[mythtv-users] Aspect ratio problem

[Gabe Rubin]

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 2:23 PM, Yann Lehmann <aristide at vtxmail.ch> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Until recently, my MythTV setup consisted of a combined be/fe machine (which
> is also my desktop pc) and several older pcs and laptops as frontends. All
> displays on the frontends have a 4:3 aspect ratio and resolution of
> 1280x1024 or 1024x768.
>
> Recordings are done in sd from analog cable with pvr-cards (1x 500 and 1x
> 150). The aspect ratio in the recording profiles was set to 4:3.
>
> All the machines are xbuntu based, most of them still on 8.04, one on 9.04,
> MythTV ist on 0.21 (update ist planned).
>
> Sometime ago, I bought a Samsung Plasma TV, which is hd capable, and built a
> new frontend to use with it (Nvidia 8400 GPU with proprietary driver). The
> frontend is connected with a dvi to hdmi cable.
>
> I was able to get the MythTV interface (and the Mythbuntu desktop) being
> displayed with the max resolution of 1920x1080.
>
> My problems are with recordings or live tv.
>
> Though most of the channels I record are broadcasted with an aspect ratio of
> 16:9, I always get black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.
>
> I have tried different settings, the first one being changing the aspect
> ration from 4:3 to 16:9 in all recording profiles, I never got rid of the
> bars.
>
> The same problem appears with a dvd watched with the frontend, but not when
> I watch it with mplayer.
>
> I remember having read threads with similar problems recently, but I
> couldn't find them anymore.
>
> Where should I look after the culprit ?
>
> Tanks in advance for any help

Look at these two links.  They helped me solve the exact same problem.
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Display_Size
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Specifying_DPI_for_NVIDIA_Cards

Also look at the bottom two emails in this thread for my explanation
of how I fixed the problem:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/449990?search_string=gabe;#449990