Technical Issues and Questions

Discuss North American DVDs and Blu-rays or other DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1901 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 29, 2021 3:24 pm

I use Handbrake

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1902 Post by senseabove » Wed Dec 29, 2021 5:59 pm

I don't think it's possible to get Handbrake to only modify the audio without re-encoding the video, fwiw, and I don't think it's possible to convert just the audio on a Mac without getting into the ffmpeg command line.

If you're not afraid of a little command line dabbling, just download ffmpeg from here, put the unzipped ffmpeg program and the file you want to modify on your Desktop, then open the Terminal and type:
cd ~/Desktop

Then:
./ffmpeg -i input_filename.mkv -acodec aac -vcodec copy output_filename.mkv
(You'll probably need to make OS X allow that program to run in the Security preferences and then do that last line again.)

If you did want to keep the original video and use only free GUI programs... it's possible with Handbake, MakeMKV, and MKVToolnix, but it's pretty convoluted (convert in one, split in the next, remerge in the last) and honestly, learning a smidge of command line is probably easier than learning all those interfaces.

As for streaming locally, you may have better luck setting up Plex on a computer on your network, then use the Roku Plex app to stream it. It should convert things on the fly to whatever your TV can handle, and Plex will probably handle that better than VLC+Chromecast as that's what it was pretty well designed to do.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1903 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:25 pm

Thanks, I actually converted the file via Handbrake (which took nearly two hours) and yeah, it changed from an mkv to an mp4, which is fine, but the subtitles embedded in the original file didn't come with it. So I'm experimenting with that feature, though it's going to take another two hours to see if I did it right - no online video or resource is very helpful. I'll probably just go the Plex route at this point. Do I just download "Plex" from the website?

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domino harvey
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1904 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:33 pm

You can select what kind of file to save as, just select mkv

You can extract subs via MKVTools and then convert to srt online if not srt

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1905 Post by senseabove » Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:41 pm

Yeah, that's the joy of re-encoding video—it takes a while, so it's especially annoying when you don't need it to do that. But like dom said, you can pretty easily extract and add subtitles using mkvtools without doing it all over again.

This guide should get you going with Plex. You want the Plex Media Server on the computer that has your files, and then you can use the app on any other device to stream content from it (you have to pay if you want to stream it to the app on your phone, though I don't think you need to pay to stream via the Roku app—and if you do, you can get around that by using the web interface).

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ChunkyLover
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2020 8:22 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1906 Post by ChunkyLover » Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:51 pm

For audio conversion, I usually rip the audio track using MKVCleaver. I use Adobe Audition if I want to edit or change the file type; I have a plugin for my version of Audition (1.5) that allows me to open Dolby Digital and lossy DTS tracks. The only downside is that it doesn't work on DTS-MA HD tracks and I have to use WavePad to even open DTS-MA HD tracks.

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ianthemovie
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1907 Post by ianthemovie » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:34 pm

We got a new TV for Christmas (50-inch Sony X85J) and I'm having a devil of a time calibrating the picture quality. The motion-smoothing settings are legion and nearly impossible to keep turned off. I now compulsively check to make sure "Motion Flow," "CineMotion," and "Reality Creation" (whatever that is--it sounds terrifying) are all set to Off, because they seem to turn on again whenever the TV toggles to a new input source.

Does anyone happen to know if there is another motion-smoothing setting hidden somewhere that I've missed? We watched Citizen Kane last night and I could swear that certain movements looked artificially smooth though it's possible I've become paranoid about this.

Color balance also occasionally looks off. I put in the 4K edition of Rear Window just to see how it looked and was surprised to find Jimmy Stewart's blue pajamas looked dull and washed out. When I watched the film on Blu-ray a year or so ago (on my old Samsung LCD) I remember the color popped beautifully so I was surprised that it almost looks less impressive in HDR. Any suggestions as to how to calibrate the color correctly? My 4K player is a Sony UPB-X800, for whatever that's worth. I realize this is not a top-of-the-line system--we're unable to go any bigger at the moment--but I have a feeling I do not have it set up optimally.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1908 Post by senseabove » Sun Jan 02, 2022 3:07 pm

Sony does frustratingly separate settings per input and per profile, so yes, each profile needs to be configured for each input source. It's maddening. I was compulsively checking settings every time I watched something for the first month or so.

