Video output won't keep aspect ratio on a TV

[Skarett]

I've been trolling this site for years but I have a problem I can't seem to get a straight answer on.


I have a PC, running XP SP2 with an Nvidea 6600GT, that I use to play back dvd, vcd, svcd and all that jazz on my big screen tv. However when I try playing a divx or xvid file thru media player classic or most any other program if the movie is not a standard 4:3 or 16:9 than the video is stretched to fit the screen of the tv and the aspect ratio is thrown completely out of wack. I have messed around with the idea of re-encoding everything I own to a letterboxed format with the black bars inserted to force the ratio into the correct format, but this seems like a noobie solution to a complex problem. Anyone have an idea or a player that will do this on the fly for me?

Skar


PS. TV is a rear projection GE HDTV Monitor.

[olyteddy]

VLC player can crop and or set aspect ratio. Worth a try.

[Baldrick]

You can adjust most aspect ratio settings in mpc also but it can be a bit tricky. Be sure to set keep aspect ratio everywhere. .

[guns1inger]

How are you connected to the TV ? Some ports, such as VGA, often by-pass all the TV signal processing, which includes correct aspect ratio detection.

[Skarett]

I can't figure out how to set up MPC to do this. I have lock aspect ratio on everything I can and still nothing. VLC didn't help either.

Is it possible that the vid card needs to be tweaked or maybe a setting in windows?

[Skarett]

I'm connected to the TV using a custom made cable. 1/8" stereo audio jack for the sound card and a RCA jack for the vid card output. this plugs into my stereo reciever as 2 RCA's for the audio and 1 RCA for the video.

[GreyDeath]

Make sure you're on Touch Window From Inside in MPC.

Is your TV 4:3 or 16:9? It's also a pain, but you can use the Number Pad keys 8 and 2 to adjust the vertical aspect ratio in increments. 4 and 6 to adjust the horizontal width.

[Skarett]

16:9, the number pad doesn't seem to work for me on the TV image, only the image on the pc in the player.

[guns1inger]

By using RCA you are limited to 800 x 600, which is a 4:3 resolution. You need to get a better graphics card that allows you to output to your TV using a more suitable connection.

[Skarett]

The resolution will affect the aspect ratio that much? It seems to me as the video stream is being stretched to fit the screen, does resolution really cause that?

[manono]

The resolution will affect the aspect ratio that much?

He said it was the cables/connection you're using that's causing the problem.

Why are you using composite anyway, to an HDTV? Why not buy a decent DVD/MPEG-4 player and use a decent connection? The type of connection makes a big difference in the quality of the video you see.

[Skarett]

Its an HD monitor, I don't have a receiver so it doen't matter. I have a very nice DVD player however I have yet to find a low cost mp4 player that I like. In this case I can run dvd/mp4/whatever out of my computer and the quality is pretty damn good, my problem is aspect ratio with non letterboxed divx files.

[guns1inger]

What connections do you have on the monitor ?

[Skarett]

The computer monitor is a gateway 21" LCD connected with a VGA cable.

The TV Monitor is a component cable.

Not sure which one you were asking about so I figured I'd post both


EDIT: My bad I read that wrong. The TV has component, coax, S vid, DVI I think and I think I saw a fiber port on the back.

[guns1inger]

But you aren't using component to connect your PC to your TV - you are using a standard composite RCA connection ? I think the RCA connection is a big part of your problem, aside from the low quality of such a connection, is reduces, if not removes, the TV's ability to correctly interpret aspect ratio.

That said, try this.

Open Media Player Classic.

Click on View -> Video Frame -> and untick Keep Aspect Ratio.

Click on View -> Video Frame -> and tick Touch Windows from Inside

Click on View -> Video Frame -> Override Aspect Ratio -> 16:9

Now try playing back your Divx files.

[RickA]

Skarett, try going back to older nVidia drivers - pre 90.xx. I found some 84.21 version ones and they work great for me. If you browse some of the older nVidia and vidcard forums you will see people complaining about this TV Out problem (forced 4:3) of nVidia's for a few years. Seems like they are crippling their drivers for non secure tv out channels. Which is sad because I really like their cards for performance.

I have a couple of 7600GT's and a 6200LE, none would output the correct AR via mini-din to component dongle with current drivers. Eventually had to use the 6200 w/ S-video connection with my HTPC. The drivers would not let me output interlaced to my SDTV with the 7600's. Kept insisting it was an HDTV - because of component connection. Hope this helps and good luck.

Cheers,
Rick