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[mdx1]

I am using MC 19.0.149 and noticed .ts video files recorded off the local CBS station (Channel 4 in Denver) have the following attribute set according to MediaInfo.

Active Format Description : Pillarbox 4:3 image

The effect of this field caused one of my hardware streamer to cut off both sides of the 16:9 frame to make a old 4:3 frame when playing the .ts files recorded by JR MC 19.

What is the purpose of this field in a 16:9 video?  Can it be removed/omitted?  Thank you!

The full set of the attributes are:

Video
ID : 49 (0x31)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@High
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Codec ID : 2
Duration : 58mn 59s
Bit rate : 16.4 Mbps
Maximum bit rate : 16.9 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Active Format Description : Pillarbox 4:3 image
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : Component
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.264
Time code of first frame : 03:35:44;10
Time code source : Group of pictures header
Stream size : 6.77 GiB (92%)
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

[Yaobing]

The field must have been added by the TV station.  We do not add such fields in the file.

Pillarbox 4:3 is an indication that the video is 4:3 and is put inside 16:9 frame, so there would be vertical black bars on the left and right (pillars).  If your video does not really have the bars, then it is the TV station that put the attribute in erroneously.

Could it be that some part of the video is 4:3 with black bars (for example an advertisement)?

[mdx1]

Thank you for the reply.

The TV program affected is part of 1080i 16:9 material.  I probably said 1080p which was not accurate since OTA programming is either 720p or 1080i, at least in the Denver area.

Interestingly only one of my 3 hardware media players is affected by this, the Micca EP600-G2.  It is showing the video with black bars on both sides effectively truncating the 16:9 1080i video to 4:3.  The others 2 players are showing the full 16:9 picture.  One is Sigma 864x chipset based Dune HD Base 3.0.  Another one is Realtek 1073DD based ASUS O!Play HDP-R1.  Both were 2009 chipsets.  Micca EP600-G2 is based on much newer (2012) Realtek 1186 chipset.

When played on other two media players, there were frequent hiccups.  The playback would lose audio for a second and the video became pixelated.  Playing back in JR MC fared better but there were still pauses.  Have you seen any 1080i recording behaved like this?

Is there anyway to edit that (AFD) out?