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Question

Sony DCR-SR300 video displays too small and narrow

Dec 6, 2013 11:50PM PST

I have MP4 files directly from a Sony DCR-SR300 (not mine). They play in QuickTime Player on my Win XP computer as 320 x 240 pixels. That is a 4:3 format (OK) but...

- Why so small?

- The image is noticeably "squeezed" horizontally, looking approximately correct after expanding horizontally in Photoshop to 427 x 240 pixels (16:9). Why doesn't it display that way in Quick Time Player?

- Is there a better player for these files than Quick Time Player?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The Sony DCR-SR300 is a
Dec 9, 2013 10:16PM PST

standard definition, consumer grade camcorder that can record different sorts of video to the internal hard disc drive or memory stick flash memory. just for reference, a link to the manual:
https://docs.sony.com/release/DCRSR42_Handbook_GB.pdf

It sounds like there may be a few things going on, so we'll try one at a time to see what helps.

Page 54 of the manual has the different quality settings possible. Higher quality = larger file size = shorter total record time on the storage media. This may impact the window size you get on the Quicktime window. Speaking of which - XP has not been around for a while - I know lots of folks use it, but these sorts of compatibility issues will be common as more time passes. Try VLC Player. In either case, you *should* be able to make the video view larger by increasing the size of the Quicktime (or VLC Player) window.

Next, page 110 shows us that the camcorder captures MPG file types... not MP4. Where did MP4 files come from? If transcoded to be converted for use in some sort of media player, then that might expelling the size issue, but not the widescreen vs 4:3 - assuming the transcoding was done correctly. If no transcoding was done, it is a mystery how those MPG files turned into MP4 files...

So... give VLC player a shot - from www.videolan.org

Hope this helps.

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Re: The Sony DCR-SR300 is a
Dec 10, 2013 1:22AM PST

Thanks! I don't know how the files got to be mp4. I provided a USB thumb drive to the seminar facilitator and he gave it back to me with the mp4 files on it. No computer in the room and no time to do any processing.

I'll try VLC player.

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Re: The Sony DCR-SR300 is a
Dec 10, 2013 1:47AM PST

VLC player works! It displays the video in proper perspective (16:9), but still small (1:1 size) at about 430 x 240 pixels; maybe it was shot at that size.

One thing I miss on this player is the ability to move forward and backward very slowly, looking for the best frame to capture for a still. I found the "slow" option for moving forward slowly, but no way to go backward. Am I missing something?

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Apologies for not being at my 'puter
Dec 10, 2013 9:27AM PST

Scope creep...

In VLC Player, when "pause", do the arrow right or left keys move to next/previous frame?

I will check later.

Grabbing photos from video, including standard definition video, can't provide a very good frame grab.

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Re: Apologies for not being at my 'puter
Dec 10, 2013 11:38AM PST

Right or left arrow keys alone don't do anything with my VLC Player. But add Shift, Alt, or Ctrl and they do, just not what I want Happy

Shift-arrow = moves 3 seconds
Alt-arrow = moves 10 seconds
Ctrl-arrow = moves 1 minute

The frame grab is fine for my use, which is a very small image of me on the website. Any larger and they'd see how ugly I really am.

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In my version,
Dec 10, 2013 2:22PM PST

Under "Playback", move to "slowest" this appears to be about 1/4 normal and looks like frame-by-frame playback. Does that work for your needs?

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Re: In my version,
Dec 10, 2013 10:30PM PST

In my version 2.12 downloaded yesterday, there is no "Slowest" speed but repeatedly clicking on "Slower" slows playback even more than I want, then clicking on "Faster" brings the speed back up to what I was looking for. I can move forward or backward to where I want to start looking carefully by clicking on the progress bar, then "playing" at the slow speed. That works. But it still would be much better if it had a "play backward" button so I could move back and forth frame to frame.

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Does WinXP's version of
Dec 11, 2013 12:26AM PST

Windows Medial Player or whatever it was called not deal with MP4 files? At this point, it seems another media player is needed to get what you want. I run Windows 7, so I can't help much with XP.

Another option: Using a transcoder like MPEG Streamclip. It has some minor editing capabilities and I *think* it may have frame-by-frame control...

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Re: Does WinXP's version of
Dec 11, 2013 1:08AM PST

My Window Media Player doesn't work with MP4 files. I can gt along with VLC Player, also by slowly dragging the mouse at the end of the progress bar (that round end) as long as fine motor control is working well that day Happy