MPC-HC: some 16x9 VOBs get stretched to 2.35:1

[kernunrex]

Every once in a while, I'll get a VOB ripped from a DVD that plays in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. That is, what is supposed to be a 16:9 movie will be stretched out in a 2.35:1 frame in MPC. If I play the file in VLC, it's 16x9 as it should be.

Strangely, MediaInfo reports that the AR of these VOBs is 2.35:1. However, if I look at the VOB in DVDPatcher, that program will report 16x9. If I use DVDPatcher to patch the VOB header (either with the 16x9 or 4x3 flags), it doesn't help. If I import the VOB into tsMuxer and export it as a .ts file with the AR purposefully set to 16x9... it doesn't help.

Is there anything else I could try to fix this?

[JanWillem32]

How does it react to MKV? The AR flag of the format is a lot stricter. Do you also set the check-box "read AR from stream"?

[kernunrex]

Strange - if I uncheck "read AR from stream" in the MPEG2 internal filter, that fixes the issue. As far as I can tell, this doesn't negatively affect any other MPEG2 video, either.

Unfortunately, I prefer to use the Cyberlink Video Decoder as an external MPEG2 decoder instead, which doesn't have that option in it...

(the internal MPEG2 decoder stutters on either 480i or 1080p MPEG2 video, depending on whether I have DXVA on or off -- Cyberlink's decoder doesn't have that trouble on my system)

[yetanotherid]

This sort of thing is exactly why I try to update software as little as possible. Unfortunately I updated a bunch of stuff along with MPC-HC recently and while I thought I'd tested it all properly, there's always the unexpected bugs which wait to bite you down the track....

Version 1.5.0.2827 gives me the same problem with some vob files. I haven't tested many earlier versions with vob files as my priority has been trying to find a version of MPC-HC which can open a simple AVS script. The newer versions just sit there gradually eating RAM.

So far, on my XP SP3 machine, version 1.3.1249.0 seems to be the latest which will successfully open an avs script. It'll also open a "known problem" vob file with the correct aspect ratio, and as an added bonus, it seems capable of reading the mpciconlib.dll file, so unlike more recent versions, you've got more than a two or three logos to choose from.

Now, after an hour or so of tearing my hair out, I can preview a video before converting it with AutoGK.....

[JanWillem32]

I meant in my earlier post that you can try to mux it to a MKV file with a different aspect ratio set for the video stream. I often do this when I want to make a final archive for video playback and storage.
The MKVmerge GUI of MKVToolnix is easy to use, and muxing doesn't involve conversion of the input streams (it just makes a copy of the streams into a new container). http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/
For storage of streams from M2TS and TS files you have to demux the streams with TSmuxer or Eac3to first, before transferring it to MKVmerge GUI.
For what I know, this is the only proper solution for files with wrong stream settings.