Auto Remove Letterbox

[zehd]

Sorry there isnt currently any way for a plugin to know where in the timeline playback is. Un until now plugins can only ask for a file to be played, and the app takes care of the rest.

Thanks. Well that effectively squashes something to automatically send an F7 to the app at the right moments... Maybe something to think about. I was gonna write the utility in .net !!!

@Martin, Of course sub has shown it won't work right now, and I don't want to belabour the point, but I'm hoping that we might have a Eureka moment...

The animal I'm trying to deal with is a 4x3 analog recording, the content is 16x9, Cinema letterbox in 4x3 and 4x3 fullscreen.

(ER being broadcast in 16x9 inside 4x3, though commercials are mix of fullscreen, and various letterboxes.)

With PC Client, playing this file on a Wide Screen one must either use the TV's built in ZOOM feature to take out the black bars top, bottom, left and right, or cycle through the F7 Aspect Ratio shapes to 'Remove Letterbox'

With MVP, user only has choice to use built in TV Zoom...

My original idea was, to know what the content was (letterbox, fullscreen) and sendkeys F7 to auto switch aspect. I can get a program to read the aspect changes in a file generated by comskip, I can send keys to app, but I have no idea of when to send the keys.

OK, I got that that won't be happening (yet)!!!

Anyway, in the MVP world...
I think I will add a feature to ZProcess, and in Post Process of a recording, Zoom/Crop out the letterbox, flag as 16:9 (zoom dimensions to 720x480 too). That way, the MVP will play the MPG natively in wide screen (certainly not HD though) without on the fly transcoding...

Alternatively, with a rarerly used switch added last year to config.xml, to transcode all file types (including MPG), I could have ZProcess transcode, and resize an MPG on the fly... Though I really hate having a preplaydelay for a native MPG...


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On a different note. I can hardly wait till I go completely digital. This analog MPG stuff is killing me...

[zehd]

until now plugins can only ask for a file to be played, and the app takes care of the rest.

sub did you mean to tease me in saying that it will be available in a future release?

[sub]

No, I didnt mean to. It doesnt support it at this stage. Maybe some time in the future though, but it has been requested various times over the years.

[sbiddle]

The growing trend around the world now is to to broadcast channels in fulltime 16:9 frames regardless of the content (4:3 or 16:9). This removes the issue of TV's not auto switching and prevents people from incorrectly setting aspect ratios. Here in NZ something like what you want to do wouldn't work as all shows are the same resolution whether they are 16:9 or 4:3 content.

I know this isn't common in the USA/Canada yet but many DVB networks around the world are now switching to this so it will be interesting to see if it catches on, particularly in North America where you guys are still dragging the chain producing so much 4:3 content still!

[zehd]

The growing trend around the world now is to to broadcast channels in fulltime 16:9 frames regardless of the content (4:3 or 16:9). This removes the issue of TV's not auto switching and prevents people from incorrectly setting aspect ratios. Here in NZ something like what you want to do wouldn't work as all shows are the same resolution whether they are 16:9 or 4:3 content.

I know this isn't common in the USA/Canada yet but many DVB networks around the world are now switching to this so it will be interesting to see if it catches on, particularly in North America where you guys are still dragging the chain producing so much 4:3 content still!

Actually one reason for me working on this (which I'm halfway there already) is that many HD channels are boasting HD while really broadcasting Pillar box. So I will be looking at do the same for this...

I don't doubt that there will be more Letterbox in 4x3 until there aren't any broacasts in 4x3...