Problem with h264.avi aspect ratio

[AW10]

I have a lot of AVI files that have resolution of 512x384, but aren't displayed with 4:3 aspect ratio, unless I force it in a player.

Can it be fixed without re-encoding the file?

[DB83]

Then your player settings are wrong.

What player do you use and what are your settings ?

[mike20021969]

What is the player you're using?

What aspect are they being shown in?

[Baldrick]

Can you post the details from the avi. Use mediainfo, view->text.

[AW10]

I have located the problem:

DisplayAspectRatio/String : 1.391

4 divided by 3 is 1.333...., not 1.391.

However, I still don't know how to fix it.

General
CompleteName                             : G:\Work\Conversion\SpongeBob SquarePants\2 - Finalization\1 - Episodes\034a - Welcome to the Chum Bucket.avi
Format                                   : AVI
Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave
FileSize/String                          : 83.3 MiB
Duration/String                          : 11mn 8s
OverallBitRate/String                    : 1 046 Kbps
Encoded_Application                      : Lavf52.39.0

Video
ID/String                                : 0
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile                           : Baseline@L2.1
Format_Settings_CABAC/String             : No
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String         : 1 frame
CodecID                                  : H264
Duration/String                          : 11mn 8s
BitRate/String                           : 900 Kbps
Width/String                             : 512 pixels
Height/String                            : 384 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String                : 1.391
FrameRate/String                         : 23.976 fps
ColorSpace                               : YUV
ChromaSubsampling                        : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String                          : 8 bits
ScanType/String                          : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.191
StreamSize/String                        : 72.1 MiB (87%)
Encoded_Library/String                   : x264 core 77
Encoded_Library_Settings                 : cabac=0 / ref=1 / deblock=0:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0 / me=dia / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=0 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=2 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=900 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.41 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID/String                                : 1
Format                                   : MPEG Audio
Format_Version                           : Version 1
Format_Profile                           : Layer 3
Format_Settings_Mode                     : Joint stereo
Format_Settings_ModeExtension            : MS Stereo
CodecID                                  : 55
CodecID/Hint                             : MP3
Duration/String                          : 11mn 8s
BitRate_Mode/String                      : Constant
BitRate/String                           : 128 Kbps
Channel(s)/String                        : 2 channels
SamplingRate/String                      : 44.1 KHz
Compression_Mode/String                  : Lossy
StreamSize/String                        : 10.2 MiB (12%)
Alignment/String                         : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave_Duration/String               : 26 ms (0.63 video frame)
Interleave_Preload/String                : 52 ms

[AW10]

I have found a program called mkvmerge, it can change the aspect ratio without re-encoding, but it turns file into mkv.

I am fine with that, but when I put it in mediainfo, it says that display aspect ratio is 4:3 and orginal display aspect ratio 1.391.

Can this cause mkv file to be displayed in 1.391 instead of 4:3 aspect ratio when played in some media players?

[DB83]

Are you so sure that the correct AR is not this odd 1.391 ? Noone's maths is that bad !!!!

There is, after all, only a minor difference between 1.391 and 1.333.

The player should respect the AR flag ie 4:3 but you still have to ensure that your player's settings are correct.

Also try mp4box to create a .mp4 instead of a .mkv

[poisondeathray]

Can this cause mkv file to be displayed in 1.391 instead of 4:3 aspect ratio when played in some media players?

All software players will acknowledge the DAR flag in MKV; I have yet to see one that doesn't

If you want to keep it as AVI , you can use h264ARM
http://forum.gleitz.info/showthread.php?39549-Tool-H-264-Aspect-Ratio-Modifier

or this modified ffmpeg build
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=152419

There is less support for h.264 in AVI , than there is for MKV (h264 in AVI is incompatible with some hardware players)

[AW10]

Thank you all for your help, I have solved my problem.

[enim]

someone here posted a small utility here on videohelp, author claimed it is clean.
anyway your problem is already solved.

[enim]

someone here posted a small utility here on videohelp, author claimed it is clean.
anyway your problem is already solved.

[DB83]

Whilst I am glad to read that you have solved your problem, these topics also exist so that others who follow can read them and if they have a similar issue can also solve theirs.

So it is a matter of common courtesy to state how you solved your problem. Whether it was by a suggestion from a reply or by other means.

[AW10]

Whilst I am glad to read that you have solved your problem, these topics also exist so that others who follow can read them and if they have a similar issue can also solve theirs.

So it is a matter of common courtesy to state how you solved your problem. Whether it was by a suggestion from a reply or by other means.

I have used h264ARM poisondeathray suggested and it has worked, but player (MPC-HC) first loads original apect ratio and then changes to the new one.

What is causing this is that program adds new aspect ratio to additional "original display aspact ratio" tag instead of what players loads first "display aspact ratio" tag.

Poisondeathray have also said that H264 in avi is not that supported as H264 in mkv. For that reason and the reason above, I have decided to use mkvmerge and create MKV file.

I have also used a cmd command for creating mkvs (.bat file doesn't work for some reason):

"mkvmerge.exe" -o "output.mkv" "--forced-track" "0:no" "--aspect-ratio" "0:4:3" "--forced-track" "1:no" "-a" "1" "-d" "0" "-S" "-T" "--no-global-tags" "--no-chapters" "(" "input.avi" ")" "--track-order" "0:0,0:1"

This works only if all bolded files are in the same folder, if they are not, whole path is needed.