Serviio

Long time lurker that has admitted defeat.

I capture various DVB-T prgrammes and transcode them from the native MPEG-TS to an MKV. The MPEG-TS is 16:9 720x576 and the resultant MKV is the same with both DAR & SAR set for 16:9.

When playing the MKV via the network connection from Serviio the image on the screen is 4:3 with black bars to the left and right. When playing the same file from a USB storage device directly attached to the TV it displays the proper 16:9 image. The profile selected in Serviio is the unadulterated "LG TV/Player" as shipped with the software.

There is obviously an issue with the TV differentiating in some way between inputs, but I can't fathom out a way around the issue.

What can I do if anything?

USB and DLNA are different firmware.

Could you enable detailed logging file (see signature link) and check out the ffmpeg command line used when you play the movie over serviio-dlna, post here?

Thanks for getting back to me Illico, as requested the debug info:

2011-12-01 18:20:13,299 DEBUG [FFMPEGWrapper] Invoking FFMPEG to retrieve H264 header for file: D:\TBW\Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day.mkv
2011-12-01 18:20:13,299 DEBUG [ProcessExecutor] Starting C:\Program Files (x86)\Serviio\bin\\..\lib/ffmpeg.exe -i D:\TBW\Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day.mkv -vframes 1 -vcodec copy -f h264 -vbsf h264_mp4toannexb -an pipe:
2011-12-01 18:20:13,316 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Getting file of media item 7671
2011-12-01 18:20:13,320 DEBUG [MetadataDescriptorDAOImpl] Reading MetadataDescriptor for MediaItem (id = 7671) and extractor EMBEDDED
2011-12-01 18:20:13,372 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Getting file of media item 7673
2011-12-01 18:20:13,372 DEBUG [MetadataDescriptorDAOImpl] Reading MetadataDescriptor for MediaItem (id = 7673) and extractor EMBEDDED
2011-12-01 18:20:13,395 DEBUG [VideoExtractionStrategy] H264 Level value stored in the AVC header (4.1) is different than one based on ref_frames value (2.2 will be stored)
2011-12-01 18:20:13,395 DEBUG [VideoExtractionStrategy] File 'Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day.mkv' has H264 profile HIGH and level 2.2
2011-12-01 18:20:13,396 DEBUG [LibraryManager] Metadata found via extractor EMBEDDED: VideoMetadata [title=Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day, filePath=D:\TBW\Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day.mkv, fileSize=797725402, audioBitrate=192, audioCodec=AC3, audioStreamIndex=1, bitrate=192, channels=2, container=MATROSKA, contentType=UNKNOWN, coverImage=null, duration=3037, episodeNumber=null, fps=25, frequency=48000, h264Level=2.2, h264Profile=HIGH, height=576, seasonNumber=null, seriesName=null, timestampType=null, videoBitrate=null, videoCodec=H264, videoStreamIndex=0, width=720]

Looking at the output the TV is displaying the file according to the details 720x576 but is missing the 16:9 information even though mediainfo displays:

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 50mn 37s
Bit rate : 1 907 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.184
Stream size : 676 MiB (89%)
Writing library : x264 core 116 r2074 2641b9e
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=9 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=2 / 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=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1907 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Where it definitely says 16:9 - therefore is there a way to get FFMPEG to forward that parameter or am I jumping to conclusions? (which is normal for me!)

Thanks but this ffmpeg command line is for thumbnail generator.
I need the ffmpeg command line used when your start streaming the movie.
Could you provide ffmpeg -i "<filepath>" result?

The only reference I can find is

[ProcessExecutor] Starting C:\Program Files (x86)\Serviio\bin\\..\lib/ffmpeg.exe -i D:\TBW\Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day.mkv -vframes 1 -vcodec copy -f h264 -vbsf h264_mp4toannexb -an pipe:

So this file is delivered in native mkv format (check the log with "native" search word).
Please, provide "ffmpeg -i" result.

"ffmpeg -i" gives :-

C:\Program Files (x86)\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg -i
ffmpeg version N-31480-g8bc3a48, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jul 14 2011 23:37:53 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --enable-memalign-hack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-librtmp --extra-libs='-lrtmp -lpolarssl -lws2_32 -lwinmm' --arch=x86 --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-pthreads --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 51. 11. 0 / 51. 11. 0
libavcodec 53. 8. 0 / 53. 8. 0
libavformat 53. 6. 0 / 53. 6. 0
libavdevice 53. 2. 0 / 53. 2. 0
libavfilter 2. 25. 0 / 2. 25. 0
libswscale 2. 0. 0 / 2. 0. 0
ffmpeg: missing argument for option 'i'

As for "native" there is:-

Line 25645: 2011-12-01 18:21:00,848 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Delivering file 'Green Wing s01e01 Carolines First Day.mkv' in native format

Grr, no, I need ffmpeg -i "<filepath>" result !


