Re: still no way to do custom aspect ratios?

I am glad to hear that you found a method of forcing Media Center to fully display the 4:3 aspect ratio 1024x768 resolution video you are sending it without distortion by centering it and adding side bars after apparently down scaling it to 768x768 to compensate for the rectangular pixels which are 33% wider then they are tall.
I do not know if telling MC you had a 4:3 aspect ratio display would have made it any simpler to accomplish the correct end result
On my Vista system I use both MC and the Hauppauge WinTV program for watching TV. I only use MC when I want to have time shift capability available or to record programs. I use the direct Video capability of WinTV to avoid the extra resources required and poorer video quality provided by having the video encoded and then decoded again.

<chimpathetic@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:00b8cf2b-250b-4bbf-be67-3dbb15e1d3ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Oh, and I should mention that this doesn't help me at all on the PAL
video files. I still need to be able to tweak the aspect ratio at
will to trick it into intentionally squishing the video horizontally
so that it will look right on my screen. I'm either going to just
deal with it, play those files outside of MC, or figure out how to
edit the file information so that it thinks it should play them in a
different aspect ratio (if possible).

In this regard, other video players custom aspect ratio settings are
superior. It's so sad that even Windows Media Player has this
ability, and MC doesn't. Then again, you can't tie it to a hotkey in
WMP like you can in other players. This certainly makes it less user
friendly.



On Feb 23, 11:23 pm, chimpathe...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Looking back, I don't actually think I did use resolution and aspect
ratio interchangably. At one point I referred to a "4:3 resolution",
but that was just meaning a resolution where the physical height and
width were in a 4:3 ratio.

In any case, I'm glad that we're getting through the confusion. In
any case, good news! I've figured out how to fix it, and it's not
pretty.

Set your desktop resolution to 1024x768 and run Media Center.

Go to Configure Your TV or Monitor.

Go through the steps and choose 16:9 which it asks.

On the next screen, it will complain that you are running 1024x768 and
yet chose 16:9 and this is probably not right. It will ask if you
want to change your resolution. Say Yes.

On the next screen, it lists various resolutions. Choose 1024x768.
That's not a typo. Yes, you are already at 1024x768, but trust me.

When it asks if you want to preview, say Yes. If you don't do this,
it won't work. At least it didn't for me.

The screen should now change aspect ratios, but not resolutions. In
other words, text will stop looking stretched out. Say Yes to the
question of whether you want to keep this resolution.

That's it, you should be all set. Your resolution in Media Center
will stay 1024x768, but Media Center will know it needs to compensate
for the TV being 16:9.

The problem I kept having was that doing it this way is completely
confusing. It's not a way almost anyone would guess. I actually got
to this point by choosing 1360x768, then poking around at the registry
and editing it by hand. Armed with the knowledge of what this was
doing, I went back and figured out how you're "supposed" to do it.

Now, the only question I have left in my mind is if I should fiddle
with the resulting registry settings. It changed some settings under
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings
\Display Device

PhysicalWidth=1024
PhysicalHeight=768

LogicalWidth=1365
LogicalHeight=768

I can change LogicalWidth to 16 and LogicalHeight to 9 and the results
are pretty much identical to the above settings. I wonder if there's
any benefit at all to having one over the other.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I'm going to go post this response to
all the orphaned messages on this group asking the same question.

On Feb 23, 7:55 am, "JW" <J...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I believe I now understand what is and is not working for you. I think I > was
> a little confused by your use of Aspect Ratio and Resolution
> interchangeably.
> Let us know if the following is correct and makes sense.

> 1024x768 is one of the standard resolutions used on square pixel 4:3 > aspect
> ratio displays to get full screen correctly proportioned video as are > many
> of the other resolutions you mentioned.
> 1280x720(720p) along with 1920x1080( i or p) are resolutions used to get
> full screen correctly proportioned video on square pixel 16x9 aspect > ratio
> displays.
> Your 1024x768 plasma TV has a 4:3 logical(real) aspect ratio and a 16x9
> physical(appearance) aspect ratio.
> When setting up your TV in Media Center it assumes square pixels and > wants
> to know your aspect ratio in order that it can:

> Give you a choice when sending a 16:9 HD program to a 4:3 aspect ratio
> display of letterbox or zoom mode.
> -or-
> Give you a choice when sending a 4:3 SD program to a 16:9 aspect ratio
> display of widescreen stretch mode or normal 4:3 plus side bars modes.

> Many other programs. like the ones mentioned, depend on the user to pick > the
> resolution that is appropriate for his display and for his source > material
> and do not offer the options that MC does. Which by the way are similar > to
> what digital STBs in conjunction with HDTVs offer for display modes.

> If you want to send 1024x768 resolution to your TV in MC you need to > tell MC
> that you have a 4:3 aspect ratio display and not a 16:9 display since it > is
> asking for your logical and not your physical aspect ratio.

> <chimpathe...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

>news:935710c7-aaba-4f8e-8a4a-7eb6af20eda5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> > I'm sorry folks, but this is a little frustrating. Forgive me for
> > sounding snippy at all. Did you ever get my point about other media
> > players, including Windows Media Player, having the ability to
> > configure what aspect ratio your display is? It does not have
> > anything to do with my video card. It has to do with the DISPLAY.
> > The point is that the media playing software will play various
> > sources:
> > 1280x720 HDTV OTA broadcast
> > 720x480 NTSC DVDs
> > 720x576 PAL DVDs
> > Video files in various resolutions such as 352x240, 720x576, 352x224,
> > 480x360, and 1920x1080, among others.

