SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

General questions or discussion about HandBrake, Video and/or audio transcoding, trends etc.
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robster45
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:37 pm

SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

Post by robster45 »

Hi Everyone, I am new to handbrake and ripping dvds, but I am trying to rip my collection so I can use it on Plex.
The trouble I'm having is that with some movies that I have ripped, I am getting the black bars down either side of the screen (not top & bottom).
When I put the subtitles on, the black bars disappear and the picture fills the whole screen.
I have no idea why it's doing this, but I assume that I'm doing something wrong in Handbrake.

I am using the HQ 1080P preset and in the dimensions I leave all the default settings.
Anamorphic and cropping is set to Automatic.

I'm guessing that maybe my issue is related to something in the dimensions tab.

I would be really grateful if someone can point me in the right direction.
Woodstock
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Posts: 4614
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

Post by Woodstock »

Are you viewing on a computer via player software, or on a TV?

By default, handbrake will remove the letterboxing via autocropping. TVs will put them back in if the video aspect ratio doesn't match the TV aspect ratio. Software on computers usually resize the window to match the aspect ratio.

Depending on the container type (MKV vs. MP4) and subtitle type, the subtitles will do different things.

This is where having an encode log of an affected video is helpful, so we know what the original file had in it, and what you asked handbrake to do.
robster45
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:37 pm

Re: SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

Post by robster45 »

Hi Woodstock,

Thank you for your response.
I've done that many rips, I'm not too sure if I can easily find the correct log.
So I'm recreating the rip and I will upload the log when done.
I am ripping everything to MKV and watching my ripped movies on my TV.
robster45
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:37 pm

Re: SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

Post by robster45 »

Hi Woodstock,

Sorry for the late reply, but it has been a busy week.

Here is the link to my log https://pastebin.com/embed_js/UuG1QGC6

Many thanks
Woodstock
Veteran User
Posts: 4614
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

Post by Woodstock »

The DVD has two sets of subtitles with different aspect ratios, presumably to be selected by the DVD player after you select "full" or "wide" screen:

Code: Select all

[21:41:00] + subtitle, English (Wide Screen) [VOBSUB] (track 2, id 0x22bd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English (Letterbox) [VOBSUB] (track 3, id 0x23bd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English Closed Caption (Wide Screen) [VOBSUB] (track 12, id 0x2cbd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English Closed Caption (Letterbox) [VOBSUB] (track 13, id 0x2dbd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English (Wide Screen) [VOBSUB] (track 14, id 0x2ebd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English (Letterbox) [VOBSUB] (track 15, id 0x2fbd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English (Wide Screen) [VOBSUB] (track 16, id 0x30bd, Picture)
[21:41:00] + subtitle, English (Letterbox) [VOBSUB] (track 17, id 0x31bd, Picture)
You can't really control which one the Foreign Audio Search will grab, so results can vary.

I would suggest additional experimentation, manually selecting the track to use. You don't have to fully-encode the video, but you do need to encode a section where there are subtitles, so you should choose the last two to make sure your "small section" (a chapter or two) has some in it. That will give you guidance as to which of the two forced tracks are "best" for display on your TV.
robster45
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:37 pm

Re: SUBTITLES CHANGE ASPECT RATIO

Post by robster45 »

Ah I see.
Thank you for the advice.
I will give it a go
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