[r0lZ]

Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by pharaoh

Update: I have good news. SAR did the trick.
1) Deselect "half"
2) Add "--video-filter resize:1920,2160,2:1,method=lanczos" to the x264 parameters

OK, that means that I have to find a way to force x264 to use a specific SAR, if possible without resize filter, because it is a pity to have to resize the video to 1920x2160 when it has already that resolution. I don't know if it is possible to specify the SAR with another parameter, not related to the resize filter. If it's the case, I'll add it to the encoding command. (If someone knows how to do it, in the AVS script or in the x264 command, please let me know!)

BTW, I don't know if x264 is smart enough to ignore the resize, since it has nothing to resize. If it resizes anyway, you can certainly use a much faster filter than lanczos, since normally the filter has no effect. I suggest to try with fastbilinear, that should give strictly identical results. If you can notice a difference in the time necessary for the encode, that will mean that x264 resizes anyway.

Originally Posted by pharaoh

Only one small problem remaining - although MKVtoolnix shows the stereoscopy=3 (actually means 4, I guess), the TV does not recognize the file as 3D. If I encode T&B HALF and don't resize per the above, the TV recognizes the file as 3D and automatically changes to T&B mode. Importantly, I can change between 2D and 3D at the click of a button. With the T&B FULL file, 3D mode is not automatic (I can still select T&B manually) and the 3D->2D option is not available. With the tools I have (mkvtoolnix), I can't see the difference between the two files expect for the resolution. Any clues?

There are 2 different locations where the stereoscopy argument can be stored. In the h264 elementary stream itself, it is called "frame-packing" and is 3 for SBS and 4 for T&B. There is no way to specify the order of the two views, or if the resolution is full or half.

In the MKV header, the "stereoscopy" field should be 1 for SBS and 3 for T&B, in both cases for the left view first. (Or 11 and 2 respectively for the right view first, but BD3D2MK3D forces always the left view first). Again, I don't think that there is a way to specify full or half resolution.

That 2 settings should be correctly set by BD3D2MK3D anyway, regardless of the full or half mode. But you can verify the --frame-packing argument in __ENCODE_3D.cmd and the stereoscopy argument in __MUX_3D_OPTIONS.txt. For T&B, they should be respectively 4 and 3.

Another way to specify the stereoscopy mode, recognised by some software players, is to add a precise string in the filename, such as "3D-lrq" or "HSBS" for Half-SBS or "3D-abq" or "TAB" for Half-T&B. That's not used automatically by BD3D2MK3D, unless you select the corresponding option in Settings -> Output File Name -> 3D Format Extension.

As far as I know,the Samsung TVs ignore again the content of the MKV header, and with my TV, it switches automatically to the right mode thanks to the frame-packing in the h264 stream. I'm not sure, but I think that it ignores the filename too. But since my TV doesn't support Full-SBS or Full-T&B (1080p), I have never verified if it can do it in Full mode. I will do a test in full-SBS 720p to verify that...

So, sorry, but I don't understand why your TV doesn't work the same way in full and half modes. Again, if you discover why, please let me know.

Note that MediaInfo displays the stereoscopy mode like this (for Half-SBS):

MultiView_Count                          : 2
MultiView_Layout                         : Side by Side (left eye first)

Since it displays the "(left eye first)" information, I guess that it uses the MKV stereoscopy to retrieve that info. For the frame packing, you can find it in the Encoding Settings field, that should include this (again for SBS): [...] / frame-packing=3 / [...]


[EDIT]
I've found the way to specify the SAR without the resize filter. You can simply add this (instead of the --video-filter resize:... arguments):

--sar 2:1

Of course, for 720p, if a x264 resize filter has been selected in the GUI, the resize argument cannot be removed, and the SAR can be specified along with the resize filter.

The next version of BD3D2MK3D will add the --sar argument in __ENCODE_3D.cmd.

Thanks for having reported that problem. :-)