SVCD aspect ratio on Pioneer DV-343

[prone]

I'm not sure if this happens in all DVD players, but my Pioneer DV-343 exhibits some strange aspect ratio adjustments when a SVCD is first played. After I press play, the picture seems to be stretched horizontally for a second or two, then it automatically adjusts itself to the correct aspect ratio and everything looks fine from that point.

Movies that I encode myself from DVD to SVCD usually work perfectly. Sometimes I get mpegs from other sources which say they are encoded for SVCD, but when I burn them with Nero or VCDEasy and play them on the DVD player, the aspect ratio is all screwed up. With these SVCDs, the screen does not automatically adjust itself to the correct aspect ratio...it remains horizontally stretched throughout the length of the disc. Is there something wrong with the SVCD header on these files or something? And is there a way to alleviate this problem without going through the hassle and degradation of re-encoding?

Thanks for any help.

<Prone>.

[prone]

I just found out the cause of the aspect ratio problem. In the setup menu, Video -> Tv Screen, the option should be set to 4:3 (Letter Box) instead of 4:3 (Pan&Scan). I guess some SVCDs don't display properly when set to Pan&Scan. Something to keep in mind for all you DV-343 owners out there.

<Prone>.