Confused about fullscreen DVDs appearance from two editing products

[garyg45]

I'm new to creating DVDs and I found something that doesn't make sense to me while looking at two editing products.

I used a Toshiba VCR/DVD combo unit to create DVDs from VHS and VHSC tapes. When I play the resulting DVDs on my HDTV, they play in full screen. I used VOB2MPG to create MPEG2 files on a hard drive in order to edit the videos and create better menus than the Toshiba provided. The MPEG2 files are 720 x 480.

I used a trial version of Womble's MPEG Video Wizard DVD 5.0 to edit and create new DVDs. These DVDs also play in full screen on the HDTV. I decided to trial Corel's VideoStudio Pro X5 because it appears to have more menu and title options. When I import a video clip into VS X5, the preview window has black bars on the right and left side, and the resulting DVD has the black bars when I play it on my HDTV. The properties of the imported MPEG2 into VS X5 show an aspect ratio of 720 x 480 and 4:3. I got a suggestion from a Corel forum on how to remove the black bars, but it removes some video from the top and bottom of the screen. From what I've read it is 72 lines from the top and bottom.

I cannot remember doing anything special with MPEG Video Wizard DVD creating the DVDs, and my trial period ended a month ago so I cannot check anything with it. The DVDs created with the Toshiba and MPEG Video Wizard don't have anything missing. Why don't I have any problems with them? Is there something they are doing with the attributes of the video clips that I'm not doing with VS X5?

[manono]

Why don't I have any problems with them?

You do have problems with them. They're not supposed to fill your screen. Everyone is fat. Can't you tell? VHS tapes are all 4:3 and so should be the DVDs you make from them. The ones that fill your screen you've somehow made into 16:9 video.

NTSC DVD resolution is 720x480 (1.5:1). The DAR set in the encoder (4:3 or 16:9) determines how'll they'll play on your TV set. They'll either be 4:3 (1.33:1) and show large pillarbars to the right and left, but with the correct aspect ratio, or they'll be 16:9 (1.78:1) and fill the screen, but with everyone looking fat.

[garyg45]

Thanks for the info. I guess I need better glasses. My son was around 5 at the time of the videos, and he was a little chubby at that time. My wife thought he looked a little too heavy.

I decided to look at the settings on the Toshiba VCR/DVD and the HDTV. Using the Toshiba the TV display settings showed a Wide Mode of Full and the 4:3 Default option was greyed out. The Toshiba is connected to the TV via a HDMI cable. I also have a Sony DVD recorder connected to the same TV. When it is selected, I can select the 4:3 Default option. Using a Wide Mode option of Normal and a 4:3 Default option of either Normal or Off, the DVD plays with the pillarboxes on the sides. If I change 4:3 Default to Wide Zoom and Wide Mode to Full, I get the full screen, and see my son get fatter. The Sony DVD is connected via Component Video cables, if that matters.

It looks like the issue was caused by the HDTV display settings when the Toshiba VCR/DVD is used. Thanks again for helping to clear this up for me.

Gary

[davexnet]

Almost every time this problem is reported, it turns out to be a setting on the TV.
Your post is interesting - looks like the provision to enable the 4:3 screen was only accessible in the TV when
component cables were used. I don't know why that would be? Is HDMI inherently 16:9?
If the answer is false, then why does the TV not allow you to select 4:3 using the HDMI connection?

Thanks for the info.

[garyg45]

I noticed that the Sony HDTV shows the input resolution of the connected devices when I select them. For the Sony DVD it shows 480i, and for the Toshiba VCR/DVR it shows 1080i. I reviewed the Toshiba manual and found that there is a HMDI button on the remote. This button provides the following resolutions: 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. When I changed the Toshiba to 480p, the 4:3 Default option on the TV can be modified, and when I use the Toshiba to play the DVDs created on the Toshiba and with Womble MPEG Video Wizard, they look correct.

[davexnet]

Again, this makes perfect sense. After I posted last night, it occurred to me that the missing info
was the resolution of the DVD via the HDMI. Thanks for the update.