Unorthodox Aspect Ratio

[koberulz]

I have a video file that is 704x480, which is a 22:15 aspect ratio.

What's the best way to retain all of the video, yet have it fill as much of a widescreen TV as possible? Currently, it's letterboxed on a 4:3 display, I'm trying to have it reach the top and bottom, and just fall a little short of eitehr side of a 16:9 TV. Is there a way I can pull this off?

[jagabo]

22:15 is the storage aspect ratio. 704x480 isn't unusual it's on the DVD spec. What's the picture aspect ratio? What type of file is it? MPEG? AVI?

[koberulz]

It's an AVI.

Storage aspect ratio? Picture aspect ratio? What?

[jagabo]

The storage aspect ratio (SAR) is the relative dimensions of the frame -- 704x480 in your case (704/32=22, 480/32=15).

Display aspect ratio (DAR, sorry I originally said Picture not Display) is the relative dimensions that the picture is to be displayed at. With some codecs/formats DAR is the same as the SAR, some not. For example, a 704x480 MPEG file can specify a DAR of 4:3 or 16:9.

With an AVI it's difficult to guess what the DAR is without seeing a sample. Open the file with VirtualDub. If people look tall and skinny it's probably 16:9. If they look a little fatter than normal it's probably 4:3. If VirtualDub shows a wide image with black borders top and bottom, it's probably letterboxed 4:3.

[koberulz]

It's letterboxed 4:3.

Is there a way I can get rid of the letterbox, and resize it to fill the full height of my screen?

[jagabo]

If you're making a DVD:

Cut 60 lines off the top of the frame, cut 60 lines off the bottom (you can do this unevenly if necessary, eg 50 off the top, 70 off the bottom, just make sure the total you cut off is 120 lines). Resize the remaining 704x360 frame to 704x480. Encode as 16:9 MPEG2 for DVD.

If the video is interlaced you'll need to use interlace aware resizing techniques.

[koberulz]

Er...lines?

How can I tell if it's interlaced?

[jagabo]

Open with VirtualDub, step through frames where there is some motion. Do you see interlace comb artifacts? If so, are they visible on all frames with motion? Or only some in a repeatin 3:2 pattern (3 frames without, 2 frames with)?

If the former you have fully interlaced video. If the latter you have telecined film. You may be able to perform an inverse telecine to restore the original progressive frames.

4:3 -> 16:9 guide: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic316902.html

Resolution and Aspect Ratio guide: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic174200.html

[koberulz]

I'm not trying to cut off enough from the top and bottom. What I'm trying to do, is have the video fill the full height of a tv, and have black bars on either side, rather than having black bars top and bottom.

[guns1inger]

If it is letterboxed 4:3 then it must have some amount of black bars top and bottom (otherwise it isn't letterboxed). Work out how much so you know the actual resolution of the image.

[koberulz]

I attempted cropping with VDubMod, and there were about 25 each, top and bottom. Which is 50 all up, for a total resolution of 704x430.

[Abond]

Hmm, sounds as PAL 16:9. What is the framerate?

[TBoneit]

I'm not trying to cut off enough from the top and bottom. What I'm trying to do, is have the video fill the full height of a tv, and have black bars on either side, rather than having black bars top and bottom.

If it stays the same width and is resized to fill the screen top and bottom it will look wrong. You need to find a way to have it display full width and then you can fill top tto bottom and it woll look right. My guess is that if you fill it top to bottom and don't also strecth it side to side to fill the screen everybody will look thin and elongated.

[koberulz]

They will. The thing is, it's not the right aspect ratio for widescreen or regular tv, it's somewhere between. Thus the black bars on either side.

[jagabo]

Without details of the DAR nobody can tell you what to do. At least post a sample frame from VirtualDubMod with something of recognizable dimensions -- like a sphere, a car tire from the side, etc.