Server Version#: 1.19.4.2935
Player Version#: 8.3.1.19108
Trying to play a movie yesterday, I noticed the aspect ratio was not correct. The movie conversion (using handbrake) was the same settings I always use. The Playback Settings>Display mode options did nothing. Then I tried adjusting the audio stream, and boom it displayed correctly. If TRUEHD 7.1 is selected, the aspect ratio is zoomed in with no ability to adjust it (the different options are there, but they don’t change anything). Details on the media are below. The player is a firetv cube (2nd generation).
You don’t encode Anamorphic to HD items.
ONLY DVD Quality items have ANY Anamorphic settings.
‘Birds’ should look something like this:
General
Unique ID : 14151660306888594294810422948928382144 (0xAA582B8F60E799C337B219868CB64C0)
Complete name : J:\Sci-Fi Sets\Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) [1080p x265]\Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) [1080p x265].mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 4
File size : 1.82 GiB
Duration : 1 h 48 min
Overall bit rate : 2 388 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2020-05-02 08:28:21
Writing application : Lavf58.42.100
Writing library : Lavf58.42.100
ErrorDetectionType : Per level 1
Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main 10@L4@Main
Codec ID : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration : 1 h 48 min
Bit rate : 1 956 kb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 802 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.053
Stream size : 1.49 GiB (82%)
Writing library : x265 3.3+4-rarbg-30eb4de83092:[Linux][GCC 8.3.1][64 bit] 10bit
Encoding settings : cpuid=1111039 / frame-threads=4 / wpp / no-pmode / no-pme / no-psnr / no-ssim / log-level=2 / input-csp=1 / input-res=1920x802 / interlace=0 / total-frames=0 / level-idc=0 / high-tier=1 / uhd-bd=0 / ref=4 / no-allow-non-conformance / no-repeat-headers / annexb / no-aud / no-hrd / info / hash=0 / no-temporal-layers / open-gop / min-keyint=23 / keyint=250 / gop-lookahead=0 / bframes=4 / b-adapt=2 / b-pyramid / bframe-bias=0 / rc-lookahead=25 / lookahead-slices=4 / scenecut=40 / hist-scenecut=0 / radl=0 / no-splice / no-intra-refresh / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / rect / no-amp / max-tu-size=32 / tu-inter-depth=1 / tu-intra-depth=1 / limit-tu=0 / rdoq-level=2 / dynamic-rd=0.00 / no-ssim-rd / signhide / no-tskip / nr-intra=0 / nr-inter=0 / no-constrained-intra / strong-intra-smoothing / max-merge=3 / limit-refs=3 / limit-modes / me=3 / subme=3 / merange=57 / temporal-mvp / no-frame-dup / no-hme / weightp / no-weightb / no-analyze-src-pics / deblock=0:0 / no-sao / no-sao-non-deblock / rd=4 / selective-sao=0 / no-early-skip / rskip / no-fast-intra / no-tskip-fast / no-cu-lossless / no-b-intra / no-splitrd-skip / rdpenalty=0 / psy-rd=2.00 / psy-rdoq=1.00 / no-rd-refine / no-lossless / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rc=abr / bitrate=2000 / qcomp=0.60 / qpstep=4 / stats-write=0 / stats-read=2 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30 / aq-mode=3 / aq-strength=1.00 / cutree / zone-count=0 / no-strict-cbr / qg-size=32 / no-rc-grain / qpmax=69 / qpmin=0 / no-const-vbv / sar=1 / overscan=0 / videoformat=5 / range=0 / colorprim=2 / transfer=2 / colormatrix=2 / chromaloc=0 / display-window=0 / cll=0,0 / min-luma=0 / max-luma=1023 / log2-max-poc-lsb=8 / vui-timing-info / vui-hrd-info / slices=1 / no-opt-qp-pps / no-opt-ref-list-length-pps / no-multi-pass-opt-rps / scenecut-bias=0.05 / hist-threshold=0.01 / no-opt-cu-delta-qp / no-aq-motion / no-hdr10 / no-hdr10-opt / no-dhdr10-opt / no-idr-recovery-sei / analysis-reuse-level=0 / analysis-save-reuse-level=0 / analysis-load-reuse-level=0 / scale-factor=0 / refine-intra=0 / refine-inter=0 / refine-mv=1 / refine-ctu-distortion=0 / no-limit-sao / ctu-info=0 / no-lowpass-dct / refine-analysis-type=0 / copy-pic=1 / max-ausize-factor=1.0 / no-dynamic-refine / no-single-sei / no-hevc-aq / no-svt / no-field / qp-adaptation-range=1.00 / no-scenecut-aware-qpconformance-window-offsets / right=0 / bottom=0
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Matrix coefficients : Identity
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 48 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 kb/s
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel layout : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 36 ms
Stream size : 299 MiB (16%)
Writing library : Lavc58.77.101 ac3_fixed
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Text
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration : 1 h 48 min
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Is IS interesting you’ve messed up that file so badly an audio adjustment slaps some sense into it - and it’s almost like you have two versions of that movie and the audio adjustment picks the other one… but that can’t happen… can it?
