Help with video conversion - Handbrake / AVC (Any Video Converter)

[higenbs1]

Hi

I'm hoping one of you kind souls can help me out. I'm in the process of archiving my DVD collection onto an external hard drive, for convenience (m4v, h.264)

I've been playing with Handbrake, which seems to work fine for any anamorphic 1.85:1 DVD, but I have issues when trying to convert 2.35:1 and 1.33:1 content. The resulting video file plays okay on my PC, but when I put it on the external hard drive and play it through my FreeviewHD box, my HDTV tries to fill the full 16:9 frame, either stretching it horizontally (1.33:1) or vertically (2.35:1). I'm in 1080p output mode on the FreeviewHD box (in dot by dot mode), and switching to 576p (for instance) does show it playing correctly. But it's a pain to have to keep switching between output modes, and the HDTV only offers me full frame or dot by dot in 1080p, neither of which correct the issue. I've tried several combinations on Handbrake, including keeping the same aspect ratio, but with no luck. I really like the interface, and that you can do AC3 pass-through, so it's a shame I can't get it to work. I also like the 0-51 quality scaler on Handbrake.

Which brings me to AVC. I've just tried to run a 2.35:1 DVD chapter through the conversion and my tv plays it fine. However, AVC appears to only allow aac audio, not the AC3 passthrough that Handbrake had. Is AC3 passthrough in the Pro version only, or is there a codec that can be obtained to allow this? Does the Pro version also allow the more enhanced quality scaling over the existing Low, Normal, High?

Thanks for your time (bonus thanks if anyone manages to solve the problem in Handbrake - I do appreciate that this may be more of an issue with my tv/FreeviewHD box, but I can't afford to upgrade at the moment )

[davexnet]

Post the media info report of one of the problem files (text view). It could be because of non-square pixels not supported by the playback device. You could try turning off anamorphic in Handbrake resize settings

[jagabo]

Turn off Cropping in Handbrake. Or better, get a real media player instead of trying to use your FreeviewHD box.

[higenbs1]

Hi, thanks for your response. Here is the log file with Anamorphic as Automatic:

General
Complete name : G:\CLOSE_ENCOUNTERS\VIDEO_TS\Automatic.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 26.5 MiB
Duration : 4 min 3 s
Overall bit rate : 913 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:12:53
Tagged date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:12:53
Writing application : HandBrake 1.0.7 2017040900

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, RefFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 4 min 3 s
Bit rate : 460 kb/s
Width : 704 pixels
Height : 358 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Original display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Minimum frame rate : 23.974 FPS
Maximum frame rate : 29.970 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.076
Stream size : 13.4 MiB (50%)
Writing library : x264 core 148 r2708 86b7198
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:12:53
Tagged date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:12:53
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 4 min 3 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 13.0 MiB (49%)
Title : Surround / Surround
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:12:53
Tagged date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:12:53

[higenbs1]

And here it is with Anamorphic set to Off:

General
Complete name : G:\CLOSE_ENCOUNTERS\VIDEO_TS\Off.m4v
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 24.8 MiB
Duration : 4 min 3 s
Overall bit rate : 853 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:14:50
Tagged date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:14:50
Writing application : HandBrake 1.0.7 2017040900

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, RefFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 4 min 3 s
Bit rate : 400 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 308 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Minimum frame rate : 23.974 FPS
Maximum frame rate : 29.970 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.075
Stream size : 11.6 MiB (47%)
Writing library : x264 core 148 r2708 86b7198
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:14:50
Tagged date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:14:50
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 4 min 3 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 13.0 MiB (53%)
Title : Surround / Surround
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:14:50
Tagged date : UTC 2018-03-01 18:14:50

[higenbs1]

Neither work correctly on my set up. When you mention "picture resize settings", do you mean under the Picture tab, 3rd option down (Anamorphic - None, Automatic, Loose), or elsewhere?

Thanks again

[davexnet]

What is the source - DVD ? Follow jagabos suggestion and disable cropping

[higenbs1]

Hi. The source is a vob DVD file. I'll try the selecting cropping as custom, and reducing the values to zero. Can't see anywhere to turn if off, other than in this way.

Thanks

[higenbs1]

Brilliant work. It was the cropping. No idea why they would have those settings on as default, but setting them to zero has done the trick.

Cheers both, that's very helpful.

[jagabo]

It was the cropping. No idea why they would have those settings on as default

Because most devices aren't so stupid as to stretch the video frame to fit the screen. The better solution is to get a decent media player rather than using the one built into your FreeviewHD box.