High Resolution to Standard HD Conversion

[dennisl]

My USB drive for my input to my DVD drive only allows a divx of 720 resolution. I have videos that are very HQ at 1280 or 1020 of course. I need to reduce the resolution to 720 but am having problems. Sometimes when I download a movie I can only get the higher resolution download. I change 100 % of my videos to 16\9, I hate not having a full screen.

I use 4Videosoft Ultimate converter which is a wonderful program. If I use the xvid to avi setting and input a high qualty for example 1280 movie and select to change to a lower resolution, a box showing the video which loses like half of the video picture. In other words it is cropping the video down to 720 resolution losing most of it, i don't want that. i want to somehow make the video contain the whole picture and just reduce the resolution so I can play it through mu USB drive input on the DVD drive. I have done a few hundred videos with resolutions of max 720 and cropped them or whatever with perfect resuts, just have to figure out for those over 720.

Any help appreciated.

[_Al_]

What part of the world are you writing from? Just get some junk media player, even those first generation ones, like WDTV 1st generation, maybe someone will give it to you for free, I bet there is thousands of them around not used anymore, they might play DivX with no problem at all, to any screen, you can zoom in to get rid of black bars if you insist ....

[dennisl]

Unfortunately for you, a lot smarter world than you live in. It is very common for the usb input on a DVD to not accept above 720 x resolution. As a matter of fact, many tv's today still don't accept divx input from the USB Port Also, divx you can incorporate the subs into the file with aviaddxsubs or other programs. Straight .avi the subs have to be in a separate folder with the avi file. Most tv's that have zoom over pixelate at 2,4 etc. Even fit to screen over pixelates many times. You truly need the 16\9 ratio for the proper aspect ratio.

As a matter of fact, the extension means little, I am sure many people have seen when they tried to play a higher resolution thru dvd where the tv said (Does Not Support This Resolution)

Guys like you should be off this forum.

I hope I get a little respect from intelligent people who support my answer and set an idiot like you straight.

[_Al_]

Listen, I gave you a straight question, no irony, no priggish intent, no ridicoule thought. Just wanted to know if it was possible for you to spend a few bucks to fix your thing. You might as well write from antarctic station, what do I know. I did not meant that you cannot afford it and I can. You see what is not there. But whatever encode yourself into infinity.

[theewizard]

you have TWO choices
re-encode to a lower resolution aka 720*480
or purchase a 'media player' box
which WILL play the file 'as-is' from any usb device, memory stick or usb HD, and output directly to the TV in componet or HDMI
there is lots of free software for re-encoding
i have never used the SW you have tried, but i suggest, you uncheck 'copy' video stream
and choose to 'resize'
some how you have enabled a 'crop' option instead of a re-size option, re-size MUST re-encode, there is no other way to resize the video resolution

it must be in that software somewhere

or you can try virtualdub or one of the other available programs

[manono]

I change 100 % of my videos to 16\9, I hate not having a full screen.

You truly need the 16\9 ratio for the proper aspect ratio.

I hope I get a little respect from intelligent people...

Maybe if you showed some intelligence you'd get some respect. As it is...

[dennisl]

I figured it out myself, I used Virtualdub and resized. As far as the idiot, if I ever knew where he was, he would be on the ground. People get on forums for help, not ridicule. Anybody with a decent brain knows it wasn't a hardware problem. Maybe he should read about the divx standard 720 resolutions sometime. There are millions of people out there who know about the resolution restrictions of this problem. I have over 400 movies in my collection I have changed formats on and then changed to divx because I am very hard of hearing and need subs with my moviies. I remember one time I used virtualdub for about 50 movies and seeing the resize now. Just always downloaded standard so never did high resolution. Also, how many of you have used the zoom on your tv or home theatr. You know what I mean, the zoom at 2 is too much, cutting off and overextending pixels, looks like crap. Very few have zoom of 1.5 It is like 1/4 1/2 1. 2, 4, but never 1.5 For me I would rather loose just a little quality and crop to 16/9 for a perfect fit.

As far as the system operator of this board, the best thing he could do is block that jerk out. He still keeps being a jerk.

[hech54]

Sometimes when I download a movie I can only get the higher resolution download.

BUY the DVD instead of "downloading". Problem solved.

[dennisl]

There You go, I have ripped DVd's and made my divx files, the newer programs make it easy. It is the absolute waste of space of a standard DVD Movie at about 4 gigs and of course more for bluray. When you can xvid down to very good at quality at 1.5 gigs, it is better do just download the already compressed file. I pay very little money for the two download Movie Clubs I belong to, one is only $20 a year. Graboid is $19.99 a month and has a very quick search and download. Any quality on Graboid. Graboid is going downhill this year. When I first joined, you could watch the movie online or watch it as it is downloaded.

Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate lets you capture the movie as it is played, or any inputted video file. It is quite a nice video converter, but not as nice as 4Videosoft Converter Ultimate. Since I crop a lot, 4videosoft does any cropping you want with a couple clicks. Pretty fast converter too.

