Couple of newbie questions

[screenname]

I think I got things mixed up. The following is what I have to get picture. I don't have MS DTV-DVD Video Decoder for "MPEG2 Video". MS DTV-DVD Video is available for "H.264 Video".

[sub]

If you're in the USA, then you're probably using MPEG2, not H.264 (unless you're using HDPVR/HDPVR2/Colossus)

For MPEG2, try installing and selecting the LAV Video Decoders. Try the LAVFilters-0.60.1.exe installer from https://code.google.com/p/lavfilters/downloads/list

[Zeb]

I get exactly the same black bars watching HD QAM channels with Aspect Ratio setting Auto, which is why I recommended Fill in an earlier post. This is true whether I use Cyberlink or Microsoft decoders for MPEG 2. I always assumed this was normal, or I would've started a thread long ago. (Had to be quick to catch screenshot while Auto was showing!) [Edit] Of course they do go away if you maximize the window!

[screenname]

If you're in the USA, then you're probably using MPEG2, not H.264 (unless you're using HDPVR/HDPVR2/Colossus)

For MPEG2, try installing and selecting the LAV Video Decoders. Try the LAVFilters-0.60.1.exe installer from https://code.google.com/p/lavfilters/downloads/list

Installed but no improvement.

[sub]

Ah, I think you're on a 16:10 monitor? These small black bars probably just there to fill the difference between 16:9 video and the 16:10 available realestate. If you prefer it to not be there, then the 'Fill' aspect ratio mode is probably your best bet.

[Zeb]

@ screenname, have you tried going full-screen, i.e. maximizing the window? Note that all screenshots are of small NextPVR windows. Maybe sub designed those for PAL aspect?

[screenname]

Ah, I think you're on a 16:10 monitor? These small black bars probably just there to fill the difference between 16:9 video and the 16:10 available realestate. If you prefer it to not be there, then the 'Fill' aspect ratio mode is probably your best bet.

Don't think the aspect ratio of my monitor has anything to do with it because the bar bars are there in windowed mode.

[screenname]

@ screenname, have you tried going full-screen, i.e. maximizing the window? Note that all screenshots are of small NextPVR windows. Maybe sub designed those for PAL aspect?

Full-screen mode also has the black bars and I guess that is to be expected because my monitor's resolution is 1920 x 1200

[johnsonx42]

sub, I believe the issue the users are seeing is that when you first open NextPVR.exe in a window, the window shape seems to be set to 16:10 (or maybe a little taller, but not 4:3). As soon as you attempt to resize the window, it "snaps" to the aspect ratio of the overall display. It doesn't seem to matter what the TV Shape setting is, for me it always snaps to 16:9 on my 1920x1080 monitor and 4:3 on my 1024x768 TV regardless of the setting.

On my client (with the 1920x1080 display), if I start a 16:9 video immediately after starting NextPVR (that is, without any attempt to resize the window), I get exactly the same black bars as shown in the posts above; if I then resize the window so it "snaps" to 16:9, the bars are eliminated.

[sub]

Yes, that's correct. The window size is always the same ratio as the fullscreen size, so that I don't have to reallocate of resources when the aspect ratio changes. The primary target of nextpvr is fullscreen, with window mode just provided as a convenience for testing. So...original comment stands, it's because you're using a 16:10 monitor, and it's adding small bars so that it can show the video in the correct aspect ratio. If you're not worried about retaining the correct aspect ration, then you can have it stretch the video to fill the screen.