[MEncoder-users] Mencoder aspect ratio

[Joey Parrish]

On 7/6/07, Jack O'bannon <jackobannon at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Background: My clients all use proprietary Windows apps. One of the apps
> converts a video file from a really proprietary format to AVI. When viewed
> after the conversion (by either WMP or mplayer) the aspect ratio is set at
> 4:3 but should be at least 16:9, preferrably 8:3.
>
> I can stretch the picture using mencoder, like so:
>
> For 16:9 I use:
> mencoder -ovc copy -force-avi-aspect 1.77777 original.avi -o test.avi
>
> and when test.avi is viewed in mplayer it looks ok but, of course, WMP is too
> stupid to read the header info. Evidently xine and VLC media player are, too,
> since ONLY mplayer will play test.avi with the corrected aspect ratio. The
> other players all see the original 4:3. What is the best way to change the
> aspect ratio of the file so that it looks the same to any player?
>
> Specifically, I am wanting a file with an aspect ratio of 2.6667 (8:3)

The only way to fix aspect ratio for players that ignore the header is
to re-encode.  So try something like this:

mencoder -oac copy -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=1000 -vf
scale=-1:-2 -aspect 8:3 original.avi -o test.avi

--Joey