[MindController]

I figured it out myself, I used Virtualdub and resized. As far as the idiot, if I ever knew where he was, he would be on the ground. People get on forums for help, not ridicule. Anybody with a decent brain knows it wasn't a hardware problem.

Perhaps you shouldn't come to the forums with an attitude? And threatening people isn't a good idea, even if you hide behind your computer. Regardless, I'm glad you got your issue fixed.

[dennisl]

Well, I didn't have an attitude problem, as you can see by my inquiry. He was rude immediately. One of the bad things about forums is sometimes they just voice only their opinion and don't answer your specific question. I only asked for help on resizing the resolution, and not in a rude way. Telling someone what part of the world do you come from or to get different hardware or Why don't you use the zoom is Al's his opinion, that was not the question. I personally prefer 16/9 that my USB port accepts, that's why I asked the question. Doesn't anybody get it. He immediately starts out asking me from where do I come from. My original post was very polite. His response was very rude, read it again. People need to respect other people and if not, deserve to be treated the same. By the way, that wasn't a threat, these kind of sarcastic and obnoxious people deserve what they dish out.

When I answer someone with a question, I try to answer it, not tell them why are you doing it that way. We all like and do things a different way, if you can't be civil, don't answer at all.

[jagabo]

You truly need the 16\9 ratio for the proper aspect ratio.

Very few movies are shot at 16:9. Only modern made for TV movies and shows. If you're forcing all your movies to 16:9 you are mangling most them.

[smrpix]

"What part of the world are you from?" is a useful bit of information in giving a helpful answer. You've withheld that from your profile and 720 can be PAL or NTSC. If your're in London or New York, old WDTVs are plentiful. If you're in more remote areas, not as much.

PAL or NTSC matters a lot when it comes to resizing.

[dennisl]

Pal or NTSC really isn't that critical for the 16/9 conversion. There also isn't hardly any DVD player that you cannot get to the menu and change playback from NTSC to PAL, so the area you live is totally insignificant as you take resolution in consideration The question was about resizing, everybody knows there is a trade off in every conversion. For the comment about mangling my movies at 16/9, that is your opinion, I use a couple of methods and get excellent results.

The truth is yes, you are right, most movies are not in the 16/9 format, that will change in the future. Most all of the new tV screens are 16/9 physical dimensions now. Try a 1.85 ratio and zoom it on your TV. Using the zoom on your tv never makes the correct screen resolution for the screen. Some fit to screen home theatres do a very good job. There hasn't been one newer DVD movie in several years I have bought that hasn't been the widescreen 16/9 format. I watch many older movies, so I reformat. I live both in and out of the USA as I am now retired. Outside the USA there is so much pirating of DVD movies that you might as well buy the DVD, only a couple bucks. They have very few video stores in South America, you just buy them dirt cheap on the streets. They have the movies on the streets before they even see them in the US. It really is amazing how they get a hold of everything. I have yet to buy a DVD where I live in South America that wasn't 16/9 native or converted 16/9. Some people don't mind the black bars, to me it is a waste of screen. I can live with the tradeoff. I can see why younger people love BluRay Resolution, crisp and clear. But to me it looks animated, not real. Subjectively, it looks better than what you see in the real world. At retirement age or more, it just is not that big of a deal to most of us. Now I am sure I will get a letter from an 80 year old saying he has to only watch BluRay resolution. The same guy that still watches his VHS movies.

Mostly, I can see this forum is very much filled with personal opinion, not many technical oriented people.

[jagabo]

For the comment about mangling my movies at 16/9, that is your opinion, I use a couple of methods and get excellent results.

No, it's simple fact. You cannot get a 2.35:1 movie to fill a 1.78:1 display without cropping the picture, distorting the picture, or some combination of the two.

you are right, most movies are not in the 16/9 format, that will change in the future.

No it won't. Only made-for-tv content will be 16:9. Movies intended for theatrical release will continue to be shot in a wide variety of aspect ratios. 50 years of 4:3 TVs didn't convince movie makers to shoot everything 4:3.

[smrpix]

self deleted: unnecessary troll feeding

[dennisl]

Maybe your right, time will tell. doesn't seem to explain the fact every DVD I have bought for the last two years, at least in South America has been 16:9 But, it is ok because I live out of the USA most of the time. In South america there are beautiful places, good Health care if you go to a major area. you can live like a King here on your retirement. Also, very nice people. I prefer American food, but then again a tradeoff.

[manono]

doesn't seem to explain the fact every DVD I have bought for the last two years, at least in South America has been 16:9

You freely admit you're buying bootlegs made by petty criminals and then wonder why they're not at the original aspect ratio? Maybe, like you, those people hate not having a full screen. Kindred spirits.

Have you considered that maybe the reason you're not getting any sympathy and support for your position is that this is a videohelp site and the people that provide the help encourage people to do it right? Among other things that means teaching people to convert their movies with the original black bars, if necessary, and without chopping off the video or stretching it. People like you coming in here with attitude about their silly preferences and then getting all bent out of shape when they find no one agreeing with them get laughed out of here quickly.

[Cornucopia]

What part of the world are you writing from?

