[mythtv-users] HDPVR HD Recordings are in 4:3 format

[Michael T. Dean]

On 12/14/2013 01:37 AM, Karl Newman wrote:
> Okay, not terribly surprised given my history with X and this 
> motherboard, but this didn't work at all. DisplaySize is accepted, but 
> Myth apparently doesn't use it.

Does X use it (as it's not a MythTV setting, MythTV can't use it)?  Did 
you see the line in the Xorg.log saying it was being used to compute the 
DPI?  What's the output of:

xdpyinfo | grep -B2 resolution

when you're trying to set a proper aspect ratio (which, it seems from 
the below, would be 4:3, right?)?

> I used the actual measured display size. Maybe it can't use non-square 
> pixels (1280x720 pixels is 16:9 but 559x419 mm is 4:3)? I couldn't 
> find the "Monitor Aspect Ratio" setting per se, but I did see 
> something like that if I enable separate modes for GUI and video playback.

You should only see it if you enable Xinerama.  It is in the Appearance 
settings.

> I don't use that feature, so maybe that's why it's not working for me. 
> Anyway, I went back to using the Aspect Override to fake that I have a 
> 16:9 screen

No, the Video aspect override fakes that that video is whatever aspect 
you specified.  You're not saying, "My monitor is actually this aspect," 
you're saying, "Ignore what the video says and pretend the video is 
actually this aspect."

Now, the "Monitor aspect ratio" setting does say to use the specified 
aspect ratio for the display, but it's only presented when Xinerama is 
enabled in X because without Xinerama, we can get the aspect information 
from X, so all that needs to be done is to configure X correctly.  So, 
for you, all that needs to be done is to find the proper configuration 
for your system.

> so that recordings will fill the screen and not be horizontally 
> squashed. So, from my perspective there is still a need for that setting.

 From my perspective, a setting that's only useful to people as a 
partial workaround for a broken configuration isn't 
necessary--especially because a) it may make things seems to work 
properly such that users stop trying to fix their broken configurations 
(which is exactly what it seems you've done), and b) having a setting 
that says, "Every single video I will ever play on this system is 
actually 4:3 (or 16:9 or whatever)--even if that video says otherwise," 
makes no more sense than having a setting that says, "Every single video 
I will ever play on this system is actually 1280x720, regardless of what 
the video says" (because videos are encoded differently and they 
actually provide information on how they're encoded, so we should never 
have a setting that says to *always* ignore the information in the 
video), and c) the setting only adds to confusion (especially since it 
does something that is never necessary).

It would make far more sense to have a setting that did what you're 
abusing the "Video aspect ratio" to do.  You're using it to compensate 
for the fact that your display aspect ratio is set incorrectly, which 
means you really want a setting that allows you to specify the 
display/monitor aspect ratio.

That said, there's no need for that setting because we get proper aspect 
ratio from a properly-configured X server (as long as Xinerama isn't 
enabled).  So, all that's needed is for you to find the proper 
configuration for your system, and /everything/ (not just 4:3 videos) 
will work properly for you.

Mike