> > Now, no matter what output resolution you have Windows set to output,
> > these video files will have to be rescaled _by the media player_ in
> > order to fill the screen. Yeah, sure, if you have your desktop
> > resolution set to 1280x720, the HDTV broadcasts won't be resized by
> > the media player. But all the other sources will be.

> > Now, that's rescale #1.

> > If you have a TV that has a native resolution of 1024x768, widescreen
> > or otherwise, and you feed it a signal that isn't 1024x768, it will
> > have to rescale it to 1024x768. This means dropping some pixels when
> > downconverting from higher resolutions and adding pixels when
> > upconverting from lower resolutions.

> > That's rescale #2.

> > I'm trying to cut this down to a single rescale, as every time you
> > rescale, you muddy up the picture. This is especially true when you
> > upconvert something and then downconvert it.

> > That is why I'm trying to be able to set Windows to a desktop
> > resolution of 1024x768. I can do that just fine. I can then run any
> > number of media players like Windows Media Player, SMPlayer, and
> > ZoomPlayer and tell them that even though the desktop is 1024x768,
> > when they convert them to 1024x768, they should take into acount the
> > aspect ratio of 16:9. This way, the only do ONE rescale operation to
> > go from, for example, 720x480 directly to 1024x768 widescreen. Then
> > my tv gets the signal and doesn't have to rescale it at all, thus
> > avoiding a quality loss.

> > I'd like to stress that I can do EVERYTHING in the above paragraph in
> > other media players. I just can't do it in Windows Media Center in
> > any way that I can figure out. My point in posting is to see if
> > there's some kind of hack or hidden preference, or to try to figure
> > out where I can get this point across to someone who actually works on
> > Media Center so they can consider fixing it in the future. I love the
> > software and want to use it, but until this is a possibility, that's
> > not going to work.

> > Thanks again for taking the time to try to help.

> > On Feb 22, 3:52 pm, "JW" <J...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> I don't know if you will ever be able to get MediaCenter to be able > >> to
> >> handle a display without square pixels especially for TV since the > >> NTSC
> >> and
> >> ATSC TV standards also assume square pixels.
> >> What make/model video card are you using and what driver release are > >> you
> >> using for it.<chimpathe...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> >>news:9ad5dab1-87bd-45e9-8eb5-dd0337c0bbf4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> >> >I don't think you fully understood my posts. The problem is not in
> >> > being able to pick resolutions. The problem is in that Media > >> > Center
> >> > does not seem to know how to handle rectangular pixel displays.

> >> > On Feb 22, 1:43 pm, "jolt" <ergoac...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> >> Your best option would be to try powerstrip.

> >> >>http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

> >> >> The chance you'll find a solution to display all your media > >> >> without
> >> >> bars
> >> >> or
> >> >> overscan on a monitor that uses a 4:3 resolution on a 16:9 > >> >> monitor
> >> >> doesn't
> >> >> seem extremely promising. Support for ED HDTV ready monitors needs > >> >> to
> >> >> be
> >> >> in
> >> >> the video card drivers to work well.

> >> >> <chimpathe...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> >> >>news:79fbe92f-5a62-4595-9afb-9ea34046f7ee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> >> >> > I've searched and searched the web and newsgroups and it looks > >> >> > like
> >> >> > I'm SOL. I have Vista and MCE hooked up to my Pioneer 4280 TV. > >> >> > The
> >> >> > problem is that, like several other displays on the market, it's
> >> >> > 16:9
> >> >> > and yet 1024x768.

> >> >> > I want to run it in native 1024x768 to prevent going through two
> >> >> > different rescales and the loss of quality. I can do this in
> >> >> > various
> >> >> > media players by telling it what aspect ratio my display is. I > >> >> > can
> >> >> > even do it in Windows Media Player. Yet MCE seems to have no
> >> >> > understanding of this concept.

> >> >> > When run at 1024x768, it squishes the picture vertically, > >> >> > leaving
> >> >> > black bars on the top and bottom. The pre-set aspect ratio #3 > >> >> > will
> >> >> > made and HD signal picture fill the screen without any apparent
> >> >> > cropping or stretching. But on SD signals, the pictures are
> >> >> > stretched
> >> >> > horizontally to fill the screen on ALL aspect ratios. So that's > >> >> > a
> >> >> > problem, but it's also a problem that I can't actually use any > >> >> > of
> >> >> > the
> >> >> > different aspect ratio modes for their intended purpose (zooming > >> >> > in
> >> >> > on
> >> >> > letterboxed stuff, progressive stretching of SD, etc.).

> >> >> > So, am I missing something, or is it really and truly just not
> >> >> > supported? Yes, I could run my computer at 1360x768 and let my > >> >> > tv
> >> >> > rescale it back to 1024x768. But when I do that, you can tell > >> >> > that
> >> >> > the HD signal loses some of it's eye-popping quality. It's also > >> >> > an
> >> >> > issue with some PAL mpegs I have from England. In other media
> >> >> > players, I have a preset aspect ratio fixer for them that I can > >> >> > just
> >> >> > engage by pressing a button. But with MCE I'm just out of luck.

> >> >> > I'm

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