Video files with variable Aspect Ratio don't work any more

[juergen77]

Hello.

Some of my (H264 encoded) videos do not have a constant Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR, also variable DAR, but fixed SAR, e.g. 720x576). Usually the PAR changes only once per video file (so we get two parts, a first and a second).

VLC 1.x had no problem playing these files. It just changed the window size and all worked well.

VLC 2.0.1 cannot play the second part of the file. It can only play the first part. When reaching the point where the PAR changes, the video freezes. Audio is played perfectly.

I can also "jump around" (is it called "seeking"? sorry for my insufficient English) in the video. If I jump directly somewhere into the second part, the video freezes. If I jump back to the first part, the video continues.

If I activate "Use GPU accelerated decoding", the video is played somehow (also in the second part), but it looks totally ugly. Well, I don't have a dedicated graphics card (only what's included in Sandy Bridge).


I prepared a sample file and uploaded it to http://streams.videolan.org/upload/. I hope it can be found there. I entered the following into the "Description" field: "Sample File, where a change of PAR/DAR occures somewhere in the video. VLC 2.0.1 cannot play the video after the change. VLC 1.* worked well."
If this is the wrong place to upload it, please tell me where to upload it.

The sample file has a length of 19s. The PAR changes at approx. 10s. It changes from 1:1 to 64:45. The DAR changes from 5:4 to 16:9. Resolution is 720x576 (fixed).

Possible workaround: Use old VLC version. Well, ...

My obvious questions: Can anyone reproduce the problem? How can I play my videos using the latest version of VLC? Is it a bug introduced in VLC 2.*? Perhaps it's a feature...?

Thanks in advance for your help.
juergen