I have ripped an anamorphic 16:9 DVD to a MPEG2 Stream file (*.mpg) with Cinematize 2 Pro. When I play it on the WDTV Live, the image is somewhat compressed (from top to bottom). It plays normal with VLC on my Mac, and the format is listed as 720x526 (16:9 PAL). However, both the Toast Player and EyeTV Player shows the image drawn out which produces the same compressed image as on the WDTV. Does anyone know what’s going on? It looks like the WDTV doesn’t know that it’s an anamorphic video.
So you say you’re getting letterboxing when it should be full-screen?
Can you post the text output of mediainfo for such a file?
The WD certainly understands Anamorphic DVD within VOBs and ISOs, at least with NTSC stuff, but perhaps something is unusual in the MP2 stream.
What resolution are you setting the WD to?
Hi Tony,
no, the video is anamorphic 16:9, but my WDTV adds black bars at the top and bottom on my 16:9 HDTV, which compresses the image. As the video is already 16:9, it should just fill the screen without any black bars.
When playing the same video as a VOB file, the WDTV shows the video correctly.
The video files I have problems with are ripped (as the full MPEG-2 program stream) with Cinematize Pro 2. Perhaps the problem is with that software. However, the files play correctly in VTC on my Mac.
The video info from MediaInfo is:
8000 Kbps, 720*576 (2.35:1) at 25.000 fps, MPEG Video (PAL) (Version 2) (Main@Main) (BVOP).
Thanks,
Don
doc69 wrote:
The video info from MediaInfo is:
8000 Kbps, 720*576 (2.35:1)
Well, there’s your problem. The file is telling the WDTV it’s 2.35:1, not 1.78:1 (16:9) – the WDTV is just doing what the file is telling it to.
Apparently Cinematize Pro is sticking the wrong A/R into the file.
Can you post the complete video section? I am interested in the pixel AR versus the display AR.
Ok, I could just be out to lunch, Tony, but wouldn’t the 720x576 refer to a PAL SAR of 5:4, stored as anamorphic?
Isn’t that 2.35:1 the ratio that the WDTV uses to turn the stored pixels into a display? (Called “Display Ratio” in MediaInfo)
Isn’t the MPEG-2 display AR required to either be 4:3 or 16:9 for DVD’s?
RG: Not entirely sure, actually.
However, since VLC or whatever appears to be displaying it CORRECTLY, there’s a possibility of a flag somewhere that’s being overlooked by the WD.
Now VLC does some odd things. So just saying VLC is doing it right is no guarantee that the file is correct.
Just wanting the whole picture here. :)
Fair enough. 
It just seemed that if the video stream is 5:4 and it’s meant to be 16:9, that that 2.35:1 looks rather suspicious and has no place being there. It seemed the obvious culprit, whether it should make a difference or not.
Now, which AR the WDTV uses and which AR VLC uses and which one is the “right one” for a player to choose, that’s a whole different story. 
Hi, after comparing rips from different DVDs in Cinematize, it looks like it’s only a certain brand of DVDs that end up with an incorrect aspect ratio. And on those DVDs, the menus and everything other than the movie is actually 4:3. So perhaps Cinematize reads the aspect ratio from these menus instead?
Anyway, is there any way of changing the meta info in the file? It seems like changing the parameter ‘Display aspect ratio’ from 2.35:1 to 16:9 would solve the problem? The only other parameter that is different from rips that play OK is the ‘Format settings, GOP’ which shows M=3, N=12 on the files that play OK and M=3, N=13 on the files with the incorrect aspect ratio.
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 41.4 MiB
Duration : 1mn 17s
Overall bit rate : 4 464 Kbps
Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Duration : 1mn 17s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 4 183 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 8 300 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.403
Stream size : 38.7 MiB (94%)
