Display aspect ratios in MPEG-2

[DRP]

I've downloaded this MPEG-2 stream video which has been encoded letterbox-style complete with black bars top and bottom to PAL spec 480x576 25fps. The problem is that there should not be black bars top & bottom. It is a 4:3 full screen video but the encoder has erroneously added black bars top & bottom and then encoded it with a 4:3 display AR flag. The end result is a viewable picture that's stretched by a factor of 1.33 horizontally. ie. 4:3 included in the encoded black bars that should not be there + another 4:3 in the DAR flag.

I've tried both DVDPatcher and Restream to try and fix it, but neither will allow me the display aspect ratio I need to properly correct it. There is no choice between 1:1 and 4:3 and what I need is a display aspect ratio of 6:5. I need the video to play in a perfectly square window (576x576) and then the picture inside with black bars top and bottom will be 4:3 which will be correct.

I have tried the 1:1 option but this does not stretch the video to 576x576 as expected. All it does is play the video in the native resolution aspect ratio of 480x576, which means a resulting picture aspect ratio of 1.11 (480/576 x 4:3), so the subjects of the video are tall and skinny. Is there a way of correcting this video without re-encoding it?

[guns1inger]

Nope. You have to remove the bars, resize and then re-encode. Both Restream and DVD patcher are aimed at mpeg-2 for DVD, which only allows for 4:3 or 16:9.

[manono]

Is there a way of correcting this video without re-encoding it?

No. There are only 4 DARs allowed for MPEG, and 6:5 isn't one of them.

[jagabo]

No. There are only 4 DARs allowed for MPEG

And for the record they are:

1:1 (PAR, not DAR, square pixel)
4:3
16:9
2.11:1

[DRP]

Thanks guys, I was afraid that might be the answer. Oh well, I'll just re-encode it I guess. Thanks also for the explanation jagabo as to why 1:1 AR doesn't behave the same way as the other three.