Kodi Community Forum - Kodi on Firestick playing certain videos in wrong AR

Hi, thanks in advance for any help.

I'm having an issue with Kodi on my Firestick playing a few videos with the wrong AR. I recently dug out an old satellite receiver with some recorded programmes on its hard drive and transferred them to the PC. I batch-converted the TS files to mp4 (they came out as m4v) using Handbrake, and deinterlaced as part of the process.

All the files seemed to come out great, and I have since deleted the original TS files, however I have noticed that when played on my Firestick quite a few of these files play 'zoomed in' so that the top and bottom of the pictures are completely missing. I also noticed that within Windows file explorer, the icons for these same files look different: the icons for the ones that play normally have the film-like sprocket hole look along the sides, and are in 16:9 shape, but the ones that play oddly on Kodi look more like square-ish photo thumbnails, with no sprockets, and black bars at the top and bottom.

Mediainfo also shows different resolutions for these 2 types of videos, the problematic ones show Width : 540 pixels and Height : 574 pixels, whereas the ones that work normally show Width : 718 pixels Height : 574 pixels (they do both however say they have a display aspect ratio of 16:9)

Now I realise that this might seem more like an issue for a Handbrake support forum, but every media player on my pc plays all the files perfectly, as does Kodi on my tablet, and Plex on the same firestick. Furthermore, the preview image within Kodi also displays in the correct 16:9 format for the odd files.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd be most grateful. It seems especially odd that these files, which were batch encoded, produced a variety of results like this. I have included the mediainfo results for two files, one 'normal' ie plays correctly and the other 'odd' ie plays too zoomed in in case these help. Ideally I'd love to be pointed to some software that I can use to change the flags or whatever to enable them to play correctly on my firestick's Kodi, as well as look normal on Windows File explorer, but as the only practical issue is watching them on the firestick, I'd really appreciate any trick in the settings that will get them to play normally.

Thanks in advance for any help

General
Complete name : G:\test folder\normal clip.m4v
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 41.2 MiB
Duration : 4 min 49 s
Overall bit rate : 1 194 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:54:40
Tagged date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:54:40
Writing application : HandBrake 1.3.3 2020061300

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, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 4 min 49 s
Bit rate : 1 027 kb/s
Width : 718 pixels
Height : 574 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 24.905 FPS
Minimum frame rate : 0.905 FPS
Maximum frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.100
Stream size : 35.5 MiB (86%)
Writing library : x264 core 157 r2935 545de2f
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=6 / 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=250 / keyint_min=25 / 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 2020-07-15 04:54:40
Tagged date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:54:40
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 4 min 49 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 161 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 5.55 MiB (13%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:54:40
Tagged date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:54:40

General
Complete name : G:\test folder\odd clip.m4v
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 138 MiB
Duration : 17 min 23 s
Overall bit rate : 1 106 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:56:15
Tagged date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:56:15
Writing application : HandBrake 1.3.3 2020061300

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, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 17 min 23 s
Bit rate : 938 kb/s
Width : 540 pixels
Height : 574 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.121
Stream size : 117 MiB (85%)
Writing library : x264 core 157 r2935 545de2f
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=6 / 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=250 / keyint_min=25 / 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 2020-07-15 04:56:15
Tagged date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:56:15
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 17 min 23 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 161 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 20.1 MiB (15%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:56:15
Tagged date : UTC 2020-07-15 04:56:15

Also, I can't seem to find an edit function from my post, but just to highlight the strangeness of this variation, the two clips I've posted the info for, were recorded on the same day on the same channel, they're the same thing basically

Kodi will play the files as per the metadata, if you want to force 16:9 aspect ratio for the problematic files you will have to change the in-play Video Settings from View Mode=Normal to View Mode=Stretch 16:9.

(2020-07-27, 17:55)FXB78 Wrote: [ -> ]Kodi will play the files as per the metadata, if you want to force 16:9 aspect ratio for the problematic files you will have to change the in-play Video Settings from View Mode=Normal to View Mode=Stretch 16:9.

Thanks for that but it's exactly the same in 'Normal' or 'Stretch 16:9'. When I push the Pixel Ratio all the way down to 0.50, it gradually downsizes and the top and bottom come back into view but it's a very thin image, it's pretty much a square in the centre of the screen. If I could then stretch THAT image to 16:9 it would be correct. I think the deinterlace has gone a bit wrong on it, and it's showing every horizontal line rather than alternate ones, as it's twice as tall as it should be. It's strange though that Plex plays it fine and so does Kodi on my tablet.

Have a look at these settings and see if you have Minimize Black Bars or 4:3 Zoom enabled. If not, then I don't know. Given the wonky resolution of the file though I'm not surprised it doesn't look right in Kodi.

(2020-07-27, 17:35)DannyF-BN3 Wrote: [ -> ]I batch-converted the TS files to mp4 (they came out as m4v) using Handbrake,

FWIW, I've had that problem with handbrake. I have tried multiple settings to avoid it and could not. I then tried changing header info and remuxing using MKVToolNix, and nothing seemed to fix it. These were also .ts files from tv recordings. And like you, the files played ok in VLC and MPC-HC.

I was at a loss, so gave up after a while, and kept the files in their original format which displayed and played ok.

This was on a Win10 pc.

(2020-07-28, 00:20)FXB78 Wrote: [ -> ]Have a look at these settings and see if you have Minimize Black Bars or 4:3 Zoom enabled. If not, then I don't know. Given the wonky resolution of the file though I'm not surprised it doesn't look right in Kodi.

Yeah I didn't have the zoom on, I'm pretty sure there's something up with the files, I've just been messing about in Handbrake and think I've found a way to re-encode them non-anamorphically which brings them into the correct shape. I'm sure there's a little loss there but they weren't exactly stellar to start with, and at least they'll work. Thanks for your help with this weird one!

(2020-07-28, 00:56)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-07-27, 17:35)DannyF-BN3 Wrote: [ -> ]I batch-converted the TS files to mp4 (they came out as m4v) using Handbrake,
FWIW, I've had that problem with handbrake. I have tried multiple settings to avoid it and could not. I then tried changing header info and remuxing using MKVToolNix, and nothing seemed to fix it. These were also .ts files from tv recordings. And like you, the files played ok in VLC and MPC-HC.

I was at a loss, so gave up after a while, and kept the files in their original format which displayed and played ok.

This was on a Win10 pc.

Thanks man, good to know I'm not alone. I have discovered that when I re-encode the mp4s that I made, in Handbrake, setting anamorphic to None and preserving aspect ratio, making sure there is zero cropping, it suddenly produces files that play fine on Kodi, as well as looking like standard media files within Windows File Explorer. If that can help you then great, but you're probably best off just sticking with your solution. Also, I don't know if that would work directly from the TS files, I assume it would but as I now only have my MP4s to work from I can't be sure.

(2020-07-28, 01:06)DannyF-BN3 Wrote: [ -> ]making sure there is zero cropping

And this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to crop the black bars top and bottom, which also happened to contain the tv station logo.

(2020-07-28, 02:08)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-07-28, 01:06)DannyF-BN3 Wrote: [ -> ]making sure there is zero cropping
And this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to crop the black bars top and bottom, which also happened to contain the tv station logo.

Ah fair enough