Rear Window's blu-ray was, in my opinion, horrifically overblown color-wise. I've seen the movie multiple times on film, and I've always loathed that blu-ray for its diner jukebox neon color palette, because it looks nothing whatsoever like the film as projected. The new UHD is spot-on, and I was overjoyed to see they'd toned down the color.

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EddieLarkin
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1909 Post by EddieLarkin » Sun Jan 02, 2022 3:25 pm

That's pretty par for the course with any TV and has been for years, that all HDMI inputs will have their own settings, so you will need to adjust all of them (though there will also be a "copy to all inputs" option somewhere to do this for you). And now with HDR and Dolby Vision they also come with their own settings too, so they'll need adjusting as well (and you'll only be able to do this when you're feeding the TV an HDR10 or Dolby Vision source).

But of the 3 options you've mentioned only one of them controls motion, and that's Motion Flow. CineMotion on the otherhand allows the TV to playback content at 24hz properly, so you want this on, not off (and ensure your X800 is set to 24p too). If you have it off you'll end up with motion judder. Reality Creation is basically AI sharpening, so I'd keep that off, though remember the normal Sharpening setting should be at 50, as this is actually 0 on Sony sets.

As for the colour on Rear Window, keep in mind that HDR is an absolute luminance system, so you're essentially forced to watch your titles back at the light level they appeared at in the grading suite. Meaning unless you are watching in perfectly controlled lighting conditions, certain films are going to seem dimmer and duller than their SDR counterparts. I would certainly expect RW to be one of these as it has been mastered to a very very low nit level. Feel free to post all of your current settings in HDR mode and I'll check if nothing untoward is going on.

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ianthemovie
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1910 Post by ianthemovie » Mon Jan 03, 2022 5:14 pm

Thanks EddieLarkin and senseabove. I can agree that a less saturated look is probably correct for Rear Window though as Eddie says what I'm noticing is probably more of a luminance issue than a color one. It is becoming clearer to me that I will simply need to spend some time calibrating each disc before watching since the system allows for so much variance.

I was spot-checking a couple more films last night and I'm still not 100% happy with the way the TV is rendering motion at times. (Some random examples of small moments that look "off" to me: the handheld-camera shots of Mia Farrow on the bed during the dream sequence in Rosemary's Baby; the swooping crane shots in and out of the nightclub roof in Citizen Kane; the camera approaching the hotel room window at the beginning of Psycho; Barbara Stanwyck's body movements when she brings Henry Fonda into her stateroom in The Lady Eve.) The "timing" of the movement in these shots look ever so slightly smooth-yet-jerky. But having seemed to exhausted all of the picture settings (and checking to make sure the firmware is up to date) I can't find any other way to correct this, unless there's something else buried in the video settings for the Blu-ray player that I haven't found.

So CineMotion should be set to "High"? "Low"? (These are the only options it gives me other than "off.") I'll keep Motion Flow and Reality Creation turned off. The player is correctly set up for 24fps output.

Miscellaneous other TV settings (and should any of these be different for SDR than for HDR?):

HDR Mode: [options are Auto, HDR10, HLG, Off] - Am I correct in assuming this should be set to "off" when watching SDR and to "HDR10" when watching 4K with HDR?
HDMI Video Range: [Auto, Full, Limited]
Color Space: [Auto, sRGB/BT.709, DCI, Adobe RGB, BT.2020]
Random Noise Reduction and Digital Noise Reduction: Is there any advantage to turning these on?

