Good evening hope all is well. I just got my Plex setup going again. I had left these files mkv's and placed them into my /video folder, added the folder as a library to Plex.
Some things I noticed, the viewing aspect ratio isnt the same as the dvd. One particular video will play full screen/wide screen on DVD (16:9), but the mkv file is a square box (4:3??)
So what's best practice, use the mkv file or encode it thru handbrake? TIA
aspect ratio
Re: aspect ratio
The problem is that MKV files can have the aspect ratio in one place... but disks can have it in TWO places. Usually it's the same in both, but sometimes not.
The key is getting the correct value into the MKV file. Sometimes handbrake can do that. Sometimes it screws it up. "Best bet" is to use mkvtoolnix to set it correctly in the MKV file, then handbrake and everything else uses it correctly.
The key is getting the correct value into the MKV file. Sometimes handbrake can do that. Sometimes it screws it up. "Best bet" is to use mkvtoolnix to set it correctly in the MKV file, then handbrake and everything else uses it correctly.
MakeMKV Frequently Asked Questions
How to aid in finding the answer to your problem: Activating Debug Logging
How to aid in finding the answer to your problem: Activating Debug Logging
Re: aspect ratio
With dvd, sd video is "anamorphic" (both for 4:3 and 16:9 btw). I.e., pixels aren't square. In dvd, a AR flag is set to tell a player how to handle it.
Matroska container doesn't have an aspect ratio flag, but instead carries values for "video display width" and "- height".
As Woodstock already mentioned, it's possible that these values aren't written properly in the mkv file. Or maybe they aren't properly read/followed up by Plex (I don't know the software).
You can at least check and edit these values with MKVToolnix's Header editor. Changing them goes on-the-fly; no remux is required.