I don’t know but fix that file and it may behave better.
These might help - they work wonders for me:
Also during Playback - Playback Settings (bring up the OSD, click right to Dots) - the correct state of The Display Slider is ‘Letterbox’.
All others are useless - and may mess up a messed up file even more.
That will be with the ‘New Player’.
I have no idea what will happen with the old one.
Unless you found out…lol
I have never had this problem before on any other video same handbrake settings and video details. But sometimes I do have issues with audio streams not playing correctly, and I have to select another audio stream then go back to the one I want to use, and it works fine. I have no problems playing content through a PC, or another device. It is really localized to fire tv.
While that thread is great information on how to get a high quality file in the smallest possible package, that is not my goal. I want the highest quality file that is directly playable. In order to maintain the correct display size from the original content, Anamorphic automatic needs to be used. otherwise handbrake auto down sizes the display size to 1920x960 vs the 1920x1080 from the original source. (edited to reflect actual size)
Even still, the display aspect ratio being locked to an audio stream selection is odd. But it is on par with other audio stream selection issues that I have experienced that don’t make much sense.
You just need to learn how to use Handbrake.
… and I suggest you upgrade it to the latest…
…so you can start with a 4K profile…
…if you use a 1080p profile - you’ll have to create a 2160p profile… or I guess your videos will be resized to fit your 1080p profile.
If the opportunity presents itself and I have the time I’ll acquire some 4k material I’ll never use and test that theory.
sorry, original source numbers were way wrong on my post. it does reduce size compared to source.
Either way, the audio stream locking in an aspect ratio on the player shouldn’t be tied to that anyways. So lets say that OK you are right and I should use a smaller pixel size and it shouldn’t be anamorphic. those things shouldn’t have any impact on audio stream locking in aspect ratio of a player, or other audio stream related issues.
You need to set a user profile and make the dimensions 4K dimensions instead of 1080p. I can’t help you with that, but I know for an absolute fact you don’t put Anamorphic Settings on HD material.
HD material is just the resolution with no tricks.
Anamorphic is a ‘Trick’ for DVD resolutions wherein no more than 720x480 is allowed on the disc - but with Anamorphic Settings you can ‘Store’ media one way - and play it back another.
That sure sounds like what is happening, but I can’t test it - at least not today.
I’m not feeling well.
I agree it’s weird that changing an audio setting is causing visual changes. If there’s other weirdness in the file, maybe the poor Fire is just doing its best and getting confused.
For the other files where changing audio streams seems to help … sometimes changing audio streams DOES help downstream devices, TVs, processors, sounders, because they notice that the audio stream format has changed. Maybe there are other settings on the Fire or your TV that could help this - as simple as “Auto” vs. “Passthrough” can make a difference.
Birds of Prey is a 2.35:1 movie. Coming from a regular Blu-ray, I would expect Handbrake to automatically detect and crop it to about 1920x800 - 1920x820.
If any of the numbers are bigger than that, it sounds like something is going wrong.
It would be interesting to see a screenshot of Handbrake after loading the source, before you make any changes.
… and the height on that file above is 1088.
That’s just wrong.
Oh, the importance of ‘maintain aspect ratio’ and bringing adjustments back under control before hitting ‘Go’…
We may make files that won’t play on anything - or do back-flips intermittently on a FireTV.
Did any of this get started with @mrnice225 trying to crop out black bars so the item fits the screen perfectly? <—we call that Aspect Ratio Murder. Let’s hope homicide wasn’t the intent…lol
The mere fact that it IS 1088 indicates there was a large file loaded - or a broken one - otherwise 1088 wouldn’t have been possible. I think.
Out of personal curiosity, what usually happens with your audio?
Do you choose TrueHD, and is it passed through from the Fire Cube to your TV and receiver/soundbar/whatever? Or does it get downconverted to something else?
I haven’t learned much about audio beyond about DD+.
That’s getting deep into h264 encoder algorithm arcana …
1080 content is not-infrequently encoded as 1088, because 1088 mod 16 = 0, and some (especially older) h264 encoders really wanted vertical resolution to be divisible by 16. I don’t recall off-hand if Blu-ray mandates it, or if it’s just oldschool.
There aren’t 8 extra pixels or anything. It’s just an h264 encoding block structure byproduct. The video content is 1080 pixels tall.
The original file from MakeMKV is a 1920x1080. This aspect ratio likely includes the black bars. I don’t try to do aspect ratio murder. I try to keep the same exact ratio on my encodes. So I change the height in handbrake back up to 1080. So the output file is 1920x1080, same as source. Handbrake only allows that with Anamorphic set to “automatic”. All others revert back to 1920x804. Which would just cut out black bars I suppose for most widescreen content.
Here is a screen shot of handbrake before changing settings. You can see source size.
Prior to the FireTV App update, I couldn’t play any 7.1 audio stream via the Plex Fire TV app. Post app update, sometimes audio will not properly read on 7.1 and 5.1 streams. It will play only background and not center speaker audio for example. So in those cases, I select a different stream then reselect the original one I wanted to play.
