How do I modify 16:9 recordings to play on 4:3?

[aprest]

I am a newbie to DVD recording using a Pioneer DVR510H-S. I have made and authored DVDs on my PC however using an ADVC-100, high-end S-VHS VCRs, and a myriad of software programs including Ulead MovieFactory 2, Ulead Workshop 1.3, Sonic DVDIt, Sonic MyDVD, and RecordNow Max.

I have been recording HD 16:9 broadcasts from my Samsung 160 high definition DirecTV STB using the S-Video input on the Pioneer 510. The DVD looks fine when played back on the 510 through my Sony XBR910 widesceen HD monitor but is squeezed in the middle when played back on a standard 4:3 monitor. On the 4:3 monitor the picture fills the entire screen but everything is elongated vertically so that heads look tall and narrow. The Samsung is set to 16:9 and I can select Pillar Box, Full, or Zoom. I can set the Samsung to 4:3 and then have a choice of Letterbox, Full, or Zoom. No matter what settings I use on The Samsung 160 DirecTV HD receiver the recorded picture is squeezed when played back at 4:3 LetterBox (or any other setting) on my Toshiba DVD players feeding 4:3 monitors. Note also that the picture is also squeezed when played on my PC using WINDVD4 or Power DVD.

From what I can determine the Pioneer 510 can't set 16:9 flags on its recorded DVDs (unlike the Sony GX7 where you can select either 4:3 or 16:9 for recording). This means that when I play a 16:9-enhanced DVD-R on my 4:3 monitor, my DVD player doesn't see a 16:9 flag, so it doesn't know that it's supposed to perform anamorphic down-conversion to properly display the image.

On the AVS forum I was told to rip the recording from the DVD to my PC, and then use a software utility to set the 16x9 flag, and re-burn the DVD with the 16x9 flag set, on my PC burner.

I have recently installed DVD Encrypter, DVDPatcher, and Ifoedit and tried modifying the VOB and IFO files individually and both together with no success. I have tried many different DVDPatcher settings on the VOB files in generating a large collection of coasters. Interestingly, if I set DVDPatcher at the following settings, Aspect ratio to 16X9, Bit Rate to 8.0 MBit (the original file shows a bitrate of 8032000), Horizontal File to 720, Patch at "Entire file” the resulting DVD plays back great in 16X9 mode using WINDVD4 but still squeezes on a 4X3 system. I even tried using Ifoedit to change the IFO file by itself. I tried using DVD Decryptor to rip from a DVD-R to a single file and got one VOB file and one IFO file - not a single file. I tried modifying both the VOB and IFO files with no luck.

On the AVS Forum I was told that DVDPatcher doesn't work on VOB files, because 4x3 info is also in the header of the IFO files that DVDPatcher can't change. And that I need to use DVDPatcher to set the 16x9 flag on a single mpeg or VR file which I should be able to if I initially record on DVD-RW media.

I was also told that when using standalone DVD recorders that you only need to set the flag in the IFO file.

Will someone with experience please help me figure out how to fix this problem? How should I record on the Pioneer 510 (DVD-R or DVR-RW)? What should I use to rip the DVD and what settings should I use? What files do I need to modify to set the 16:9 flag and how do I do it? If I use Ifoedit whaich lines do I edit and what settings should I use? If there is more than one IFO file do I modify all of them? If I need to use DVDPatcher what settings should I use?

Thanks, Art

[wingnut]

Hi there,

check out this thread
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=842364#842364

where i outlined how to do this after recording onto a dvd-r on a panasonic recorder.

Cheers

Edz

[aprest]

Thanks Wingnut.

I have figured out how to use Infoedit to modify the IFO files.

This link proved very useful:

http://www.ghorne.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vidtest/169frame.htm

Using Ifoedit I changed the aspect ratio to 16:9 on all IFO files and checked Letterbox. Save, burn, and play on 16:9 or 4:3 with no problems.
Art

[sfalcon]

Hello there!

I see that you guys use IFOEDIT to change the IFO files. I have tried to remove that advertisement at the very beginning of almost every prerecorded DVD, using IFOedit to delete playback and then create new IFO and BUP files.
Everything is fine, except that neither Instant Copy nor Nero accepts the modified files to write on DVD. Instant Copy says it1s "out of bounds" and Nero advises that the final DVD won't be playable.
Nevertheless, if I use DVDSHRINK to back up all DVD files (those edited by IFOEDIT, including) and then use this software itself to do the burning thru Nero, the result is a DVD that plays just fine, the way I wanted it to play!
Can anyone tell me something about this issue?
tks so much.
sfalcon