aspect ratios with negative numbers ignored

[johnsonx42]

can you try enabling force wait for vertical sync(3d settings on video card) on vmr custom and see if it goes away
someone else says it doesnt work but im sure thats what i used to use before upgrading to 8600

Tried that. Also tried Nvidia PureVideo decoder. Also tried triple buffering. No dice.

It sounds like you need to buy a widescreen tv so you can continue to use EVR and wont have to worry about negative aspect ratio values

Donations toward that cause gladly accepted.

I could probably trade out my 7600gs for something else.... is ATI a better choice? I had a 9500pro in my test machine, and never had tearing on that (no, I can't just swap those two; AGP vs PCIe)

[stustunz]

just to check i know you have probably already tried everything
you have set your refresh rate to a multiple of 30 ie 60hz 120hz
you have tried turn all things off in direct 3d rather than on less strain on the gpu

[johnsonx42]

just to check i know you have probably already tried everything

All suggestions welcome; your everything and my everything may not be the same.

you have set your refresh rate to a multiple of 30 ie 60hz 120hz

Running SVideo out to TV. NVidia control panel says refresh rate is 30hz (presumably the 60i interlacing happens further down the chain).

you have tried turn all things off in direct 3d rather than on less strain on the gpu

Everything else is set to 'Let Application Decide' or 'Off', all defaults.

[thebruce]

I could probably trade out my 7600gs for something else.... is ATI a better choice? I had a 9500pro in my test machine, and never had tearing on that (no, I can't just swap those two; AGP vs PCIe)

The best thing you could do is bump your video card up to at least a 7600GT. It is the least powerful nvidia card that will do MPEG-2 Inverse Telecene with hardware, which takes care of the tearing you are experiencing. Check this nvidia product guide at http://www.nvidia.com/docs/CP/11036/Pure...arison.pdf

Check carefully because most new video cards require additional power from your power supply. If you buy too powerful a card you might have to upgrade your power supply too.

It might not be the easiest or cheapest thing to do, but good hardware will take care of most problems with video playback.

[johnsonx42]

hmmm... maybe I should steal my son's 7900GS and see if nothing more than a higher 7-series card will do it. He had such a coniption when I borrowed his LCD one night, it should be fun to see him twitch when I want his video card...

[johnsonx42]

Upgraded to an ATI Radeon HD4550. That solved the tearing problem.

The ATI card also has better image quality for TV, and far superior TV-out adjustments. I think maybe I'm almost (but not quite) glad that the negative aspect ratio problem pushed me to VMR9 which exposed the shortcomings of the 7600GS and caused me to get a better card. No doubt the HD4550 will pay off in other ways too later on, even when I'm running HDMI to a 1080p panel and no longer care about negative aspect ratios...

[johnsonx42]

Just wanted to update this thread, in case anyone comes across it and takes my counsel to get an HD4550:

No, it turns out it didn't solve my tearing problem. For reasons unknown, when I first tested it and posted here, it did seem to work great. But the next day on further testing and longer use, some slight tearing was still observed (but less severe than the 7600GS). Also, VMR9 Custom is now too stuttery to use; it has moments where it's smooth (I guess when I first tested was one of those moments), but is more often unusable.

We can otherwise consider this thread closed...

[zehd]

Upgraded to an ATI Radeon HD4550. That solved the tearing problem.

The ATI card also has better image quality for TV, and far superior TV-out adjustments. I think maybe I'm almost (but not quite) glad that the negative aspect ratio problem pushed me to VMR9 which exposed the shortcomings of the 7600GS and caused me to get a better card. No doubt the HD4550 will pay off in other ways too later on, even when I'm running HDMI to a 1080p panel and no longer care about negative aspect ratios...

I have a wide screen and couldn't live without negative aspect values.

The main reason: Remove Letterbox. There are lots of shows that are broadcast in letterbox inside a 4x3 frame, so if that's displayed on a 16x9 TV, there's black bars all the round... (I think that's what you were describing too)

Remove Letterbox, zooms out all the black bars. My TV also has it's own 4x3/16x9/Zoom function, but it's 4x3 aspect ratios are actually off, and squish my video horizontally...

[johnsonx42]

I have a wide screen and couldn't live without negative aspect values.

The main reason: Remove Letterbox. There are lots of shows that are broadcast in letterbox inside a 4x3 frame, so if that's displayed on a 16x9 TV, there's black bars all the round... (I think that's what you were describing too)

Remove Letterbox, zooms out all the black bars. My TV also has it's own 4x3/16x9/Zoom function, but it's 4x3 aspect ratios are actually off, and squish my video horizontally...

Yeah, I've come to realize that the negative aspect ratio values will still be useful even with a widescreen (though probably less mandatory).

I have a 16x9 hd set in the bedroom, but use it with a 4:3 sd signal. One mode we use almost always is a 'compromise' mode (Theatre Wide 3 I think it's called) that zooms a 4:3 picture a bit so that the top and bottom are cut off slightly, and stretches the picture horizontally just a bit so it fills the screen. It's a nice middle-ground between just stretching the picture (heads too fat), and just zooming (too much of the top and bottom lost by the time the screen is filled horizontally). I can certainly see once I get a big widescreen for the main TV (the one with GB-PVR), I'd want to replicate such a compromise mode.

You're right also about the 16x9 letterbox inside a 4:3 frame. That happens alot on SD broadcasts now, but I've even seen it a few times on a 16:9 HD channel! Imagine then, if you will, viewing that on a 4:3 TV with GB-PVR and no negative aspect ratio: You get a little 16:9 letterbox inside a 4:3 frame in the middle of a 16:9 letterbox in a 4:3 tv. 61" tv shrinks to about half size.

I'm down to about 4 choices:

1. Find a way to get VMR9 Custom working with no tearing, no stutters (seems all but hopeless).
2. Use EVR, live without negative aspect ratios (unpleasant, greatly diminished WAF)
3. Use VMR9 FSE, lose desired additional functionality (honestly not really a choice)
4. Just forget the whole thing, shelve the project.

I keep hoping our angel of mercy (sub) will swoop in and say "hey, I thought of how to make negative aspect ratio values work with EVR; expect a patch in a week".

[johnsonx42]

ooohhh, I just thought of something... what if I use the Overscan values in the Config.xml to stretch the whole display out, and then use fractional AspectRatioMode values to shrink the video back down again? Some of the GB-PVR screens and menus will probably be off the edge of the screen, but I might be able to screw with their positions in the skinning files.

I'll fiddle with it tonight and see what can be seen...