff that the BBC broadcasts but this time the aspect ratio is wrong! I think the BBC broadcast everything as 16:9 but use AFD headers, or something, for programmes that should be 4:3. On my old system with a dxr3, I get a black box all of the way round (I think there are patches for the dxr3 to expand it back up but they only work for NTSC).
Would it be worth having an aspect ratio config option for the xine plugin to force it one way or the other, if it gets it wrong?
You might have discovered that my current patches for xine-lib report the AFD value for streams containing that information. The idea is to have an AFD post plugin which crops out the relevant area.
And a further plugin might simulate AFD values for streams which don't contain this information by detecting black borders on top/bottom and left/right.
A first approach is my patch to xine's expand post plugin. Just give it a try as documented in vdr-xine's MANUAL. The patch crops out 4:3 images, but also puts 16:9 images into a 4:3 frame (default functionality of expand plugin).
Bye.
Reinhard Nissl a écrit :
Hi,
Philip Lawatsch wrote:
I have got vdr running on my xbox and the xbox is connected to a 16:9 tv. I am using vdr-xine to display the video stream.
Now my problem is that xine always outputs in 4:3 pixel aspect ratio, thus if I view a 16:9 movie I have black bars. I still can zoom in on my tv to get a picture without bars but with a loss in qualtiy.
So the question is if it is possible to automagically switch xine to output with a 16:9 pixel aspect ratio when such a stream is detected. (meaning no black bars on the "x11" window but of course a horizontally compressed picture). Then I could simply activate the widescreen mode on my tv which would not require zooming but simply displaying the picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Maybe it's as simple as setting a fixed aspect ratio for xine:
-r <mode> Set aspect ratio of video output. Modes are: 'auto', 'square', '4:3', 'anamorphic', 'dvb'.
So adding "-r '4:3'" when running xine should do the trick.
Isn't it funny that you have to set an option to 4:3 when you want to see a 16:9 movie on a 16:9 screen ? I myself tried all kind of setup with xine, none of them being satisfactory... I also changed the "DisplaySize 590 330" in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, to make X aware that pixels are not square...
I proposed something to the softdevice plugin, where the field of scaling/croping is wide open. I hope to bring something easier to understand for common people... A setup where you say 16:9 when you want 16:9... See https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/softdevice-devel/2005q2/000594.html
Reinhard Nissl wrote:
Could it be that some stations (pro 7, "Blade II") simply send 16:9 video encoded with black bars into a 4:3 format?
Anyway, I've been playing for quite a while know with the idea of cropping away the black bars of Pro7's 16:9 broadcasts. I've already done the opposite (crop away the black bars 4:3 broadcasts in 16:9 frames, see post plugin expand's centre_cut_out_mode), so it doesn't seem to be to complicated to get implemented. It's just a matter of time ;-)
Ok, so there is no solution available yet? Guess I'll have a look into the source and try to hack something together then.
Thanks for the info! kind regards Philip
On Thu, 2005-05-05 at 03:34 +0200, Nicolas Huillard wrote:
Isn't it funny that you have to set an option to 4:3 when you want to see a 16:9 movie on a 16:9 screen ? I myself tried all kind of setup with xine, none of them being satisfactory... I also changed the "DisplaySize 590 330" in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, to make X aware that pixels are not square...
I proposed something to the softdevice plugin, where the field of scaling/croping is wide open. I hope to bring something easier to understand for common people... A setup where you say 16:9 when you want 16:9... See https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/softdevice-devel/2005q2/000594.html
Do the aspect ratio setup options in Setup->DVB have any effect on output plugins other than a full-featured card? I've never really convinced myself one way or the other on that!
Cheers,
Laz
On Thu, 2005-05-05 at 00:47 +0200, Reinhard Nissl wrote:
Hi,
Laz wrote:
I've just been replaying a recording which should have been 16:9 but was squashed horizontally to give a "4:3 within a 16:9 frame" type of thing, looking like some of the older stuff that the BBC broadcasts but this time the aspect ratio is wrong! I think the BBC broadcast everything as 16:9 but use AFD headers, or something, for programmes that should be 4:3. On my old system with a dxr3, I get a black box all of the way round (I think there are patches for the dxr3 to expand it back up but they only work for NTSC).
Would it be worth having an aspect ratio config option for the xine plugin to force it one way or the other, if it gets it wrong?