As for the Blu-ray player, there is a picture setting called something like "Bravia mode"; any advantage to turning this on? Doing so seems to have (maybe) slightly improved the motion-rendering issue.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1911 Post by Matt » Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:27 am

I need to add some subtitles timed for Blu-ray to a film ripped from PAL DVD. Is there an easy software option to stretch the film out an extra 4% so the subtitles sync? Can I do this in HandBrake? Or is there an easy way to retime the subtitles to fit the video? The end result needs to be streamed, so it can’t be a player-based option.

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soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1912 Post by soundchaser » Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:45 am

You can easily retime the subtitles in SubtitleEdit. There’s a feature under “Synchronization” to change the framerate.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1913 Post by Matt » Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:21 am

This wasn’t working for me (too dumb to figure it out), but I found a (paid) Mac app called SubShifter that’s super easy. You can enter the timing of the first subtitle and the last subtitle, and it shifts everything in between to fit. Probably not perfect, but good enough for my uses.

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1914 Post by kekid » Thu Jan 06, 2022 1:14 am

SubShifter works wonderfully for most subtitles. However, I am having difficulty synchronizing subtitles to the Japanese Blu Ray edition of Bertolucci's "Spider's Stratagem". When I match an early subtitle and a late subtitle to the spoken words, the subtitles in between do not line up. This suggests that the dialogue on the disc and the subtitles do not differ by a linear adjustment (such as the frame rate). Has anyone experienced this, understands what might cause it, and most importantly, how to fix it? Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

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dekadetia
was Born Innocent
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1915 Post by dekadetia » Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:20 pm

A lot of things can happen here. I once dealt with some mistimed subtitles from one copy of McCarey's Love Affair to another and discovered the culprit was fades to black lasting for different durations across the two transfers. Not saying that's the issue here, but sometimes these things require close examination of when exactly the sync falls apart -- can be time consuming and not necessarily something you want to do when you haven't seen the feature before, of course.

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swo17
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1916 Post by swo17 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:53 pm

My daughter is trying to learn another language so I was messing around with those settings while playing a Disney 4K UHD, and now every time I put that disc in it recognizes my previous selection and loads in Japanese. Does anyone know how to reverse this?

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brundlefly
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 12:55 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1917 Post by brundlefly » Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:35 pm

swo17 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:53 pm
My daughter is trying to learn another language so I was messing around with those settings while playing a Disney 4K UHD, and now every time I put that disc in it recognizes my previous selection and loads in Japanese. Does anyone know how to reverse this?
swo17 wrote:
Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:08 pm
Kids are awesome, you all should have some (if only to better appreciate certain films)

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fdm
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1918 Post by fdm » Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:54 pm

swo17 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:53 pm
My daughter is trying to learn another language so I was messing around with those settings while playing a Disney 4K UHD, and now every time I put that disc in it recognizes my previous selection and loads in Japanese. Does anyone know how to reverse this?
Two possibilities come to mind with an Oppo. Turning off Auto Resume might work, or purging the memory cache. The first option, if it works, is the one that would keep it from happening again; it also helps prevent odd things happening when you switch regions back and forth if you have a region free kit installed.

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swo17
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Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1919 Post by swo17 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:58 pm

Auto Resume was already off, but your second idea (called "Erase Persistent Storage" on my player) did the trick. Thanks!

And brundlefly, I still stand by that statement

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1920 Post by Jonathan S » Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:30 am

Has anyone come across the problem of an entire range of Academy ratio DVDs which force widescreen (cropping the top and bottom of the image) when played on a widescreen TV through HDMI? This is my experience (confirmed by a friend in America) with all Region 2 MK2-produced DVDs I own, e.g. the Chaplin Warner/MK2 series (at least the ones I've tried like THE GOLD RUSH and THE GREAT DICTATOR), the Keaton Cinema Club/MK2 DVDs and French MK2 DVDs of French films.

