We’re aware that we have issues detecting the correct aspect ratio in v2.8 HLS content. We’ve fixed some of these issues and will be rolling out the patch over the next week (build 1158).
However, we’re also aware that there is some content that this patch does not fix. We’d like to gather a more comprehensive list of good test content that exhibits any HLS aspect ratio issues in v2.8. Please post links here and will add them to our test suite as we work towards another fix.
I have a few files locally. They’re 200+ MB files, though (approx. 30 minutes of video). Would it be ok to upload to a hosting site and post the links here?
Would you want both the original file (which are AVI files that don’t work in Roku), and the converted MP4 files that have aspect ratio problems? Or just the files that have the problem?
As someone in the general forum mentioned, files encoded with HandBrake using the default ffmpeg mp4 codec appear squished. Files encoded with the x264 codec do not. I guess this begs the question, are the files with the ffmpeg mp4 codec supported?
Here’s two relatively small (3 MB) files that can be downloaded that illustrate the problem: mp4 x264
Here’s another set of test videos (created with Handbrake). They are two versions of the same video; all encoding settings are identical except for the video codec. I have today’s update (2.8 b1158) installed. The MPEG-4 is squished when played on MyMedia, but the H.264 video plays just fine.
I downloaded the samples posted by renojim and canaws today and got the same results (x264 had the correct display aspect, ffmpeg were squashed) using this playback chain:
All 88 of my transcodes were done with handbrake v0.9.4 using ffmpeg v0.6 as it is several times faster than x264 on SMP hardware. They are a mix of yuv420p (movie and TV series DVD library) at 29.97/23.98fps, ac3/aac (most 2 ch stereo), 720x400 [PAR 1:1 DAR 9:5] and 640x480 [PAR 1:1 DAR 4:3].
Since 2.8, not one displays correctly. Note the squash effect can be visually simulated by opening the mp4 in vlc and selecting
Video -> Aspect Ratio -> 1:1
which may point at how 2.8 interprets 1:1 pixel aspect ratio source (compared to 2.7).
Just adding one more data point. I have several hundred mpeg encoded videos that played fine under 2.7 and now display squished under 2.8. I tested this as soon as I received my Roku, and would have returned it if was incompatible. Now it’s too late…
Here is a picture off my TV. Notice left and right sides are now squished in after taking the latest BIOS update. I had no issues before the update using USB Media Browser.
I tested the two videos that I posted with the new v2.9 beta on MyMedia. The mpeg-4 video is no longer squished. I couldn’t get renojim’s videos to play for some reason, even though they play fine on my laptop. They would only load about 95% of the way and get stuck.
I didn’t see any other problems, but I think someone with more mpeg-4 videos than me should test it out.
“canaws” wrote:
I tested the two videos that I posted with the new v2.9 beta on MyMedia. The mpeg-4 video is no longer squished. I couldn’t get renojim’s videos to play for some reason, even though they play fine on my laptop. They would only load about 95% of the way and get stuck.
I didn’t see any other problems, but I think someone with more mpeg-4 videos than me should test it out.
Unfortunately, I’ve run across a few more videos exhibiting the issue, and have PM’d links to RokuKevin.
“canaws” wrote:
I couldn’t get renojim’s videos to play for some reason, even though they play fine on my laptop. They would only load about 95% of the way and get stuck.
Both of them worked for me. I did have a case where a video appeared to load completely and then stalled, but when I tried it again it worked.
Thanks for everyone’s help testing this issue. Please continue to monitor and report, but so far everything looks good.
The ‘endless’ issue was a false positive as the encoding resolution was 960x720, and looked like it was encoded from 16:9 original video so it did appear “squished” though it wasn’t a playback issue.
“RokuKevin” wrote:
Thanks for everyone’s help testing this issue. Please continue to monitor and report, but so far everything looks good.
The ‘endless’ issue was a false positive as the encoding resolution was 960x720, and looked like it was encoded from 16:9 original video so it did appear “squished” though it wasn’t a playback issue.
–Kevin
With all due respect, I wouldn’t call it a “false positive”, when they play at the correct aspect ratio in other players. I didn’t send you the links based on their appearance on the Roku alone. I sent them based on a comparison to a number of other players where they rendered correctly. I tested all three videos in Windows Media Player, VLC, and on the Apple TV, and they rendered at 16x9 on all but the Roku. While in the strictest sense the Roku may be correctly rendering it at the reported resolution, which may indicate a “false positive” for this particular bug, I think there must be an “anamorphic” flag somewhere in the headers that isn’t being respected by the Roku.
