diff --git a/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.cpp b/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.cpp
index 73bb01f7e9..28cc577567 100644
--- a/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.cpp
+++ b/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.cpp
@@ -443,6 +443,14 @@ AVCodecDecoder::_NegotiateVideoOutputFormat(media_format* inOutFormat)
 	TRACE("  requested video format 0x%x\n",
 		inOutFormat->u.raw_video.display.format);
 
+	_ApplyEssentialVideoContainerPropertiesToContext();
+		// This makes video formats play that encode the video properties in
+		// the video container (e.g. WMV) and not in the video frames
+		// themself (e.g. MPEG2).
+		// Note: Doing this step everytime is OK, because the first call to
+		// _DecodeNextVideoFrame() will update the essential video format
+		// properties accordingly.
+
 	// Make MediaPlayer happy (if not in rgb32 screen depth and no overlay,
 	// it will only ask for YCbCr, which DrawBitmap doesn't handle, so the
 	// default colordepth is RGB32).
@@ -822,6 +830,44 @@ AVCodecDecoder::_DecodeNextVideoFrame()
 }
 
 
+/*!	\brief Applies all essential video input properties from fInputFormat to
+		fContext.
+
+	Note: This function must be called before the AVCodec is opened via
+	avcodec_open2(). Otherwise the behaviour of FFMPEG's video decoding
+	function avcodec_decode_video2() is undefined.
+
+	Essential properties applied:
+		- display.line_width copied to fContext->width
+		- display.line_count copied to fContext->height
+		- pixel_width_aspect and pixel_height_aspect converted to
+		  fContext->sample_aspect_ratio
+		- field_rate converted to fContext->time_base and
+		  fContext->ticks_per_frame
+*/
+void
+AVCodecDecoder::_ApplyEssentialVideoContainerPropertiesToContext()
+{
+	media_raw_video_format containerProperties
+		= fInputFormat.u.encoded_video.output;
+
+	fContext->width = containerProperties.display.line_width;
+	fContext->height = containerProperties.display.line_count;
+
+	if (containerProperties.pixel_width_aspect > 0
+		&& containerProperties.pixel_height_aspect > 0) {
+		ConvertVideoAspectWidthAndHeightToAVCodecContext(
+			containerProperties.pixel_width_aspect,
+			containerProperties.pixel_height_aspect, *fContext);
+	}
+
+	if (containerProperties.field_rate > 0.0) {
+		ConvertVideoFrameRateToAVCodecContext(containerProperties.field_rate,
+			*fContext);
+	}
+}
+
+
 /*! \brief Loads the next video chunk into fVideoChunkBuffer and assigns it
 		(including the start time) to fTempPacket accordingly only if
 		fTempPacket is empty.
diff --git a/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.h b/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.h
index 516bfc3d1c..8f00b9513e 100644
--- a/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.h
+++ b/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/AVCodecDecoder.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ private:
 							media_header* mediaHeader,
 							media_decode_info* info);
 			status_t	_DecodeNextVideoFrame();
+			void		_ApplyEssentialVideoContainerPropertiesToContext();
 			status_t	_LoadNextVideoChunkIfNeededAndAssignStartTime();
 							// TODO: Remove the "Video" word once
 							// the audio path is responsible for
diff --git a/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/Utilities.h b/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/Utilities.h
index f51f6b2bfe..bf01e4818b 100644
--- a/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/Utilities.h
+++ b/src/add-ons/media/plugins/ffmpeg/Utilities.h
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ extern "C" {
 /*! \brief Converts FFmpeg notation of video aspect ratio into the Media Kits
 		notation.
 