You might have discovered that my current patches for xine-lib report the AFD value for streams containing that information. The idea is to have an AFD post plugin which crops out the relevant area.
I was running it with the vdr post plugins, as outlined in the MANUAL but they were having no effect on this recording! I will have to check to see if the verbose output mentions anything about AFD or aspect ratio. Removing the post plugins had no effect on the shape of the video. The OSD was stretched way off the top and bottom of the screen with the plugins included but returned back to a more usual size when I removed them, so I think this is probably due to a dubious recording confusing things!
And a further plugin might simulate AFD values for streams which don't contain this information by detecting black borders on top/bottom and left/right.
A first approach is my patch to xine's expand post plugin. Just give it a try as documented in vdr-xine's MANUAL. The patch crops out 4:3 images, but also puts 16:9 images into a 4:3 frame (default functionality of expand plugin).
The recording I was watching last night definitely looked like a 16:9 image squashed sideways giving black borders on each side (which I shouldn't get on my 4:3 tv!). It may be that this was just an odd recording. Sometimes when I examine a recording with mplayer, it shows up as 704x576 instead of the normal PAL resolution of 720x576! (Not sure about my 'suspect' recording, though.) I thought everything was broadcast at the same resolution? Or is this the source of all-round black borders in some older transmissions?
I am still trying to get the best settings for xine and XF86, hence my other question about command-line options! At the moment, I have disabled scaling in .xine/config which means that I have to switch my TV manually between 4:3 and 16:9 mode for the vertical scaling. Is this the way it _should_ be done, I.e. always send out a constant image size and let the TV switch? This is how my DVD player does it. Of course, you would need to generate the relevant voltages at the SCART connector!
;)
(I still have no OSD with xine-0.7.3 but haven't really had much time to debug.)
Cheers,
Laz
Laurence Abbott a écrit :
On Thu, 2005-05-05 at 03:34 +0200, Nicolas Huillard wrote:
Isn't it funny that you have to set an option to 4:3 when you want to see a 16:9 movie on a 16:9 screen ? I myself tried all kind of setup with xine, none of them being satisfactory... I also changed the "DisplaySize 590 330" in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, to make X aware that pixels are not square...
I proposed something to the softdevice plugin, where the field of scaling/croping is wide open. I hope to bring something easier to understand for common people... A setup where you say 16:9 when you want 16:9... See https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/softdevice-devel/2005q2/000594.html
Do the aspect ratio setup options in Setup->DVB have any effect on output plugins other than a full-featured card? I've never really convinced myself one way or the other on that!
I didn't see any effect on either vdr-xine or softdevice. I think it does not have to have an effect, since it is a code VDR option, and core means FF card. On the other hand, I proposed that softdevice use this option as a hint about the actual screen ratio. I think any plugin can use that option.
I demand that Laurence Abbott may or may not have written...
[snip]
Sometimes when I examine a recording with mplayer, it shows up as 704x576 instead of the normal PAL resolution of 720x576!
Was that broadcast on ITV1?
(Not sure about my 'suspect' recording, though.) I thought everything was broadcast at the same resolution?
On Freeview, at least, there's a mixture of 720x576, 704x576 and 544x576.
[snip]
On Saturday 07 May 2005 14:29, Darren Salt wrote:
I demand that Laurence Abbott may or may not have written...
[snip]
Sometimes when I examine a recording with mplayer, it shows up as 704x576 instead of the normal PAL resolution of 720x576!
Was that broadcast on ITV1?
I think it was ITV2 but near enough!
(Not sure about my 'suspect' recording, though.) I thought everything was broadcast at the same resolution?
On Freeview, at least, there's a mixture of 720x576, 704x576 and 544x576.
Ahh...I'd always assumed that it was all broadcast at 720x576 and any black borders were added to make up the frame.
Cheers,
Laz
On Saturday 07 May 2005 14:29, Darren Salt wrote:
I demand that Laurence Abbott may or may not have written...
Sometimes when I examine a recording with mplayer, it shows up as 704x576 instead of the normal PAL resolution of 720x576!
Was that broadcast on ITV1?
The channels in question (or as far as I've seen) ar ITV2 amd ITV3.
(Not sure about my 'suspect' recording, though.) I thought everything was broadcast at the same resolution?
On Freeview, at least, there's a mixture of 720x576, 704x576 and 544x576.