The AV receiver seems to receive a different stream from the cube when an error occurs. Likely something in the mix trying to convert something. When everything works, the AV reads the correct audio stream directly from the cube. It is odd, because it doesn’t happen all the time and doesn’t always happen with the same content either.
In this case, it is super weird that audio stream would connect to aspect ratio issues.
Anamophic - NONE
Autocrop - ON
But note: I’m using my ‘weird’ copy of Birds and it’s 802 tall, not the 800 it’s supposed to be - so, me being me - I rolled it back to where it should be.
That file’s dimensions are 1920x800 with all the bars cropped off - you don’t encode bars - or… I don’t.
The file simply plays at it’s aspect ratio and the player or the display adds bars where there’s no image. AS IT SHOULD BE.
If you’re going to do a 4K encode - make a 4K profile like this:
Did that while HB is fully involved and without having 4K material - so let’s say it should be ‘something’ like that. I got the 4K base from the big list - and would customize it accordingly - if I ever needed it.
Anywho - when you drop 4K stuff on Handbrake and select that user profile - things should go more smoothly than they have been.
No, I’m sure it gave you a 1920x1080 and the BluRay has the bars encoded into it.
I’m guessing that’s so it’ll play on everything in the world, but I can’t think of anything that can’t work with NO BARS…
Anywho… HB should have Autocrop ON and you should crop that down the file’s aspect ratio of 1920x800 which is a 2.35:1 - as I check to make sure that’s the number - 'cause it doesn’t really matter to anything except the player and HB knows what to do if you let it.
So the way you had it set - Custom Anamorphic (DVD Tricks) - it was possible for you to roll that ratio all out of whack - and that’s what you’ve done.
I’m not sure.
I’d have to have one that wasn’t done for me - and that’s all I’ve got right now.
Let’s hope somebody slaps that guy and wakes him up.
His movies suck.
It’s like they’re edited by monkeys - and I’m talking Lesser Apes - not the smart ones that can sign.
I’ve been bickering with Juice about this elsewhere.
You cropped off the empty black letterboxing pixels. 138 of them on the top and bottom. Good riddance!
1920x804 looks perfect. That’s how many actual video pixels you have. It’s PAR 1x1 because they are nice lovely square non-anamorphic pixels. 1920x804 is 2.35 (ish), the actual aspect ratio of the actual movie. It all checks out.
It’s fine to leave Anamorphic set to “Automatic”, it isn’t doing any damage. Things only go sideways when you start stretching & scaling the dimensions inappropriately. “Off” would be fine too.
There’s no reason to increase anything back to 1080. 1080 isn’t a fundamental number or a goal, and you don’t want to introduce stretching or scaling.
IT IS NOT FINE TO LEAVE ANAMOPHIC ON AUTOMATIC FOR HD MATERIAL.
Unlike DVD, Blu-ray supports SMPTE HD resolutions of 720p and 1080i/p with a display aspect ratio of 16:9 and a pixel aspect ratio of 1:1, so widescreen video is scaled non-anamorphically (this is referred to as “square” pixels).
Almost all Blu-ray is 1920x1080. There are other Blu-ray formats but they aren’t commonly used for retail movies. None of the Blu-ray formats are close to 1920x~800. I’m sure it was 1920x1080 on the disk, and then cropped to 800 when ripped & re-encoded.
Whatever ratio a movie is, it gets “printed” inside the 1920x1080 of Blu-ray. This almost always means the full width is used, and then as much height as necessary.
Hahahah good question.
Some media container formats do actually support changing video dimensions mid-stream. But most tools don’t support that, and I would expect playback compatibility problems.
Instead you’d want to be careful when cropping, choosing the tallest (and widest!) portion of the video, so that you didn’t crop off any of “Nolan’s Vision”.
Two frames of Interstellar. The file itself is 1920x1080. The second taller frame is 16x9, so it uses the full 1920x1080, so that sets the crop (to zero) for the entire file. The shorter frame just has space above and below.
1920x1080 would include the black, for movies that maintain aspect ratios in widescreen. For Nolan movies, it would be critical to maintain this, cause not all frames are the same ratio.
For birds and other movies, reducing height is ok cause you are just cutting out back.
Still though, audio stream should have nothing to do with any of this.
Dude I like you and think you’ve got a lot of good advice and perspective. You’re generally super helpful. Why the yelling?
In Handbrake, the Anamorphic pull-down doesn’t change anything by itself. It just enables and disables some of the other options in the Handbrake GUI.
If your storage size and display size values are the same, and you can see that PAR is 1x1, then Anamorphic “Off” and “Auto” will produce identical files.
In the screenshot he provided, Automatic and Off would produce identical results: a file with no anamorphic encoding, and nice luscious square 1:1 pixels.
Why is 802 “weird” or 800 “normal”?
My copy auto-detects as 1920x804, and uses every one of those pixels. So did @mrnice225’s.
It’s labeled as 2.39:1 in most places. 802*2.39 is a bit under 1920, and 804*2.39 is a bit above 1920.
