[mythtv-users] HDPVR HD Recordings are in 4:3 format

[Devin Heitmueller]

On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 3:08 PM, Joe Henley <joehenley at kc.rr.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am having a similar problem with my MythTV system.  I have favorite series
> recorded on an HD-PVR in HD which are normally full screen 16:9 1920x1080,
> but sometimes an episode will play back in 4:3 720x480 or 16:9 1280x720.
> I'm running MythTV 0.25.2 on Fedora Core 16.  This thread has been very
> helpful to me in searching for the source of the problem(s).
>
> I've used mediainfo (thanks for the tip on that one) to determine that if an
> episode plays back in 720x480 or 1280x720, then it was recorded that way
> (mediainfo says the file is 720x480 or 1280x720) even though most episodes
> of the series are 16:9 1920x1080.
>
> I went thru my playback settings and they seem OK (video aspect override is
> off).
>
> What I can't figure out is if the cable provider (Time Warner) is causing
> the problem or if something I'm doing is the issue.  I have a separate cable
> box dedicated to, and connected only to, the HD-PVR. I use a firewire
> connection from the MythTV backend machine to the cable box to change
> channels.  It all runs pretty well -- except for this problem.
>
> Can anyone suggest a method to determine what the root problem is? Does Time
> Warner sometimes send a normally 1920x1080 show out at 720x480?  Is there
> something I'm missing?

The cable companies typically simultaneously broadcast both SD and HD
version of the same program on different channels (think Discovery
versus Discovery HD).  Is it possible that you're simply recording off
of the non-HD channel in those cases?

Devin

-- 
Devin J. Heitmueller - Kernel Labs
http://www.kernellabs.com