SVCD 480x480 appears squashed vertically (Photo2DVD studio 3

[kruzo]

I am using a piece of software that supposed to convert a bunch
of jpg pictures into a SVCD/VCD, adding transitions, music e.t.c. (i.e.
by creating an mpeg file). It's called Photo2DVD studio 3 (which may or may not be important). Here it goes:

Everything works as advertised: it generates bin and cue files, that contain
all the needed info. When SVCD is targeted, the MPEG file that is generated,
upon the examinations, appears to be 480x480, as expected.

Here is the problem however: when played on a Sampo DVD player, the movie
appears to be "squashed" vertically (objects apppear short and fat).

I tried to play the resulting MPEG file using various software players:

In MS MediaPlayer 9: the movie appears squashed, just like on the
Sampo DVD plyer
In LightAlloy (a small and very robust "will play anything" sw
player), it appears to be file, i.e. undistorted. Info shows 480x480.
Finally, in BS Player, another robust player that allows to switch the
aspect ratios, when I select the "original" apsect ratio -- I get
squished images, if I select the 4x3 ratio -- I get perfectly
undistorted images, the way they were intended. Info shows 480x480 in
either case.

My question is, there must be some kind of info built in to the mpeg
that tells the player how to display it (and I guess some player
handle that info different then the others).
Is there a way to control that? Am I totally off, and the problem is
in something else? Can the experts please clue me in.

Thanks

[adam]

This sounds exactly like what happens when you encode SVCDs using the 16:9 aspect ratio, which is non-compliant.

Maybe try using DVD Patcher to patch all of the mpg files to 4:3. You are going to first have to extract the files and folders from the bin. I'd get Daemon tools and use it to mount the .bin. Then you can read it just like it were a burnt disk in your drive. Copy the folders and files to your hard drive, repatch the file headers to 4:3 and then re-author as a SVCD using something like VCDEasy or as a last resort Nero.

If DVD Patcher reports your mpg as being 16:9 then that program you are using is messed up. A 16:9 SVCD is going to appear squished in just about any hardware player.

[kruzo]

I downloaded DVD Patch and examined
the file -- it does apear to be 480x480 with 4:3 ratio
in the header. Power DVD, Windows Media Player and the
hardware player however still display short and fat objects.