Dynamic Aspect Ratio??

[artinfos]

I've been successfully recording shows now for a couple of weeks (yeah, I'm a newbie). I hadn't messed with the aspect ratio (it was set for Auto). I changed some setting last week and a couple of my shows that I think broadcast in widescreen were cut in 1/2 so only the left side of the screen was recorded. Other shows looked squashed on the left/right side. So i hit the forums and learned about the "G" settings menu. Useful it seems. So I thought setting the aspect ratio for 4:3 would do the trick. However, I noticed in one of my recordings from last night that was broadcast in widescreen (I guess) had the same situation as above (right side chopped off). So now I'm trying setting it to Widescreen ratio (I don't remember the numbers). What I'm wondering is why doesn't the "Auto" work. Is it something I'm doing with the PC? Video card? The PVR seems pretty decent as far as specs go.
P4 - 1.8GHz
768MB RAM

.5 TerraByte HDD
Hauppage 150 PVR
XP Pro
BTV4
straight cable - no boxes
ATI Rage Pro 128 16MB - low profile (any suggestions are appreciated here)
Sound Blaster Live

Also, if the "auto" setting is iffy (as it seems), then is there a ratio that would get the whole screen regardless of squashing issues. I can handle changing the aspect ratio of an .mpeg file, I just can't fix cropped out video (obviously). Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

ARTINFOS

[btvguy]

the issue your seeing with the right side of the video missing isnt related to the aspect ratio, its an issue with the pvr150/500 cards they only like capturing at 720x480

if your capturing at a setting other than the best dvd ready one it wont be capturing at 720x480 so the pvr150 will crop off the right hand side for the first recording after a reboot

some versions of the drivers fix this for the 150/500 but the easiest thing to do is to just set the default capture to the dvd best setting or edit your quality settings in the webadmin and set it to capture at 720x480

[wes]

The "G" setting menu only affects playback, it has nothing to do with recording.

but to answer your poll. It varies. I have a 16:9 display. but no HD recording yet.

it normally sits in auto for standard tv, and 16:9 Divx files that i've downloaded.
but i switch to letterbox for shows that broadcast in letterbox format, such as ER. so that the picture fills the screen

[artinfos]

Originally Posted by btvguy

the issue your seeing with the right side of the video missing isnt related to the aspect ratio, its an issue with the pvr150/500 cards they only like capturing at 720x480

Fascinating!! I wish I knew that before paying $89 for the 150. I might have bought another one. I have plenty of HDD space, but it will fill up quick at that rate. I assume the conversion process within BTV4 is not affected by this defect, so I will just set it to convert the video once it finishes recording.

Thanks for the info. Guess I should have searched the forum for my card instead of aspect ratio. Lesson learned. I suppose I should read entries from other owners of the PVR150 so I learn all the little "bugs" or such about my card.

[fmharr]

I had this problem when the 150 first came out, but when the orignal beta drivers to correct the problem came out the problem went away and I now use the most current drivers and have no problems whats-so-ever.

The only problem I have with BTV4 is when I showsqueeze to Divx and get squashed video which I can fix by adjust the aspect ratio on playback.

Mike

[optikhog]

Has anyone had success with BTV recognizing letterboxed shows such as ER/The Office as actually being letterboxed when in 'Auto' mode? Or is this not supposed to happen?

[geoffstewart]

optikhog,

I think because you're capturing a standard-def signal, the mpeg still has the source width and height embedded saying 720 by 480 even though only a portion of that is used for the program in question.

I was hoping the divx showsqueeze would detect that most of the show is actually letterboxed and crop the rest out (autogk does this), but it does not. As a result, I've been using the wonderful autoxvid plugin to squeeze my movies and shows that are captured in SD, but are letterbox in nature. Auto aspect works great on these.

Hope this helps.

Geoff

[wes]

optikhog, It's not supposed to happen
I have a 16:9 display,

when I'm in auto --
a 16:9 show (normally Divx downloaded from net) plays properly
a 4:3 show (BTV show) plays properly with "pillar box" on both sides.

in the other modes, it will force an incorrect aspect onto the image if it doesn't match--
(4:3 mode = 4:3 plays fine, 16:9 plays squished)

if i do have a show like ER I'll put it into letterbox mode and it will cut off the top and bottom black bars and zoom the image to fill the entire screen.

It's only a crop/zoom setting. you can make your own if you feel the need to
http://kb.snapstream.com/?kbid=95

[optikhog]

Dig, thanks guys. I'll continue to manually change the setting and be a happy boy.