mpeg2 video tall and skinny, even on TV. how to fix?

[jlietz]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum...I have some mpeg2 files that were converted from avi (the avi is now deleted). The original avi's were captured at 352x480 in VirtualDub. For some reason some of the avi's were tall and skinny. When I say tall and skinny I mean the entire video is taller than it is wide, . I didn't notice that when I converted them to mpeg2 they retained the tall and skinny look, so I deleted the avi's. Now the problem is that even when I view them on TV the mpeg2 is still tall and skinny. I tried DVDPatcher and Restream, but each one already reports the file as 352x480 with a DAR of 4:3. Just for giggles I went ahead and had each program rewrite the file, but it didn't do any good. I'm pretty sure the root problem is the settings I used in ProCoder when I converted the files from avi. I think I had the source aspect ratio incorrect because I didn't realize that some of the files were tall and skinny at the time. Does anyone know how I can fix this with only the mpeg2 to work with?
Thanks.

[jimmalenko]

352 X 480 will display this "tall and skinny" characteristic you describe on the computer, but your DVD player should be smart enough to recognise this and resize it properly. I daresay you'll need to re-encode the MPEG-2 file, but this time with the correct source and destination aspect ratio values.

[edDV]

If you author it to a dvd, the player should play it in normal aspect ratio.

When I play such files from Vegas 5 through IEEE-1394 to camcorder they display 4:3 as well.

[jlietz]

Nope, the DVD player plays it tall and skinny too. But, as I said, I no longer have the original avi's. I tried converting the mpeg2 back to avi and then back to mpeg2 with the proper aspect ratio, but it didn't do the trick. Any other suggestions?

[jimmalenko]

I tried converting the mpeg2 back to avi and then back to mpeg2 with the proper aspect ratio, but it didn't do the trick. Any other suggestions?

When you convert it back to AVI, convert it to 720 X 480, then when converting back to MPEG, set it back to 352 X 480 again.

[jlietz]

When you convert it back to AVI, convert it to 720 X 480, then when converting back to MPEG, set it back to 352 X 480 again.

Nope didn't work.

[jimmalenko]

Then there's something you're doing wrong. Convert to 720 * 480 AVI and play it on the computer. Does it look normal ?

[jlietz]

Then there's something you're doing wrong. Convert to 720 * 480 AVI and play it on the computer. Does it look normal ?

Converted to 720 x 480 avi. It doesn't look normal. It is only slightly wider than the original.

[jimmalenko]

Then there's something you're doing wrong. Convert to 720 * 480 AVI and play it on the computer. Does it look normal ?

Converted to 720 x 480 avi. It doesn't look normal. It is only slightly wider than the original.

What are you playing it in ? You need to turn off full screen and let it play at its actual size

[jlietz]

My default is WMP (I know, I know...) but it looks the same in Media Player Classic. ZoomPlayer won't even play it for some reason. VDub plays it the same as everything else.

[jimmalenko]

Converted to 720 x 480 avi. It doesn't look normal. It is only slightly wider than the original.

Open the 352 X 480 MPEG in virtualdubmod or virtualdub-MPEG2.

Then open the 720 X 480 AVI in same. Does it look slightly wider, or much wider ?

[lordsmurf]

Use PowerDVD or WinDVD player.
Microsoft WMP is crap.


The 4:3 flags need to be read.

[jlietz]

Open the 352 X 480 MPEG in virtualdubmod or virtualdub-MPEG2.

Then open the 720 X 480 AVI in same. Does it look slightly wider, or much wider ?

In VDub the 720 x 480 avi looks twice as wide as the original 352 x 480 mpeg2. When I convert the 720 x 480 avi to 720 x 480 mpeg2 it looks exactly the same as the avi when viewed in Vdub. But it doesn't look the same as my "normal" mpeg2's. I'll have to burn this last 720 x 480 mpeg2, stick it in the DVD player and see what happens.
This is probably my last post for the night as my wife is about to make me do something else. I'll pick this back up tomorrow morning.
Thanks.

[edDV]

All this converting is going to kill quality. Save the versions.

The solution is probably in the header descriptions. I've never had a need to research those.

[jlietz]

All this converting is going to kill quality. Save the versions.

The solution is probably in the header descriptions. I've never had a need to research those.

I have the original mpeg2. I've just been toying with copies.

I squeezed an extra 5 minutes out of my wife, but this is I'm sure the last post until tomorrow.
Thanks all, I'll let you know how it goes.

[jlietz]

Ok, the video still doesn't look right as viewed through my standalone DVD player. It is still tall and skinny. The video has black bars on either side, but it fills the space from top to bottom. Any ideas on what to do next?

[Marty2003]

when you play the MPEG2 in media player classic do you see black bars on the sides hardcoded into the video? I'm guessing when you converted the avi to MPEG2 you chose the wrong source aspect ratio so what you have now is a 352x240 MPEG file with 176 horizontal pixels of actual video and black bars hard coded onto the sides.

[jlietz]

Yes, I see black bars on either side of the video. The funny thing is that these tall and skinny mpeg2's were converted in the same batch as normal mpeg2's in Procoder using the same target settings.

[midnightsun]

I agree with Marty. Crop the sides, resize to 352x480 and re-encode as 4:3. That should fix it

[jlietz]

Do you mean crop the sides of the mpeg2, resize, and then re-encode as 4:3 mpeg2? Or do you mean to convert the mpeg2 to avi and then crop, resize and encode?

[liquid217]

why not just use restream to make sure the AR is set to 4:3 and not 1:1 ?

[midnightsun]

why not just use restream to make sure the AR is set to 4:3 and not 1:1 ?

his problem is that he has letterbox bars on the sides as part of the encode.

[midnightsun]

if you convert to avi it has to be lossless otherwise you would use another conversion that would degrade quality. You could alternatively open the mpeg-2 with virtualdubmod, crop, resize and frameserve to whatever mpeg encoder you use.

[jlietz]

That was it! Cropped, resized, and encoded to mpeg2. Thanks for all the help.

[jimmalenko]

Thank the mighty one for that !

Glad you got it sorted