Question on configuring Mezzmo for Magnavox Blu--Ray player

[JonWestcot]

Hi:

I'm using the trial version of Mezzmo and really like it, although I have a problem that I'm hoping someone can help me resolve.

I'm streaming video from Mezzmo to a Magnavox Blu-Ray player (model MBP5220F). The Blu-Ray player is connected to a regular old TV (a Panasonic, made in the early 1980s, that is huge and is still going strong), which means I've set up my Blu-Ray player to show disc output in Letterbox format, since it has to fit the 4:3 typical format. And, any AVIs that I stream from Mezzmo that are natively in 4:3 aspect ratio are just fine. BUT, the problem I'm having is that anything NOT in 4:3 aspect ratio gets translated to 4:3.

Looking here in the forums, I found reference to the device settings and looked; it defaulted to Generic NTSC, which represents the TV just great, but not the Blu-Ray player that's in between Mezzmo and the TV. And, as far as I can see, there's no configuration option for the aforementioned Magnavox Blu-Ray player.

So... any suggestions? What do I do? How can I get Mezzmo to correctly display these wide-screen AVI files?

I look forward to hearing from anyone soon with suggestions.

Sincerely,

Jon

[Paul]

Hi Jon,

What you can try is go to the Media Devices dialog, select the Generic Device (NTSC) profile and click the Edit button. Go to Performance tab, place a check in the "Maximum video size" box and select "Standard Definition TV (NTSC)" from the Presets menu on the right. After that click OK to apply.

Then delete your transcoded files (using the Transcoding Settings dialog or right-click on the file in Mezzmo, go to Properties -> Transcoding tab and delete from there) and try playing them again.

[JonWestcot]

Hi Dennis:

Thank you SO MUCH for the quick reply. I will try this out and see what happens.

I do have one question, though -- will this option create the "traditional" Letterbox look (i.e., will it put black bars at the top and bottom of the video image), or will it create a "pan-n-scan"-like image on the fly?

Also, do you know if there will ever be an option for direct support of Magnavox Blu-Ray devices?

Sincerely,

Jon

[Paul]

Hi Jon,

Videos will be downsized, keeping the aspect ratio, so yes, it may produce black bars for some.

Looking at the technical specs for the Magnavox, it appears to only support MPEG2 video, which is basically what the Generic device profile is. We could create a new device profile for it, if it can play more than that. To check that, try turning transcoding off and then playing some files. If it plays non-MPEG2 files, then yes, we'll need to create a new device profile for it.

[JonWestcot]

Hi again, Dennis:

Thanks again for your input.

I have tried the options you suggested first, which still does not result in a video that maintains its aspect ratio. No matter what I select, it seems that it converts the aspect ratio to fill the screen.

I have not yet tried the option about viewing the videos without transcoding them, but I hope to check this out soon. Once I've so done, I'll let you know what happens. Still, it seems that a device description for the Magnavox Blu-Ray player may be needed if the problem with the aspect ratio cannot be fixed with currently available on-screen adjustable settings.

Lastly, I was wondering if there's any way to pre-transcode a file. It would seem to make sense to do this, but I can't seem to find an option for this.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Jon

[Paul]

Hi Jon,

The next release of Mezzmo will include the pre-transcoding feature, so you'll be able to prepare your files in advance. It should be out before the end of the year.

[JonWestcot]

Hi Dennis:

Thanks for letting me know that the next version of Mezzmo will have the pre-transcode feature.

And, as a follow-up, I tried running Mezzmo with the "Transcode" option unchecked, so that any of the video files I've set up in it would not be converted for my Magnavox Blu-Ray player. The Blu-Ray player refused to list any of the video files, so I'm relatively certain that it is not going to process any other video files than MPEG-2. However, I STILL cannot get Mezzmo to preserve the aspect ratio when converting the videos. I did remember to clear out the transcode files before trying to access the files through my Blu-Ray player again. Any thoughts on how to get Mezzmo to preserve the aspect ratio?

Sincerely,

Jon

[Paul]

Hi Jon,

Please open a support ticket and I'll send you a device profile to try. Or, if you prefer (and are comfortable with editing text files), I can tell you how to modify the Generic one that you have to try and preserve the original aspect ratio.

[Paul]

Just an update - Mezzmo v2.5 has been released and it includes the 'pre-transcoding' features that have been discussed in this thread.