DVD video far too big for screen (not just an overscan issue)

[mbrunet]

Hello. I've searched the forums for a solution to this problem, and found nothing, so here goes.

I'm creating a concert DVD from a number of video sources. I edited them all using Roxio Easy Media Suite, and saved the final file as a DV .avi with native NTSC DVD resolution, for 4:3 video. I then encoded this giant file using CCE, with all of the settings from the ".avi to DVD guide" on this forum. Authored and burned the DVD using DVDlab 2.0.

At all points throughout this process I noted that the final project should be 4:3 and NTSC. But when I played the DVD in my DVD player (Malata N996), the image is far too large, filling up the entire 16:9 screen. The Malata has a custom zoom function, so I zoomed out until the 4:3 video was playing as it should have been (filling the 16:9 screen vertically, but with large black bars on either side) - I had to zoom out 3x what I normally zoom out to eliminate overscan.

I also played the DVD on my computer using Windows Media Player, and it shows as a normal 4:3 image. But the program doesn't tell me how large that image is.

Boiling down my problem: the DVD appears to have the video as the correct 4:3 ratio, but the image is far too large. How do I solve this problem?

THank you for your help!

Mike

[guns1inger]

if it is a DVD then the image is 720 x 480 or smaller for NTSC. Everything you have described makes this sound like an issue with your equipment setup, not the disc itself. DVD cannot override the resolution and 'be bigger'. It is what it is. The fact that when you zoomed out you got the right aspect ratio, and that the video plays correctly on your PC, suggests strongly that your TV or player is the issue.

You may also have encoded your 4:3 video as 16:9, which would tell the player to play back across the full width. DLP 2 has an Aspect Ratio patch tool in the Tools menu that may correct this without the need to re-encode.

[mbrunet]

Thanks, Gunslinger (and Wiley in the conversion forum). Changing my DVD player output to 4:3 and TV aspect to 4:3 didn't solve the problem, but I've since tested the DVD in multiple other TVs and it plays normally. Must be something funky with my DVD player (malata n996).