Aspect Ratio and other questions (please help)

[Morgolking]

Hi,

I'm new to makemkv and am not the most tech savvy person. I've been ripping my blu-rays for my personal use on my home cpu but when I play the mkv file using VLC, GOM or any of my video playback software the aspect ratio is strange.

The playback does not fill up all the way to the ends of the monitor horizontally. I can fill up the screen by choosing the option to "fill screen" with my player but every player automatically displays an aspect ratio that is smaller than the screen. Am I ripping incorrectly or losing quality from the original source?

My second question is: When I choose to rip a blu-ray sometimes the movie/tv show will be the largest file and I simply choose to rip that; however, sometimes there are multiple files that are pretty much the same size and are obviously the movie but with different language options -- do I need to select all boxes with the movie to make sure I don't lose video/audio quality?

Last question: What happens when I select HD audio and 5.1 audio to be ripped together? Will both be part of the file and what determines which audio is played back when watching the movie/tv show?

Thank you in advance.

[Smithcraft]

For the first question, I think it's safe to say, every bluray is 16 by 9, or every bluray is 1920 by 1080. Without further explanantion of what the playback issue is, or maybe a screen shot, we can't really tell what the problem might be.

MakeMKV is copying the data from the disc so you are not losing any quality.

For the second question, some blurays have multiple versions of a movie on one disc. Take the Skynet version of Terminator 2. There is the theatrical release, the extended release, and the directors cut.

Some discs use tricks with the playlist feature to deter people like you and me from ripping the discs. There might a be a gajillion titles with changes in the playlists. Some might be legit, like having signage in different languages, but most are just bogus.

No matter what you select, MakeMKV will just copy the data from the disc, so you will not lose any quality.

If you select both of the regular and HD tracks you will get two tracks. The HD track will include the core track. What gets played is determined by what you are using to play the files with.

SC

[Jon Walker]

I'm new to makemkv and am not the most tech savvy person. I've been ripping my blu-rays for my personal use on my home cpu but when I play the mkv file using VLC, GOM or any of my video playback software the aspect ratio is strange.

The playback does not fill up all the way to the ends of the monitor horizontally. I can fill up the screen by choosing the option to "fill screen" with my player but every player automatically displays an aspect ratio that is smaller than the screen. Am I ripping incorrectly or losing quality from the original source?

The real question here is whether or not the content is meant to fill the full width of the screen. To add to what Smithcraft said, the display may be correct as is if the source content has a display ratio less than 1.78:1. In such cases the original video is normally pillared (placed within a 16:9 aspect 1920x1080 display window) and encoded as any other full 16:9 aspect video. For instance, older videos like I Married a Witch and The Bishop's Wife were released in their original 1.33:1 aspect in this manner. The same could hold true for older TV shows if remastered for BD release. In addition, many of the older Disney movies are released in their original 1.66:1 aspect in this manner. Some movies may even be released in both/either "Full Screen" (1.33:1) and/or Widescreen (1.78: to 2.35:1) versions. Your best bet here is to look at your BD packaging information to determine what the true aspect of the content as released should be.

My second question is: When I choose to rip a blu-ray sometimes the movie/tv show will be the largest file and I simply choose to rip that; however, sometimes there are multiple files that are pretty much the same size and are obviously the movie but with different language options -- do I need to select all boxes with the movie to make sure I don't lose video/audio quality?

As explained by Smithcraft, your disc can contain different versions of the same movie. In some cases one version may include extended or modified scenes (usually indicated by a change in the segment sequence). In other cases, the video may target a different language with the video containing signs or credits displayed in the same language as the primary audio track for that movie version. As to what you should select, my recommendation would be to select the version containing the video version matching your display language preference and the select whichever audio tracks available for that version which you may wish available for playback as secondary audio channels on your playback device.

In my case, English is my primary language so I would normally select the video version with English signs and/or credits, the HD DTS surround sound audio, and no subtitles other than "Forced English." I then convert the MKV file to an iTunes compatible M4V H.264/AAC PLII/AC3 DD5.1/Chaptered 720p24 file with burned in Forced English subtitles for foreign languages (if used) for iTunes management and viewing on mobile devices (e.g., iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, ?TV, and/or wireless Media Drive), as well as, streaming to compatible players within the home or on the road. The ripped copy then remains on a RAID unit for viewing on my the host computer if desired and the original BD is stored in my video library room as the primary archive copy of the media in case of total catastrophic failure of my media storage units. (I.e., I am retired and collect video content as a major hobby.)

Last question: What happens when I select HD audio and 5.1 audio to be ripped together? Will both be part of the file and what determines which audio is played back when watching the movie/tv show?

Once again, to add to what Smithcraft stated, that will depend on how you view the content. Specifics will, of course, depend on the device or software used, but both the HD DTS and AC3 audio streams will be available for your use. For instance, VLC has an audio menu that will allow you to switch between the audio options. External device will depend on the device specific features and/or internal/external decoder capabilities. With regard to quality, the HD DTS audio is usually considered to have better quality and may be encoded with up to 7.1 surround sound while AC3 is normally limited to DD 5.1 and 640 Kbps audio. Depending on your audio playback system and your audio acuity, you may or may not hear much of a difference.