I've tried them on two completely separate set-ups and no adjustment or combination of aspect ratio settings on the TVs or Blu-ray players produces a correct image. If I change to 4:3 settings I only get a horizontally squeezed 4:3 version of the cropped widescreen image. The only "solution" I found is to use a Scart lead to connect a DVD player to my older TV then adjust the TV aspect ratio and that does at least produce a 4:3 image which is only a little too cropped at the sides. But it's inconvenient to keep a DVD player connected in this way and on my main TV the only inputs are HDMI.

The forced widescreen even applies to the menus, from which some options are simply not visible because they're cropped off and the menu cursor is misaligned with the options that remain. The full aspect ratio obviously is on the discs but, unlike other DVDs of Academy ratio material, they must have some sort of irrevocable widescreen flag when played through HDMI.

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Ogre Kovacs
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:04 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1921 Post by Ogre Kovacs » Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:36 am

Jonathan S wrote:
Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:30 am
Has anyone come across the problem of an entire range of Academy ratio DVDs which force widescreen (cropping the top and bottom of the image) when played on a widescreen TV through HDMI? This is my experience (confirmed by a friend in America) with all Region 2 MK2-produced DVDs I own, e.g. the Chaplin Warner/MK2 series (at least the ones I've tried like THE GOLD RUSH and THE GREAT DICTATOR), the Keaton Cinema Club/MK2 DVDs and French MK2 DVDs of French films.
Yes, I have had this exact issue with the Chaplin Warner/MK2 sets as well. My blu ray is also set up with HDMI to my screen and I correct the issue with only changing settings on my player and television:

1. Under my blu ray player settings, I change the Display from 1080p to 480p. Without doing this, step 2 is not an option on my television.
2. I change the aspect of television to 4:3.

Not ideal but I hope this works for you as well to avoid digging out special cords and equipment. I have an old television, so I am not sure if the option of selecting the aspect ratio on new televisions even exists anymore. I have also used this trick to "fix" old poorly encoded DVDs where the widescreen image was anamorphically squeezed to 4:3, but then placed on a non-anamorphic DVD (in this case keeping my television at 16:9 though).

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1922 Post by Jonathan S » Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:14 pm

Many thanks - I had high hopes for such a logical solution but unfortunately it doesn't work on either of my set-ups! I tried every HDMI output resolution available on the Blu-ray players, including 480/576p. Both TVs have lots of aspect ratio settings, including a sophisticated "4-way zoom" on the latest, and they're all operable at any resolution, but with MK2 DVDs only from the pre-requisite that the received image is cropped to widescreen. I'll pass your tip on to my US friend, as he reported the aspect ratio options on his TV were "greyed out" at 1080p.

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swo17
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1923 Post by swo17 » Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:56 pm

I seem to recall having a similar issue with mk2 DVDs, and that it didn't even fix it when I plugged my modern player into an old 4x3 CRT TV

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Ogre Kovacs
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:04 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1924 Post by Ogre Kovacs » Sun Mar 13, 2022 7:02 pm

Sorry to hear it did not work, but I have one more thing to look just in case you have not yet. I just tried it out on a newer player (still kind of old though) and I needed one additional step:

1. Set the player output resolution to 480p
2. Set the TV Type on the player to 4:3
3. Set the TV to 4:3

On my older LG I did not need Step 2 but on a newer Sony I did.

Good luck. I hope this works for you.

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1925 Post by Jonathan S » Mon Mar 14, 2022 6:16 am

Thank you again. Although that particular solution still didn't work on either of my set-ups, it did lead me to the correct solution for one of them (Panasonic BR player + LG TV) which is simply:
1) Set the player to 16:9 FULL (not 16:9)
2) Set the TV aspect ratio to 4:3

This works at any resolution, including 1080p or Automatic, on that particular set-up. I thought I'd already tried all aspect ratio combinations but with at least four options on each unit there are so many I must have missed it (and it seems so illogical!) On my other set-up (Sony BR player + Samsung TV) neither the above solution nor yours works. It would be interesting to see what happens if I reverse the two players but I haven't the energy for that just now!

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