how to correct stretched out video playback ?

[fvw53]

I downloaded a torrent with a TV series of 2 seasons (on an external hard disk which I can plug into the USB port of my TV)

- the first season has perfect playback on my large screen TV

- the second season has a video playback whereby the picture is stretched and does not fit the screen : everything looks longer than normal also the faces or bodies of the actors

I have several video editing software but I do not know how to adjust the stretched out playback

Does a forum member know how to correct this?

[recom273]

What are you using to play? Maybe there is some kind of setting on your player, that's the easiest way.

 

If you don't mind using your computer to view it then VLC has adjustment features go to video > aspect ratio and go through the list.

 

Otherwise you need to check and correct the ratio by transcoding.

 

The first place to start would be this

 

https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfoOnline

 

Post your media info of the file and we can see the sizes and ratios used when encrypting the file, its not so hard to reencode using handbrake or ffmpeg.

 

tbh, unless you want to learn a new skill, its easier to post the series you are looking for and someone can point you in the right direction to getting a decent copy.

 

 

 

 

[fvw53]

Yes with VLC and selecting video - aspect ratio - 16:9  the format was corrected  ...but I do not understand how to save the VLC playback in this corrected format on an external hard disk so that I can plug it into a USB port of my TV  / anyway thank you

[JayClay]

It doesn't work like that.

 

Most TVs have an option somewhere to cycle through/select the correct aspect ratio. Have a fiddle on your remote.

[recom273]

11 hours ago, fvw53 said:

Yes with VLC and selecting video - aspect ratio - 16:9  the format was corrected  ...but I do not understand how to save the VLC playback in this corrected format on an external hard disk so that I can plug it into a USB port of my TV  / anyway thank you

You can’t save it from VLC but you might be able to watch it with a corrected ratio.

 

If you want to correct it permanently, you need to reencode the video to the correct aspect ratio using ffmpeg or handbrake. 
 

It doesn’t take long, it’s not difficult, but especially with ffmpeg, if you don’t understand command line it can be a bit daunting. 

 

It could be as easy as this example, you just need to change the values of the filename, the codec and the aspect ratio, you repeat for every file,

 

ffmpeg -i <INPUT_FILE> -vf scale=720:540 -c:v <Video_Codec> <OUTPUT_FILE>

 

Here is a demo

 

 

 

[fvw53]

9 hours ago, recom273 said:

You can’t save it from VLC but you might be able to watch it with a corrected ratio.

 

If you want to correct it permanently, you need to reencode the video to the correct aspect ratio using ffmpeg or handbrake. 
 

It doesn’t take long, it’s not difficult, but especially with ffmpeg, if you don’t understand command line it can be a bit daunting. 

 

It could be as easy as this example, you just need to change the values of the filename, the codec and the aspect ratio, you repeat for every file,

 

ffmpeg -i <INPUT_FILE> -vf scale=720:540 -c:v <Video_Codec> <OUTPUT_FILE>

 

Here is a demo

 

 

 

It took me while to find out how the FFmpeg software worked but I succeeded to change the ratio from 4:3 to 19:9  / thank you !

[recom273]

2 minutes ago, fvw53 said:

It took me while to find out how the FFmpeg software worked but I succeeded to change the ratio from 4:3 to 19:9  / thank you !

Wicked! Did it take you all day?

 

Every time I try and do something with ffmpeg, its a vertical learning curve. It took 3 of us to work out how to change a .mov to a .mp4 file last weekend, and 15 seconds to run the command.

 

Although I can use it, I dont fully understand it - there are little changes you need to make when using the commands when switching between Mac, windows or linux - I was dreading you coming back and asking for some assistance.

 

Glad it worked out.