Ahhhh...it all makes sense now. The weird recordings I had turn out to be 544x576! I presume this lower resolution is simply to reduce bandwidth and fit more channels into a multiplex, and a decoder should look at the AFD to see how to handle it, i.e. expand it horizontally, in this case.
Does the xine plugin handle such cases, i.e. scale it to the correct aspect ratio? I've got scaling disabled in .xine/config to tet some other stuff at the moment, so maybe it should just work as I'd expect it to! The OSD gets squidged to the narrower width, too (although I thought the vdr post filter mentioned in the README is meant to keep the OSD at the same size. Oddly, the OSD stretches off the top and bottom as well, for these channels!
Cheers,
Laz
Laz wrote:
On Saturday 07 May 2005 14:29, Darren Salt wrote:
On Freeview, at least, there's a mixture of 720x576, 704x576 and 544x576.
Does the xine plugin handle such cases, i.e. scale it to the correct aspect ratio? I've got scaling disabled in .xine/config to tet some other stuff at the moment, so maybe it should just work as I'd expect it to! The OSD gets squidged to the narrower width, too (although I thought the vdr post filter mentioned in the README is meant to keep the OSD at the same size. Oddly, the OSD stretches off the top and bottom as well, for these channels!
Yes, the video is scaled to correct aspect ratio in 352x576 and 352x288 broadcasts here, and OSD is rescaled accordingly to fit the screen.
Hi,
Anssi Hannula wrote:
Laz wrote:
Does the xine plugin handle such cases, i.e. scale it to the correct aspect ratio? I've got scaling disabled in .xine/config to tet some other stuff at the moment, so maybe it should just work as I'd expect it to! The OSD gets squidged to the narrower width, too (although I thought the vdr post filter mentioned in the README is meant to keep the OSD at the same size. Oddly, the OSD stretches off the top and bottom as well, for these channels!
Yes, the video is scaled to correct aspect ratio in 352x576 and 352x288 broadcasts here, and OSD is rescaled accordingly to fit the screen.
I don't get it. It works for you but it doesn't for Laz?
Can someone put some light on this issue, e. g. supply a sample recording and tell what you want to see when you play this recording?
Bye.
Reinhard Nissl wrote:
Anssi Hannula wrote:
Laz wrote:
Does the xine plugin handle such cases, i.e. scale it to the correct aspect ratio? I've got scaling disabled in .xine/config to tet some other stuff at the moment, so maybe it should just work as I'd expect it to! The OSD gets squidged to the narrower width, too (although I thought the vdr post filter mentioned in the README is meant to keep the OSD at the same size. Oddly, the OSD stretches off the top and bottom as well, for these channels!
Yes, the video is scaled to correct aspect ratio in 352x576 and 352x288 broadcasts here, and OSD is rescaled accordingly to fit the screen.
I don't get it. It works for you but it doesn't for Laz?
Can someone put some light on this issue, e. g. supply a sample recording and tell what you want to see when you play this recording?
Laz said above that he has scaling disabled in .xine/config, that's probably the cause of his problems.
On Fri, 2005-05-13 at 22:06 +0300, Anssi Hannula wrote:
Reinhard Nissl wrote:
Anssi Hannula wrote:
Laz wrote:
Does the xine plugin handle such cases, i.e. scale it to the correct aspect ratio? I've got scaling disabled in .xine/config to tet some other stuff at the moment, so maybe it should just work as I'd expect it to! The OSD gets squidged to the narrower width, too (although I thought the vdr post filter mentioned in the README is meant to keep the OSD at the same size. Oddly, the OSD stretches off the top and bottom as well, for these channels!
Yes, the video is scaled to correct aspect ratio in 352x576 and 352x288 broadcasts here, and OSD is rescaled accordingly to fit the screen.
I don't get it. It works for you but it doesn't for Laz?
Can someone put some light on this issue, e. g. supply a sample recording and tell what you want to see when you play this recording?
Laz said above that he has scaling disabled in .xine/config, that's probably the cause of his problems.
I was hoping that that only affected vertical scaling but obviously not! I have yet to test it, though, but I expect it to work properly, then.
Cheers,
Laz
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Anssi Hannula -
Darren Salt -
Laurence Abbott -
Laz
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Nicolas Huillard -
Philip Lawatsch -
Reinhard Nissl