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claygorman · 2011-08-31, 22:07

Hello,

I have the most recent version of XBMC (i can post build when I get home.) and XBMC identifies alot of my movies as h.264 1080 16:9 but only a handful actually fill my brand new samsung 46" LED TV.

I am thinking it must be the files i downloaded but I am trying to find the mystery as to why if XBMC identifies it as a 16:9 file would it not fill the screen?

Any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks!

**spiff** · 2011-08-31, 22:13

only a handful of 16:9 movies (apart from tv) has been produced the last 10 years.

movies are in general somewhere around 2.35:1. with black bars.

claygorman · 2011-08-31, 22:17

Oh interesting. So alot of them have been "upconverted" to 16:9 files containing a 2.35:1 file?

The one movie I have recently that fill's the screen is Saving Private Ryan which I found interesting since it was made in 1998 haha.

**spiff** · (This post was last modified: 2011-08-31, 22:32 by spiff.)

kinda, yes, not upconverted, but padded.

it's not really a ripoff though, it's the native cinema format which is why movies are in general shot in it. 16:9 was always a compromise between true widescreen and 4:3. whiich is whyit just happened that they started offering this format on consumer media when 16:9 format tvs became common, go figure Wink

claygorman · 2011-08-31, 22:38

haha that makes sense. I guess my mkv container is 16:9 when the actual footage is 2.35:1. Makes sense!

Thanks for the clarification! Would be nice if xbmc could tell if it is true 16:9 but i'm sure it reads the file data for that info which the file *thinks* its a (true) 16:9 movie.

Thanks for the fast response!

BigO · 2011-08-31, 22:47

There is a setting in XBMC to reduce the black bars, i have mine set to around 15% which makes the black bars alot smaller but doesn't mess with the aspect ratio enough to notice.

claygorman · 2011-08-31, 22:48

That would degrade quality quite a bit on a 46" i would imagine?

BigO Wrote:There is a setting in XBMC to reduce the black bars, i have mine set to around 15% which makes the black bars alot smaller but doesn't mess with the aspect ratio enough to notice.

bluray · 2011-08-31, 22:55

claygorman Wrote:That would degrade quality quite a bit on a 46" i would imagine?

you might want to adjust your htpc similar to these guides- post #45

claygorman · 2011-08-31, 23:01

Those settings look interesting and I have been researching them

I see you put "adjust display refresh rate to match video and sync playback to display". My tv is 120Hz and my video card is set to 60hz.

Not sure what effect that will have. Any ideas based on experience?

(i just jumped on the 120hz bandwagon so i'm still figuring out little things about it)

Thanks for the info though. I'll double check my settings and see if that helps!

bluray Wrote:you might want to adjust your htpc similar to these guides- post #45

claygorman · 2011-08-31, 23:07

I think @spiff hit the nail on the head. I think its just my files that I have. Everything else seems completely normal and all videos look great. Just wanted to make sure I wasnt crazy.

Thanks everyone!

outatouch0 · 2011-09-06, 18:01

Thanks for these responses, I have been wondering about these things. Glad I found this thread. Nod

clubwerks · 2011-09-12, 01:05

XBMC tells you the aspect ratio of a show right in the info movie. If you're movie is 2:35:1 it's going to have bars because your TV is 1:78:1 using simple math and dividing 16 by 9.