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[wer]

Since all standard def dvd videos show dimensions of 720x480 in MC, is there a field or expression that will let me identify which movies are anamorphic and which are 4:3?  The Aspect Ratio field looked a likely candidate, but it is empty for all my videos.  Obviously JRiver detects anamorphic videos since it plays them correctly.  But how to retrieve that knowledge?

[JimH]

I'm not sure, but try selecting a few, right click and analyze.

[Hendrik]

The database is filled from container metadata if available - however this data is not easily accessible for every file, so its often unset.
So unfortunately it can't really be set reliably in the database without a lot of extra effort, so if Aspect Ratio is blank, and also not getting filled when you re-read the data (Update library from tags), then I'm afraid there is no good solution to identify these files right now.

[blgentry]

Wait, wait.... MC obviously detects anamorphic content correctly, or it would play "funny" and be vertically stretched.  Are you saying that the anamorphic flag just isn't accessible from the MC database?  Because it's obviously being used.  As usual, I could be missing something...

Brian.

[Hendrik]

Like I  said, the database is only filled from the metadata thats immediately available in the video container (ie. the mp4 or mkv file itself) - which is not necessarily everything, as much info hides in the video stream inside said container.

Playback obviously handles the full codec info, its an entirely different process.
For Aspect Ratio specifically, I've improved the process some time ago, but its still a bit hit or miss and won't really show much for many files.

[ferday]

I have used mediainfo

http://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

This will (often?) get the PAR and DAR (pixel and display aspect ratios)

PAR=DAR*(width/height)

If PAR isn't 1 then the pixels are not square (anamorphic)

I stopped caring since it was really an academic exercise, as videos all play correctly anyways

[mojave]

Since all standard def dvd videos show dimensions of 720x480 in MC, is there a field or expression that will let me identify which movies are anamorphic and which are 4:3?  The Aspect Ratio field looked a likely candidate, but it is empty for all my videos.  Obviously JRiver detects anamorphic videos since it plays them correctly.  But how to retrieve that knowledge?

Can you explain more why you need to know the difference and how it affects your playback? Sometimes there are other solutions.

[fitbrit]

Like I  said, the database is only filled from the metadata thats immediately available in the video container (ie. the mp4 or mkv file itself) - which is not necessarily everything, as much info hides in the video stream inside said container.

Playback obviously handles the full codec info, its an entirely different process.
For Aspect Ratio specifically, I've improved the process some time ago, but its still a bit hit or miss and won't really show much for many files.

In the past, I've requested that some of the info is filled in if we play a iso, for example. Things like compression, fps, duration etc. Could this be possible? It's clearly being read once you start playback; could MC be made to write the tags in?

[wer]

Can you explain more why you need to know the difference and how it affects your playback? Sometimes there are other solutions.

It doesn't affect playback.  It's an organizational tool for me, the same as people might want to know the director of a movie.

But unlike director, anamorphic status/pixel aspect ratio is an inherent property of the file, so I'd hoped to be able to use JRiver to retrieve it rather than being forced to manually inspect and tag every file myself..  But I guess not...

I'll take a look at Mediainfo.  Ffmpeg can detect it as well, but translating that into a tag is another matter.