Wrong avi Aspect Ratio in Windows Media Player 11

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark9422
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Mark9422

Recently (as this was not a problem a month ago) I tried playing DV .avi
files in WMP 11 Vista from my hard drive which originated from my Digital
Camcorder. All .avi files play way out of the correct aspect ratio. They
should play 720x480 but instead all get scaled by WMP to something like
640x480 and look horrible. DVDs and mpeg video files play correctly. I used
a program called GSpot and it confirmed I had the correct codecs installed.
These .avi files play correctly in other video players like Sonic and Nero.
When checking the .avi file properties from WMP, it shows the wrong aspect
ratio (only in WMP 11) and other wrong information. I have seen other posts
exactly like mine but no one has offered a solution to this problem. Like I
said, this was not an issue a month ago when I put together a complicated
video project. Trying to avoid system restore as it makes a mess out of
Norton antivirus. Help!! Very frustrating. Thank you very much!
 
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 04:59:00 -0800, Mark9422
<Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Recently (as this was not a problem a month ago) I tried playing DV .avi
>files in WMP 11 Vista from my hard drive which originated from my Digital
>Camcorder. All .avi files play way out of the correct aspect ratio. They
>should play 720x480 but instead all get scaled by WMP to something like
>640x480 and look horrible. DVDs and mpeg video files play correctly. I used
>a program called GSpot and it confirmed I had the correct codecs installed.
>These .avi files play correctly in other video players like Sonic and Nero.
>When checking the .avi file properties from WMP, it shows the wrong aspect
>ratio (only in WMP 11) and other wrong information. I have seen other posts
>exactly like mine but no one has offered a solution to this problem. Like I
>said, this was not an issue a month ago when I put together a complicated
>video project. Trying to avoid system restore as it makes a mess out of
>Norton antivirus. Help!! Very frustrating. Thank you very much!
What is the proper aspect ratio of your video ?

Is it 4/3 or 16/9 ?
 
The video is encoded as 4x3.

"dave xnet" wrote:

> On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 04:59:00 -0800, Mark9422
> <Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >Recently (as this was not a problem a month ago) I tried playing DV .avi
> >files in WMP 11 Vista from my hard drive which originated from my Digital
> >Camcorder. All .avi files play way out of the correct aspect ratio. They
> >should play 720x480 but instead all get scaled by WMP to something like
> >640x480 and look horrible. DVDs and mpeg video files play correctly. I used
> >a program called GSpot and it confirmed I had the correct codecs installed.
> >These .avi files play correctly in other video players like Sonic and Nero.
> >When checking the .avi file properties from WMP, it shows the wrong aspect
> >ratio (only in WMP 11) and other wrong information. I have seen other posts
> >exactly like mine but no one has offered a solution to this problem. Like I
> >said, this was not an issue a month ago when I put together a complicated
> >video project. Trying to avoid system restore as it makes a mess out of
> >Norton antivirus. Help!! Very frustrating. Thank you very much!
> What is the proper aspect ratio of your video ?
>
> Is it 4/3 or 16/9 ?
>
 
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:41:01 -0800, Mark9422
<Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>The video is encoded as 4x3.
>
>>"dave xnet" wrote:
>> Is it 4/3 or 16/9 ?
>>
well 640/480 *is* 4/3 and in that sense, WMP 11 should be displaying
it correctly, regardless of it's actual pixel resolution.

I've seen WMP do this before.

For example, NTSC mpg 1, encoded at the standard res of
352/240 play back at 320/240 in WMP because WMP is compensating
for the fact that the proper display for that file is 4/3, even if
they are not encoded at exactly that.
Simlalrly, PAL mpeg 1, encoded at 352/288 play back in WMP as
384/288 because once again, it's preserving the files AR
for display purposes.

Now, if WMP was an editing tool and it did what you describe,
they'd be big problems. But it's a player, and it's honoring
the inherent A/R of the file rather than it's pixel count.
It's a design decision, and it's OK
as long as you know what it's doing,.

Dave
 
What you write makes sense but:

The avi files played correctly in December in WMP 11. They play in WMP 11
under XP in another machine, they play correctly on Sonic, Nero, and another
player (I forget the name) under Vista. Only WMP11 under Vista will not play
these avi files correctly. When looking at the file properties when loaded
in WMP, the file inofrmation is wrong. It says it is 640x480 and cannot
determine the other attributes. The same file played in sonic displayes all
properties of the file correctly. Something has changed in an updagte of some
kind I think. The display is so bad and squished, that the main subject
matter is below the screen. Any other ideas....anyone?

"dave xnet" wrote:

> On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:41:01 -0800, Mark9422
> <Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >The video is encoded as 4x3.
> >
> >>"dave xnet" wrote:
> >> Is it 4/3 or 16/9 ?
> >>
> well 640/480 *is* 4/3 and in that sense, WMP 11 should be displaying
> it correctly, regardless of it's actual pixel resolution.
>
> I've seen WMP do this before.
>
> For example, NTSC mpg 1, encoded at the standard res of
> 352/240 play back at 320/240 in WMP because WMP is compensating
> for the fact that the proper display for that file is 4/3, even if
> they are not encoded at exactly that.
> Simlalrly, PAL mpeg 1, encoded at 352/288 play back in WMP as
> 384/288 because once again, it's preserving the files AR
> for display purposes.
>
> Now, if WMP was an editing tool and it did what you describe,
> they'd be big problems. But it's a player, and it's honoring
> the inherent A/R of the file rather than it's pixel count.
> It's a design decision, and it's OK
> as long as you know what it's doing,.
>
> Dave
>
 
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:14:00 -0800, Mark9422
<Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>What you write makes sense but:
>
>The avi files played correctly in December in WMP 11. They play in WMP 11
>under XP in another machine, they play correctly on Sonic, Nero, and another
>player (I forget the name) under Vista. Only WMP11 under Vista will not play
>these avi files correctly. When looking at the file properties when loaded
>in WMP, the file inofrmation is wrong. It says it is 640x480 and cannot
>determine the other attributes. The same file played in sonic displayes all
>properties of the file correctly. Something has changed in an updagte of some
>kind I think. The display is so bad and squished, that the main subject
>matter is below the screen. Any other ideas....anyone?
>
Can you provide screenshots
and/or a small sample of the AVI file ?
 
