Strange Black Borders on Video Playback (1 Viewer)

azamataz

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Whenever I playback video I get part of the video cut off with black borders. It does it on video playback and TV also. I thought it might be an over scan issue from the ATI card however I've adjusted that and the screen fits the TV fine. When the black borders appear you can see the video fits the screen correctly but it just cut the edges off the video. I say this because the TV logo is in the right place just half it is missing with black borders going through it. It will also adjust the black border size at random intervals. It's so strange since its a fresh install. How on earth can I fix this???
 
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Holzi

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    Whenever I playback video I get part of the video cut off with black borders. It does it on video playback and TV also. I thought it might be an over scan issue from the ATI card however I've adjusted that and the screen fits the TV fine. When the black borders appear you can see the video fits the screen correctly but it just cut the edges off the video. I say this because the TV logo is in the right place just half it is missing with black borders going through it. It will also adjust the black border size at random intervals. It's so strange since its a fresh install. How on earth can I fix this???

    Hello!
    Have you played with the zoom modes in MP?
    Wiki: http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/14_Using_MediaPortal/1_Videos/3_Video_Zoom_Modes
    Thanks! :)
     

    azamataz

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    Thanks for your reply.
    I have tried the zoom and it's not the problem. The edges of the video are still cut off in the different zoom modes.
    The movie files play fine in a standalone player from the desktop however once in mediaportal it cut's a few cm's off each edge. The black borders constantly change size, it could go anywhere from 10-20 pixels to 200-300 pixels.
    I've tried recording the tv and it plays back normally on a different device so I'm thinking it must be to do with the codecs possibly that media portal use.
    Any ideas?
     

    mm1352000

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    Hello azamataz

    Could you possibly post some screenshots or photos to show exactly what you mean?
    Also, it would really help if you could post logs. That is a two minute job that saves us playing twenty questions:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/16_Support/3_Forums/2_Log_Files

    Follow the first set of instructions for reproducible problems please.
    That will give us all the information about plugins, file types, codecs etc. etc. etc. and help us to help you much faster.

    mm
     

    azamataz

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    Hi,
    Here is the screenshot and log files you were after. As you can see in the screenshot it adds the black borders and cuts part of the logo in the bottom right off. These borders change size randomly, either both sides together or top and bottom together. It does it on tv and all video playback. Sorry for the poor quality screen shot it was taken from team viewer.

    Thanks.
     

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    mm1352000

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    That is definitely a bit strange.
    For a start, it looks like you've set the zoom mode/aspect ratio to "stretch". I'd recommend using "normal" unless you have a 4:3 (old style) TV and you like to have absolutely no black bars, even if it means changing the aspect ratio of the video. "Normal" will make the picture as big as possible without changing its aspect ratio. Pressing the "s" key will cycle through the available aspect ratios.

    The second thing I see is:
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.523882 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: TvFullScreen: init, playing True, player.CurrentFile D:\Timeshift\live7-0.ts.tsbuffer, TVHome.Card.TimeShiftFileName D:\Timeshift\live7-0.ts.tsbuffer
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: crop T, B : 0, 0
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: crop L, R : 0, 0
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Info.][(14)]: PlaneScene: video WxH : 720x576
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: video AR : 16:9
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Info.][(14)]: PlaneScene: screen WxH : 1024x768
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: AR type : Stretch
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: PixelRatio : 1
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.541883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: src : (0,0)-(720,576)
    2013-04-21 12:07:51.542883 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: dst : (0,0)-(1024,768)
    2013-04-21 12:08:18.995454 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: fullscreentv:show gui
    2013-04-21 12:08:18.996454 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Windowmanager: Goto previous window
    2013-04-21 12:08:18.996454 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: TvFullScreen:deinit->OSD:Off
    2013-04-21 12:08:18.997454 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Window: TvPlugin.TvFullScreen deinit
    2013-04-21 12:08:18.998454 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: TextureManager: CleanupThumbs()
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.028455 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: Window: TvPlugin.TVHome init
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.029456 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: TVHome:OnPageLoad
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.030456 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: tv home init:7 Digital
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.030456 [Info.][MPMain(1)]: tv home init:7 Digital done
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.056457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: crop T, B : 0, 0
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.056457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: crop L, R : 0, 0
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.057457 [Info.][(14)]: PlaneScene: video WxH : 720x576
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.057457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: video AR : 16:9
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.057457 [Info.][(14)]: PlaneScene: screen WxH : 368x276
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.057457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: AR type : Stretch
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.057457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: PixelRatio : 1
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.058457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: src : (0,0)-(720,576)
    2013-04-21 12:08:19.058457 [Debug][(14)]: PlaneScene: dst : (407,96)-(775,372)
    2013-04-21 12:08:25.226810 [Debug][MPMain(1)]: g_Player.doStop() keepTimeShifting = False keepExclusiveModeOn = False

