MKV Anamorphic Problem Encoding In Handbrake...?

[Comfy]

Hi All,

I have ripped one of my DVDs using Handbrake and kept the anamorphic as Loose.

When the resulting MKV is put on a USB drive in played in a Samsung TV the file plays perfect in 16:9 widescreen as it should.

But...

When I play the same file on the USB on my LG 50PK350 the picture displays in 'pillarbox' with black bars down the left and right hand side.

I am not sure but I think it is because the TV is not recognising the correct ratio because of the anamorphic. I have no idea how to fix this. I have run the file through MKVmerge and using the video specific setting to specify 16:9 but it does not make any difference.

Below if the file info from MediaINFO and I would very much appreciate if anyone knows what is going wrong.

Cheers all.

Format : Matroska
File size : 435 MiB
Duration : 28mn 43s
Overall bit rate : 2 119 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2010-12-13 18:02:15
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.9.7 ('Tenderness') built on Jul 1 2009 18:43:35
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 28mn 43s
Nominal bit rate : 2 000 Kbps
Width : 718 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.193
Writing library : x264 core 79
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Color primaries : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M

[jagabo]

Using a 718 pixel width is asking for trouble. Stick with mod 16 sizes. Or at least mod 8.

The LG HDTV appears to be ignoring the MKV aspect ratio flags. Try adding the aspect ratio to the h.264 stream when you encode. I don't know if Handbrake supports it but the x264 command line argument is "--SAR 16:11" for PAL DVD. A lot of encoder front ends let you manually enter additional options.

[Comfy]

thanks so much jagabo
I have encoded a ton of my DVDs now and so dont really want to go back and re-encode.

could you explaina bit about the 16 and 8 sizes please as I do not understand what you mean. Has it got anything to do with loose or strict anamorphic in handbrake?

Cheers.

[jagabo]

MPEG family codecs (MPEG 1,2,4, ASP, AVC, h.264) are happiest with frame sizes that are an integer multiple of 16 (mod 16). So 720 (45*16) and 704 (44*16) are good sizes to use. 718 (359*2, mod 2) is not. Some MPEG decoders won't even work with a 718 pixel frame width -- they'll crash or corrupt the picture.

[Comfy]

thanks jagabo - I understand.
Have just been putting my incorrect video back in handbrake but whatever I do I cannot get the correct 1024 x 576 PAR settings to hope the TV will see the correct flags.
You can see from my attached picture that the display size is 1021 x 576 even though the PAR Dimensions are correct.

Do you think this will solve incompatibility if I reeocde like this please?

Thanks for everything.

[jagabo]

I don't know if Handbrake is going to set the AR flags in the video stream or just the header (I've never used the program). You need to find the x264 settings and specify the SAR there. You might try using an MP4 container instead of MKV. Mabye the TV will work better with that.