+	\see ConvertVideoAspectWidthAndHeightToAVCodecContext() for converting in
+		the other direction.
+
 	\param contextIn An AVCodeContext structure of FFmpeg containing the values
 		needed to calculate the Media Kit video aspect ratio.
 		The following fields are used for the calculation:
@@ -72,6 +75,57 @@ ConvertAVCodecContextToVideoAspectWidthAndHeight(AVCodecContext& contextIn,
 }
 
 
+/*!	\brief Converts the Media Kits notation of video aspect ratio into FFmpegs
+		notation.
+
+	\see ConvertAVCodecContextToVideoAspectWidthAndHeight() for converting in
+		the other direction.
+
+	\param pixelWidthAspectIn Contains Media Kits notation of the video aspect
+		ratio width. E.g. 16:9 -> 16 is passed here.
+	\param pixelHeightAspectIn Contains Media Kits notation of the video aspect
+		ratio height. E.g. 16:9 -> 9 is passed here.
+	\param contextInOut	An AVCodecContext structure of FFmpeg.
+		On input must contain the following fields already initialized
+		otherwise the behaviour is undefined:
+			- AVCodecContext.width (must)
+			- AVCodecContext.height (must)
+		On output contains converted values in the following fields (other
+		fields stay as they were on input):
+			- AVCodecContext.sample_aspect_ratio.num
+			- AVCodecContext.sample_aspect_ratio.den
+*/
+inline void
+ConvertVideoAspectWidthAndHeightToAVCodecContext(uint16 pixelWidthAspectIn,
+	uint16 pixelHeightAspectIn, AVCodecContext& contextInOut)
+{
+	assert(pixelWidthAspectIn > 0);
+	assert(pixelHeightAspectIn > 0);
+	assert(contextInOut.width > 0);
+	assert(contextInOut.height > 0);
+
+	AVRational pureVideoDimensionAspectRatio;
+	av_reduce(&pureVideoDimensionAspectRatio.num,
+		&pureVideoDimensionAspectRatio.den, contextInOut.width,
+		contextInOut.height, 1024 * 1024);
+
+	if (pureVideoDimensionAspectRatio.num == pixelWidthAspectIn
+		&& pureVideoDimensionAspectRatio.den == pixelHeightAspectIn) {
+		// The passed Media Kit pixel aspect ratio equals the video dimension
+		// aspect ratio. Set sample_aspect_ratio to "ignore".
+		contextInOut.sample_aspect_ratio.num = 0;
+		contextInOut.sample_aspect_ratio.den = 1;
+		return;
+	}
+
+	av_reduce(&contextInOut.sample_aspect_ratio.num,
+		&contextInOut.sample_aspect_ratio.den,
+		contextInOut.height * pixelWidthAspectIn,
+		contextInOut.width * pixelHeightAspectIn,
+		1024 * 1024);
+}
+
+
 /*! \brief Calculates bytes per row for a video frame.
 
 	\param colorSpace The Media Kit color space the video frame uses.
@@ -108,6 +162,9 @@ CalculateBytesPerRowWithColorSpaceAndVideoWidth(color_space colorSpace, int vide
 /*! \brief Converts FFmpeg notation of video frame rate into the Media Kits
 		notation.
 
+	\see ConvertAVCodecContextToVideoFrameRate() for converting in the other
+		direction.
+
 	\param contextIn An AVCodeContext structure of FFmpeg containing the values
 		needed to calculate the Media Kit video frame rate.
 		The following fields are used for the calculation:
@@ -134,4 +191,31 @@ ConvertAVCodecContextToVideoFrameRate(AVCodecContext& contextIn, float& frameRat
 		= possiblyInterlacedFrameRate / numberOfInterlacedFramesPerFullFrame;
 }
 
+
+/*!	\brief Converts the Media Kits notation of video frame rate to FFmpegs
+	notation.
+	
+	\see ConvertAVCodecContextToVideoFrameRate() for converting in the other
+		direction.
+
+	\param frameRateIn Contains Media Kits notation of the video frame rate
+		that will be converted into FFmpegs notation. Must be greater than
+		zero.
+	\param contextOut	An AVCodecContext structure of FFmpeg.
+		On output contains converted values in the following fields (other
+		fields stay as they were on input):
+			- AVCodecContext.time_base.num
+			- AVCodecContext.time_base.den
+			- AVCodecContext.ticks_per_frame is set to 1
+*/
+inline void
+ConvertVideoFrameRateToAVCodecContext(float frameRateIn,
+	AVCodecContext& contextOut)
+{
+	assert(frameRateIn > 0);
+
+	contextOut.ticks_per_frame = 1;
+	contextOut.time_base = av_d2q(1.0 / frameRateIn, 1024);
+}
+
 #endif // UTILITIES_H