Alot of the DVDs I can access on Plex show either a 16:9 or 2:35:1 aspect ratio but are much smaller than the screen with black bars on all four sides. Is there any way to fix this? When I try to change the aspect ration or zoom using the remote for my TV it says “not available”. Thoughts?
I don’t think this is the problem. These movies were originally shown in either 2:35:1 or 16:9. The 2:35:1 films would letterbox if shown on a 16:9 TV but what happens is that both of these formats are shrunk to a smaller image and are letterboxed on all four sides. Thoughts?
If I play the DVD from which these came, they show on my TV without the letterboxing on all for sides and the image fills the TV screen, except for the 2:35:1 films which have letter boxing on the top and bottom.
The original aspect ratio of the movie has nothing to do with it.
It all depends on how they were stored on the DVD.
On older DVD releases they were letterboxed with big black borders on top and bottom, within a 4:3 frame.
Sounds like the “Ripped movie to mkv, small picture” that @OttoKerner linked above.
Analyze the movie using MediaInfo.
It will show a 4:3 display aspect ratio and 720x480 width x height.
These are anamorphic DVDs, where the widescreen picture was squeezed into a 4:3 frame. A disc player recognizes this and expands the video appropriately.
Unfortunately, Plex does not handle such DVDs well, showing bars on all four sides.
The solution is to transcode the movie with Handbrake (or similar). It will adjust things appropriately.
This is extremely helpful. Thank you. What do I transcode these films to on Handbrake?
You use whichever quality settings you are comfortable with.
The preset “HQ 480p30 Surround” is a good starting point for NTSC-DVD sources.
Thanks so much!
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