    So it is like MP thinks the aspect ratio of your screen is changing.
    Are you using an analog style CRT TV or an LCD/plasma digital TV, and how is it connected to your PC?
    If analog, is it possible that the TV has some kind of auto-cropping feature that is active (?)... because MP doesn't do this sort of thing. There are plugins (IFC = intelligent frame correction) that automatically adjust the size of the picture, but it doesn't look like you are using that, and as I say it looks like the resolution of your display is changing.

    mm
     

    azamataz

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    Thanks for your help. Would this be because I used team viewer? I'll upload a new log file if you like. I just thought it would be easier doing it this way so i didn't have to pull everything out and plug the mouse and keyboard in.

    No, it's played through a Sharp quattron 60-inch. The resolution is set to 1920x1080 and fits the screen perfectly in windows and media portal. Actually in media portal when I turn TV on the black borders still appear in the little preview window...

    Thanks, I'll get some more screenshots and logs for you.[DOUBLEPOST=1366514066][/DOUBLEPOST]OK here's the new files. As you can see in one of the screenshots it shows the black borders even when just previewing the video, this time the top and bottom borders are larger than the sides.

    Thanks
     

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    mm1352000

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    The video is 720x576, which is a 4:3 aspect ratio. Non-widescreen.
    This means if you just take that video and put it on your TV you should expect to see quite large black borders on the sides of the picture (because your TV is 16:9 widescreen).
    The screenshot shows the picture almost filling the screen, which suggests you must be using either MP, your GPU drivers or your TV to adjust the size of the picture to fill the screen. There are two ways of doing that.
    1. Stretch the picture horizontally. The picture will fill the screen but everyone will look fatter than they actually are. Also known as fatovision.
    2. Blow the picture up until it fills the TV horizontally. This will have the consequence that the top and bottom of the picture will be cut off.

    I suspect you're somehow (either intentionally or unintentionally) doing the second option. This would explain why the channel logo is so close to the bottom right corner, and why the picture fills the screen.

    It is difficult to me to troubleshoot this any further without actually being there with you. What I would do if I was there:
    1. Clarify what you're trying to achieve. Do you want fatovision or pillar boxing on the sides?
    2. Go through the video delivery chain from TV to cabling to video card to video card driver to windows to MP to MP TV and make sure that the resolution is 1920x1080 all the way through. You don't want to enable any sort of picture or aspect ratio adjustment on the TV - let MP do that with the "s" options. That means when you go to watch a widescreen movie you should expect to see no black borders. When you watch a channel such as the one you're testing with, your result will depend on whether you use "stretch" (no black borders) or "normal" black borders on the sides.

    Note it is possible that the source of the TV signal for your test channel has been converted from an analog broadcast or cut from a 16:9 feed. In this case you may see small black borders on the sides even when the picture is zoomed in, simply due to conservative cropping of the picture by the people who produce the feed (the broadcaster).
     

    azamataz

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    ok this is really weird, It adds the black borders even if I play a HD (1920x1080) video file. I've set the aspect ration to normal multiple times and it's still showing stretched in the logs...

    Thanks for your help I'll keep playing around with it
     

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