What am I doing wrong converting my DVD's to MP4?

[Howie411]

Trying to convert my DVDs to a 1 for 1 copy for a file so I can play them on my tablet as well as TV using the DLna server on my router.

I'm using PavTube BDMagic.

The first movie I'm doing is 1.85:1 Wide screen. BDMagic says the video file is 720x480. If I convert it using H.264 I always end up with a 720 x 406 file. If I convert it using Mpeg2 (to make an MPG) it correctly comes out as 720x480. But seems slightly pixelated. What am I doing wrong? And how do I get pretty much an exact copy.

Thanks

[Cornucopia]

Skipping for the moment the fact that PAVTube is NOT the best choice, DVDs are (with a few exceptions) ALL 720x480. Whether they are 4:3 or 16:9. This means that ALL titles use non-square pixels.

In Square-pixelled terms, you should have a 640x480 (if 4:3) or 854x480 (if 16:9) output. Never a good idea to resize the vertical (seeing as most all DVDs are designed for interlace). So, don't touch the "480" at all.

PAVTube is messing with the 480 (instead of the 720), converting its non-square 16:9 pixels to square 16:9 pixels, giving you 405 (406 because it is an even number - a must).

You COULD leave the title as 720x480 for either h.264 or MPEG2, as both support non-square (anamorphic) flagging. Evidently PAVTube doesn't realize that. Probably using an inferior encoding engine.

Better copy? - Don't use PAVTube. Use something like MeGUI or Handbrake, both with x.264 encoding engine. Encode to non-square if your tablet and/or TV support non-square, if not, encode to square pixel equivalents (854x480 as mentioned above).

Scott