Toshiba 7990: XviD playback is stretched vertically -- Thoughts? [Archive]

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Bosko

11th February 2007, 18:40

I own a Toshiba 7990 dvd player (hooked up to my regular 25" Toshiba tv via component) and it plays regular dvds great, but for XviD playback it seems to be stretching the image vertically a bit. This is most noticeable with widescreen files (like widescreen TV shows). It's still letterboxed a little, but not as much, and you can tell everything is stretched a bit...

Now, I don't know if this has something to do with playback of XviD compared to DivX files. The manual says it only plays DivX. I know most of my files are Xvid. But that would be weird if that were the case.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this same issue? I'm thinking maybe the player itself is defective... But I'm hesitant to send it back (as I've had issues with doing this prior to this).

Any help is appreciated -- thanks!

foxyshadis

12th February 2007, 08:19

Bosko

12th February 2007, 09:06

You might open them in mpeg4modifier (always the first tool in hardware players' box), and see if they have an AR other than 1:1. If they're anything else, it could be that your player doesn't respect AR, and those files will have to be re-ripped or re-encoded and resized to a 1:1 AR.

They are HD broadcasts of a tv show converted to XviD. So there's no ripping -- and I don't have the original file to re-encode. Or can I re-encode the XviD file itself? If so, with what and how?

Thanks!

SeeMoreDigital

12th February 2007, 11:22

Bosko,

What is the resolution of your Xvid encodes?

Bosko

12th February 2007, 23:39

Bosko,

What is the resolution of your Xvid encodes?

624x352

And they play in the correct aspect ration on both my Philips 642 and Toshiba 3990.

setarip_old

13th February 2007, 07:30

Hi!

Just for kicks and giggles, you might try changing the FourCC of one of these files to that of a DivX file...

SeeMoreDigital

13th February 2007, 11:36

Bosko

13th February 2007, 18:08

Just for kicks and giggles, you might try changing the FourCC of one of these files to that of a DivX file...

How do I do this?

Do you mean just change the extension to .divx instead of .avi? I did try that, and it didn't change anything. Or is there something else I do to do what you're suggesting? Thanks!

Bosko

13th February 2007, 18:12

Your files resolution at 624x352 represents a square pixel aspect ratio of 1.77:1 (16:9), which would seem correct for viewing on a wide-screen TV...

You say you have a "regular 25" Toshiba".... Are you implying it a 4:3 TV? If so, then yes, you should be seeing black bars above and below the image!

It could be a player set-up issue!

I think you're misunderstanding me...

I have a 4:3 TV. Yes, I know I should see black bars above and below the image. The TV is set correctly, as these files play correctly on my other two players. Also, regular dvd movies play in the correct aspect ratio on the 7990 in question, so the dvd player itself is set correctly as well. The only thing that doesn't play correctly are .avi files (like Heroes, as described). There are still black bars, but the image is stretched vertically, so the black bars are "thinner". Does that make sense?

Thanks!

SeeMoreDigital

13th February 2007, 19:16

I think you're misunderstanding me...

I have a 4:3 TV. Yes, I know I should see black bars above and below the image. The TV is set correctly, as these files play correctly on my other two players. Also, regular dvd movies play in the correct aspect ratio on the 7990 in question, so the dvd player itself is set correctly as well. The only thing that doesn't play correctly are .avi files (like Heroes, as described). There are still black bars, but the image is stretched vertically, so the black bars are "thinner". Does that make sense?No, I don't misunderstand you at all....

Also, it serves no practical purpose to compare how your player handles MPEG-2 DVD playback against how your player handles MPEG-4 playback. They are completely different formats, conforming to totally different ISO/IEC specifications and as such the video playback (and display) is handled very differently.

For instance, the MPEG-2 video streams on all DVD's contain "aspect ratio signalling", which automatically changes the shape of the encoded pixels during playback.... As far as I can tell your MPEG-4 video stream does not contain any "aspect ratio signalling"... and doesn't need to, as it's horizontal and vertical resolution equates to your required aspect ratio.

EDIT: What do you see when you play these MPEG-4 in AVI with DAR Signalling (http://82.10.220.174/Uploaded_Files/Doom9_Forum_files/MPEG-4_in_AVI_with_DAR_Signalling.7z) samples?

Cheers

Bosko

13th February 2007, 20:14

No, I don't misunderstand you at all....

Also, it serves no practical purpose to compare how your player handles MPEG-2 DVD playback against how your player handles MPEG-4 playback. They are completely different formats, conforming to totally different ISO/IEC specifications and as such the video playback (and display) is handled very differently.

For instance, the MPEG-2 video streams on all DVD's contain "aspect ratio signalling", which automatically changes the shape of the encoded pixels during playback.... As far as I can tell your MPEG-4 video stream does not contain any "aspect ratio signalling"... and doesn't need to, as it's horizontal and vertical resolution equates to your required aspect ratio.

Thanks for the reply.

So what can I do to check or fix this? I don't believe the 7990 player has a separate option for AR for regular dvd playback and .avi playback. And I tried all the options for AR anyways on it to see if it would make a difference...

Thoughts? Thanks!

SeeMoreDigital

13th February 2007, 20:42

Thanks for the reply.

So what can I do to check or fix this? I don't believe the 7990 player has a separate option for AR for regular dvd playback and .avi playback. And I tried all the options for AR anyways on it to see if it would make a difference...

Thoughts? Thanks!Once you're sure there is a problem. If you can't rectify it.... report it (to Toshiba)!

Good quality error reporting is crucial (and speaking as an Admin of a media player manufacturers forum, I see plenty of "info free" posts). Seeing as though your player is capable of "up-scaling"... I suggest you try playing your (or my) samples with the player set to its most basic video output mode. Then play the same samples with every other video output mode, to see if there's a difference!

Good luck

Bosko

13th February 2007, 21:32

EDIT: What do you see when you play these MPEG-4 in AVI with DAR Signalling (http://82.10.220.174/Uploaded_Files/Doom9_Forum_files/MPEG-4_in_AVI_with_DAR_Signalling.7z) samples?

I don't recognize the extension on that file. What is it? Do I just download and burn this to a cd and try playing it on the player? Or do I need to do something with the file first?

Thanks!

SeeMoreDigital

13th February 2007, 22:09

I don't recognize the extension on that file. What is it? Do I just download and burn this to a cd and try playing it on the player? Or do I need to do something with the file first?It a compressed file (with 2No encodes in it). You need to de-compress the file using 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) ;)