Dave
Thanks for your patience. I will supply both but how can I deliver the
screen shot and the video? Actually, any avi I have will do so how do I send
them to you?
Thanks again,
Mark

"dave xnet" wrote:

> On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:14:00 -0800, Mark9422
> <Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >What you write makes sense but:
> >
> >The avi files played correctly in December in WMP 11. They play in WMP 11
> >under XP in another machine, they play correctly on Sonic, Nero, and another
> >player (I forget the name) under Vista. Only WMP11 under Vista will not play
> >these avi files correctly. When looking at the file properties when loaded
> >in WMP, the file inofrmation is wrong. It says it is 640x480 and cannot
> >determine the other attributes. The same file played in sonic displayes all
> >properties of the file correctly. Something has changed in an updagte of some
> >kind I think. The display is so bad and squished, that the main subject
> >matter is below the screen. Any other ideas....anyone?
> >
> Can you provide screenshots
> and/or a small sample of the AVI file ?
>
 
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:56:08 -0800, Mark9422
<Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Dave
>Thanks for your patience. I will supply both but how can I deliver the
>screen shot and the video? Actually, any avi I have will do so how do I send
>them to you?
>Thanks again,
>Mark
>
Well you could email me small image files at davexnet02
"at"
yahoo
..com
but it may not be necessary.

Just for a laugh, I created myself a small DV avi using
windows movie maker 2.1.
I can open it in virtualdub 1.76 and it is, as you say,
720*480. If you right click the image in Vdub and choose
"aspect ratio" 4/3, it does shrink the image side-to-side
to fit the 4/3 size. Nothing is lost from the top or bottom.
Nothng is lost from the sides either, it just gets pushed in.
If you're seeing something different, send me an image or
two of the good and bad.

Dave
 
OK Dave...will give it all a shot today or tomorrow...at work now. Thanks
for staying on board with this.

Mark

"dave xnet" wrote:

> On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:56:08 -0800, Mark9422
> <Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >Dave
> >Thanks for your patience. I will supply both but how can I deliver the
> >screen shot and the video? Actually, any avi I have will do so how do I send
> >them to you?
> >Thanks again,
> >Mark
> >
> Well you could email me small image files at davexnet02
> "at"
> yahoo
> ..com
> but it may not be necessary.
>
> Just for a laugh, I created myself a small DV avi using
> windows movie maker 2.1.
> I can open it in virtualdub 1.76 and it is, as you say,
> 720*480. If you right click the image in Vdub and choose
> "aspect ratio" 4/3, it does shrink the image side-to-side
> to fit the 4/3 size. Nothing is lost from the top or bottom.
> Nothng is lost from the sides either, it just gets pushed in.
> If you're seeing something different, send me an image or
> two of the good and bad.
>
> Dave
>
 
I would appreciate a Microsoft spokesperson chiming in on this please.

"Mark9422" wrote:

> OK Dave...will give it all a shot today or tomorrow...at work now. Thanks
> for staying on board with this.
>
> Mark
>
> "dave xnet" wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:56:08 -0800, Mark9422
> > <Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >
> > >Dave
> > >Thanks for your patience. I will supply both but how can I deliver the
> > >screen shot and the video? Actually, any avi I have will do so how do I send
> > >them to you?
> > >Thanks again,
> > >Mark
> > >
> > Well you could email me small image files at davexnet02
> > "at"
> > yahoo
> > ..com
> > but it may not be necessary.
> >
> > Just for a laugh, I created myself a small DV avi using
> > windows movie maker 2.1.
> > I can open it in virtualdub 1.76 and it is, as you say,
> > 720*480. If you right click the image in Vdub and choose
> > "aspect ratio" 4/3, it does shrink the image side-to-side
> > to fit the 4/3 size. Nothing is lost from the top or bottom.
> > Nothng is lost from the sides either, it just gets pushed in.
> > If you're seeing something different, send me an image or
> > two of the good and bad.
> >
> > Dave
> >
 
Mark9422 <Mark9422@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I would appreciate a Microsoft spokesperson chiming in on this please.

You won't find one in this group. This is a peer-to-peer support
group. Occasionally a softie will look in on his/her own time. You
can't count on it.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
Slattery_T@bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt
 
This same problem is happening to me.

avi files captured from my camcorder played just fine for about the
first month. 4:3 were 4:3, 16:9 were 16:9.

Now when I play the files, it appears the sizes are identical,
regardless of the aspect ratio. The 4:3 files are wider than normal with
the image being squished from the top and bottom. The 16:9 images are
being squished from the sides and are now skinnier than normal.

In other words, it doesn't matter what the aspect ratio is, all avi
files are being played at what appears to be a 16:11.5 ratio, something
right in between the two.

Other video files are fine. Not sure what brought this about but I sure
would like to know and remedy this problem.


--
boxy
 
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