Changing image ratio

[carlmart]

I have a film where the ratio is wrong. So I would like to change it to make it right.

This is what MediaInfo shows about it:

General
Unique ID                        : 190899867114641353639560184328187588891 (0x8F9DFA1FA8749E63A1939168B098B11B)
Complete name                    : F:\file.mkv
Format                           : Matroska
Format version                   : Version 2
File size                        : 6.55 GiB
Duration                         : 2h 3mn
Overall bit rate                 : 7 581 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2010-09-17 07:47:46
Writing application              : mkvmerge v4.1.1 ('Bouncin' Back') built on Jul  3 2010 22:54:08
Writing library                  : libebml v1.0.0 + libmatroska v1.0.0

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 2h 3mn
Bit rate                         : 6 080 Kbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 2.35:1
Frame rate                       : 25.000 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.349
Stream size                      : 5.12 GiB (78%)
Writing library                  : x264 core 104 r1713 c276662
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=6080 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language                         : English

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : DTS
Format/Info                      : Digital Theater Systems
Muxing mode                      : Header stripping
Codec ID                         : A_DTS
Duration                         : 2h 3mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 24 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 1.31 GiB (20%)
Language                         : English

The horizontal ratio is wrong, and I guess it might be a plain 1.85:1 or 1.77 instead.

In fact, a test load in AvsP shows me that a simple change to 1.77 makes the image look "more right":

Spline36Resize(720,480)

But these numbers are wrong, because I would like to stay in HD quality. So the questions are these:

1) What program, preferably avisynth related, do I use to make this HD conversion?

2) What ratio should I use on Spline?

Is there anything else I should or could do?

[jagabo]

Open in mmg, set the desired aspect ratio, save. But the video you're showing is 2.35:1, not 1.77 or 1.85.

[carlmart]

Yes, I know what MediaInfo describes is a 2.35:1 video, but the image is "wrong" for what is shown. Like when you take a 4:3 image and stretch it to 16:9 or more, if you know what I mean. People will be short and fat, right? That's what's happening in this video.

[carlmart]

Well, I did process the file through mmg.

What I'm getting is strange: the file ratio seems to have improved when played on my laptop, using VLC or MPC-HC; but it doesn't change on my LG player. It plays exactly as the original file.

What should I do?

[jagabo]

That means your LG player is ignoring the aspect ratio flags in the MKV header. You'll probably have to resize and reencode if you want the player to display it properly.

[carlmart]

OK. What do I use to do that?

[Baldrick]

Maybe uncropmkv.

[carlmart]

I made a short test with uncropmkv and it went fine. Now people look normal.

The file is really a 1280 x 720 type with the 2.35 letterboxed inside it. I guess it was not cropped during capture or something like that.

The total conversion takes about 4 hours, so I will do it overnight.

Thanks!