Xvid Playback Aspect Ratio Problem

[midders]

Hi there

Most of my DivX/Xvid files playback fine, but when I try and play one file (MediaInfo below), the video is squashed vertically with black bars at the top and bottom of my 16:9 widescreen TV.

I've tried resetting the display and pixel aspect ratio with MPEG4Modifier with no effect. Is there anything else that I can do without re-encoding? And, if not, then what do I need to change to fix this problem and what's the (free) application of choice for re-encoding Xvid?

Sláinte

midders

Hardware:
- Denon DVD-1930 (supports DivX files up to version 6)
- Sony Bravia 16:9 widescreen TV

MediaInfo output:
General
Complete name : episode1.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 350 MiB
Duration : 44mn 18s
Overal bit rate : 1104 Kbps
Writing application : VirtualDubMod 1.5.4.1 (build 2178/release)
Writing library : VirtualDubMod build 2178/release

Video
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Streaming Video@L1
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Muxing mode : Packet Bitstream
Codec ID : XVID
Codec ID/Hint : XviD
Duration : 44mn 18s
Bit rate : 974 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 368 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.165
Stream size : 309 MiB
Writing library : XviD 1.1.0 (UTC 2005-11-22)

Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 44mn 18s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 117 Kbps
Minimum bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Stream size : 37.1 MiB
Writing library : LAME3.97b
Encoding settings : ABR

[midders]

Since posting I've found that resizing to 720x576 using AVI Recomp 1.4.5 gives the correct aspect ratio on playback. However; it does take ages and I have 5 series to process, so any other ideas still appreciated.

Sláinte

midders

[Baldrick]

I guess you tried to set the aspect ratio pixel AR to square pixels in mpeg4modifier and checked if you have any aspect ratio settings in your dvd player settings?

[midders]

I guess you tried to set the aspect ratio pixel AR to square pixels in mpeg4modifier...

Yes, tried that; see first post.

...and checked if you have any aspect ratio settings in your dvd player settings?

I thought I'd played with every option on the unit, but your comment made me double check and it turns out that I'd missed the up-scaling setting which can only be set by a physical switch on the player, and not via a menu.

I tried it on every setting and found that the correct aspect ratio is only displayed in the 480p/576p mode.

Thanks for the prompt.

Sláinte

midders