OK, so your mkv is delivered in native format without serviio/ffmpeg transcoding.
So that confirm that your TV USB and TV DLNA firmware are different and did not manage display ratio in the same way.

So could you try this:

- Install MKVToolnix tool
- Start mkvmerge GUI
- add your mkv movie file
- select the video track
- select the "Format specific options" tab
- Select "Aspect ratio" and change to 4/3
- Change the output filename with a "_4-3.mkv" suffix
- Start muxing, take few minutes.
- OK
- Try the resulting "_4-3.mkv" file with USB and DLNA function.

Sorry my fault, long day . . . . . . . . . the real answer is:-

C:\Program Files (x86)\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg -i "d:\tbw\green wing s01e01 carolines first day.mkv"
ffmpeg version N-31480-g8bc3a48, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers built on Jul 14 2011 23:37:53 with gcc 4.4.2 configuration: --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --enable-memalign-hack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-librtmp --extra-libs=' -lrtmp -lpolarssl -lws2_32 -lwinmm' --arch=x86 --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-pthreads --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 51. 11. 0 / 51. 11. 0
libavcodec 53. 8. 0 / 53. 8. 0
libavformat 53. 6. 0 / 53. 6. 0
libavdevice 53. 2. 0 / 53. 2. 0
libavfilter 2. 25. 0 / 2. 25. 0
libswscale 2. 0. 0 / 2. 0. 0
[matroska,webm @ 01868d40] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'd:\tbw\green wing s01e01 carolines first day.mkv':
Duration: 00:50:37.76, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 192 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 720x576 [PAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 50 tbc (default)
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 192 kb/s (default)
At least one output file must be specified

C:\Program Files (x86)\Serviio\lib>

As for the playback of the 4-3 .mkv , direct from USB it still displayed full screen and via the network from Serviio it played as 4:3 with black to the left and to the right.

No problem... as you can see the original mkv, 720x576 [PAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], the Display Aspect Ratio (DAR) is set to 16:9.
So I suggested to change the DAR information to 4:3 value, with Mkvtoolnix.
Could you also provide the ffmpeg -i "d:\tbw\green wing s01e01 carolines first day_4-3.mkv" result, DAR must be set to 4:3 (for confirmation)

Humm, so it seems that the network firmware did not take the DAR value into account, only the video resolution.

The file name has changed as I edited the original programme down to a 5 minute segment and renamed it for ease of use!

C:\Program Files (x86)\Serviio\lib>ffmpeg -i "d:\tbw\green wing\green wing 43.mkv
ffmpeg version N-31480-g8bc3a48, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers built on Jul 14 2011 23:37:53 with gcc 4.4.2 configuration: --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --enable-memalign-hack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-librtmp --extra-libs='-lrtmp -lpolarssl -lws2_32 -lwinmm' --arch=x86 --enable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-pthreads --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 51. 11. 0 / 51. 11. 0
libavcodec 53. 8. 0 / 53. 8. 0
libavformat 53. 6. 0 / 53. 6. 0
libavdevice 53. 2. 0 / 53. 2. 0
libavfilter 2. 25. 0 / 2. 25. 0
libswscale 2. 0. 0 / 2. 0. 0
[matroska,webm @ 017b8d00] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccur
ate
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'd:\tbw\green wing\green wing 43.mkv':
Duration: 00:50:37.76, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 192 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 720x576 [PAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], PAR 16:15 DAR 4:3, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 50 tbc (default)
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 192 kb/s (default)
At least one output file must be specified



So it would seem, LG = Life's Good (but possibly not the technology)

Thanks.
Its strange ffmpeg add new PAR and DAR field, and did not overwrite the previous [PAR DAR ] values, mkvtoolnix is probably not a solution.
Stream #0.0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 720x576 [PAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], PAR 16:15 DAR 4:3, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 50 tbc (default)
I would like to have something like :
Stream #0.0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 720x576 [PAR 16:15 DAR 4:3], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 50 tbc (default)


....

Hello everyobody!! Anyone got a solution to this problem??

I have some DVB-T recordings that have a resolution of 704x576 or 720x576. The DAR is correct, but streaming via DLNA they are shown in 4:3. Is reencoding and change the reolution the only way??
In this case, which is the best encoder?? ffmpeg?? mencoder?? Which format?? h264? mp4?? ....I use this on an atom 330 so the encoding time can be very frustrating......

Thank you!!

it looks like the files dont have SAR (other than 1:1 I presume, should be anamorphic) or they do but the player doesn't understand it. Look what SAR/PAR the files have in MediaInfo

This is my ffmpeg -i

looks weird, there are 2 values for DAR and PAR, one 4:3 and one for 16:9. Maybe the player picks the wrong value. Usually there is just one value for each, DAR and PAR

And so.....what shall I do??

re-encode mpeg2video stream.

I obtained that two values after using mkvmerge --aspect-ratio!! Oh...it's a sad thing....since my recording software (tvheadend) is on an atom 330, the reencoding of the stream is a very long thing....