DivZ playback on compatible DVD players.....

[Matt_C]

So I just got me a Sony DVP-NS92V (thanks to a nice forum member here) and this is the first DVD player I have had that is DivX compatible.

So I tested this with burning and AVI to CD-R as a data disc.

Now the NS92V finds and plays the AVI fine, BUT!

It takes the widescreen format it was made in (2.35:1 ratio in a 16:9 frame, when played on the PC) and turns it into a 2.35:1 ration in a 4:3 frame on the DVD player!

So to enlarge to full screen I have the widen and stretch the picture to make it fit, which of course degrades the PQ a little....

Is this a feature of all DivX players then? If I download/create an AVI in proper 16:9 widescreen will it always convert it to a 4:3 frame and letterbox the visual film inside it?

[Greg Mandel]

The Sony NS76h also seems to do that, but other players (such as Pioneer) show the avi correctly. Sony don't seem to want to do anything to fix the problem.

[Matt_C]

I see - so it seems it's a sony problem really... It does say in the manual it will only show DivX films that are no more than 720x576, so I guess it "downscales" the size to a 4:3 frame of that size and shows the film in that frame, so it is 720 wide...

[Greg Mandel]

Originally Posted by Matt_C

I see - so it seems it's a sony problem really... It does say in the manual it will only show DivX films that are no more than 720x576, so I guess it "downscales" the size to a 4:3 frame of that size and shows the film in that frame, so it is 720 wide...

Well a normal PAL DVD is 720x576, and that doesn't show in a 4:3 box does it?

I just get the impression that Sony would rather you buy DVDs and forget about DivX. Maybe they get more royalties from DVD. A few people on the forum have persued it with Sony support, and the answer that came back was along the lines of "we don't really support Divx that much".

[Matt_C]

A 16:9 PAL DVD can't be 720x576 - 720x576 is a 4:3 frame. The subsequent 16:9 frame using 720 as the width would be 720x405.....

Forgive me, of course, if I have completely missed the ball here tho - aspect ratios I can do, but all this 720p, 1080i, and 720x576 etc I don't quite get lol....

[Greg Mandel]

Originally Posted by Matt_C

A 16:9 PAL DVD can't be 720x576 - 720x576 is a 4:3 frame. The subsequent 16:9 frame using 720 as the width would be 720x405.....

Forgive me, of course, if I have completely missed the ball here tho - aspect ratios I can do, but all this 720p, 1080i, and 720x576 etc I don't quite get lol....

A PAL DVD is 720x576. You can play it in a PC and see that the res is 720x576. It's in the spec, and you can look it up at Wiki or loads of other places. Look up "anamorphic" while you are there, and you will see how people store a widescreen image in a 4:3 style format.

A player (whether SD or upscaling) handles it properly. It has to because so many widescreen DVDs are anamorphic prints. Even your Sony player will handle it correctly.

The problem is that your Sony doesn't handle Divx at the same res correctly, which is why you are seeing what you are seeing. It's a known problem you can find by searching the forum here.

If it's really an important issue to you, you will have to replace your current player with one like the Pioneer 696 that handles Divx much better than Sony does. For instance, a widescreen Divx or Xvid will run as a normal widescreen movie on my 696, filling the screen correctly, or giving small black bars if it is a 2.35 and larger than 16:9.

[Matt_C]

Ahh, I see. Contrary to what you might belive, I do actually know what anamorphic is and how it works, I jsut had not attributed the two together...

It doesn't bother me that much to change DVD player no - I only just got this DVD player today, and previous to today, I coudln't play divx full stop, so as it now, it's a bonus. Certainly saves on converting it to DVD VTS/VOB files and burning to DVD-R!

Just curious then, how if a DVD is ripped to DivX and isn't anamorphic (as in a 1.85:1 ratio inside a 4:3 frame), makes me wonder what the original format was - anamorphic or not...

Either way it wsa just a question - and I DID add on there that I was most likely wrong as all this a tad new to me

[Greg Mandel]

Originally Posted by Matt_C

Ahh, I see. Contrary to what you might belive, I do actually know what anamorphic is and how it works, I jsut had not attributed the two together...

It doesn't bother me that much to change DVD player no - I only just got this DVD player today, and previous to today, I coudln't play divx full stop, so as it now, it's a bonus. Certainly saves on converting it to DVD VTS/VOB files and burning to DVD-R!

I find it makes life a lot quicker and simpler, and in theory it should look at least as good as going through the hassle and time of converting to Mpeg2.

Originally Posted by Matt_C

Just curious then, how if a DVD is ripped to DivX and isn't anamorphic (as in a 1.85:1 ratio inside a 4:3 frame), makes me wonder what the original format was - anamorphic or not...

Depends on how it was encoded. There are display aspect ratios stored in avi files that should tell the player how deal with this issue. The player could just be made clever enough to play back an avi correctly by looking at the resolution of the input file. Normally a DivX wouldn't contain any black borders, so it would not be in a DVD-standard resolution, and the player would be expected to deal with this correctly based on the resolution and headers of the .AVI.

You might try looking at Mpeg4modifier to see if fiddling with the .AVI's header info will help you. The basic consensus seems to be that Sony has done the minumum to say they can support Divx, and isn't interested in doing it properly. Maybe they just don't deal with display ratios when they should do.

Originally Posted by Matt_C

Either way it wsa just a question - and I DID add on there that I was most likely wrong as all this a tad new to me

The world of PC based codecs is ridiculously complicated, so don't feel too bad. There are a few of the more exotic players that go out of their way to support these things very well (like KISS or Snazio) and the newer Philips is pretty good. I think the new Pioneers are the best of the mainstream companies, as they seem to be able to play almost any DivX/Xvid above and beyond the call of duty.

It's a real pity that Sony only pay lip service to their DivX support, because otherwise their newer models like the NS76/92 seem to be very well received, but I guess it's just not very high on their priority list.