Rightly asks about both NTSC vs. PAL compatibility and about hardware availability.

Just get some junk media player, even those first generation ones, like WDTV 1st generation, maybe someone will give it to you for free, I bet there is thousands of them around not used anymore, they might play DivX with no problem at all, to any screen, you can zoom in to get rid of black bars if you insist ....

Suggests that even though "DVD Players" and "TVs" may not have HD capability for Divx files, Generic modern media players WILL have HD capability, so bypasses the hardware problem altogether.

Unfortunately for you, a lot smarter world than you live in.

Insult.

It is very common for the usb input on a DVD to not accept above 720 x resolution. As a matter of fact, many tv's today still don't accept divx input from the USB Port

Thinking inside the box, assuming must use existing equipment.

Also, divx you can incorporate the subs into the file with aviaddxsubs or other programs. Straight .avi the subs have to be in a separate folder with the avi file.

Tangential to original question, and not necessarily universally factual.

Most tv's that have zoom over pixelate at 2,4 etc. Even fit to screen over pixelates many times.

That may be how your TV works, not universal. Stop generalizing about stuff you haven't researched.

You truly need the 16\9 ratio for the proper aspect ratio.

As was stated above, is false. "Proper" aspect ratio is following what was intended by the creators of the program. If 4:3, and shown on a widescreen TV, this will have pillarboxing. If 1.85:1 (most common film widescreen format) or 2.35:1 (ultrawidescreen), this will STILL have letterboxing. Any other method, including your "force it to 16:9 by all accounts" does a disservice to those who put this program together. And as was stated earlier, only made-for-HD-video titles will be 16:9, and film doesn't follow that rule hardly EVER.

As a matter of fact, the extension means little,

Extension means a LOT WRT hardware players. They aren't smart enough (compared to a PC software player) to read what is inside the file regardless of it's extension.

I am sure many people have seen when they tried to play a higher resolution thru dvd where the tv said (Does Not Support This Resolution)

DVD players are SD devices! Of course they won't play higher resolution. For that you need either generic media devices, HTPCs or BD/AVCHD players.

Guys like you should be off this forum.

Insult.

I hope I get a little respect from intelligent people who support my answer and set an idiot like you straight.

Insult. And NO, you won't get ANY respect from intelligent people, when you are talking like that.

I figured it out myself, I used Virtualdub and resized.

So you followed what thewizard suggested, which BTW is NOT figuring it out yourself. Plus, that is the lesser quality of the 2 choices.

As far as the idiot, if I ever knew where he was, he would be on the ground.

Insult and violent threat.

People get on forums for help, not ridicule.

People go onto forums for lots of reasons. YOU only got ridicule after you clearly insulted first.

Anybody with a decent brain knows it wasn't a hardware problem.

Insult, and WRONG. It is a hardware problem. Your current hardware is SD and doesn't work with HD (that means it is hardware-limited). IF you got new hardware (the original suggestion), you would be enjoying fine HD right now...

Maybe he should read about the divx standard 720 resolutions sometime. There are millions of people out there who know about the resolution restrictions of this problem.

Has nothing to do with the file, has to do with that particular device's compliance with a standard or (in-)ability to go beyond it's original working expectations.

I have over 400 movies in my collection I have changed formats on and then changed to divx because I am very hard of hearing and need subs with my moviies. I remember one time I used virtualdub for about 50 movies and seeing the resize now. Just always downloaded standard so never did high resolution.

Goes to show that you're just now encountering the limits of your existing hardware.

Also, how many of you have used the zoom on your tv or home theatr. You know what I mean, the zoom at 2 is too much, cutting off and overextending pixels, looks like crap. Very few have zoom of 1.5 It is like 1/4 1/2 1. 2, 4, but never 1.5

If you change it in any way, you are losing quality, doesn't matter. Could be zooming, could be resizing, could be cropping or stretching, could be re-encoding to smaller size/format. Guess your TV hardware has bad zoom function. Mine (and lots others) doesn't.

For me I would rather loose just a little quality and crop to 16/9 for a perfect fit.

Perfect fit? Only for the TV, not for the program, and not for the resolution lost.

Listen, I gave you a straight question, no irony, no priggish intent, no ridicoule thought. Just wanted to know if it was possible for you to spend a few bucks to fix your thing. You might as well write from antarctic station, what do I know. I did not meant that you cannot afford it and I can. You see what is not there. But whatever encode yourself into infinity.

As far as the system operator of this board, the best thing he could do is block that jerk out. He still keeps being a jerk.

Looking at the above, it's clear to many of us that there wasn't anything to his comment, with the exception of that final flippant remark about "encoding yourself into infinity" (which I though was humorous). And it was understandable after all the vitriol you've spouted. Kind of a "I wash my hands of this whole affair" sort of remark. You however, are worse than a jerk expecting a system operator to block somebody else just because you don't like what's being offered to you.

...I could go on, but I think it's clear to everyone how this is playing out.

Scott

[dennisl]

Let me put it this way, there is NO Video DVD you will find in almost all of South America that is legitimate, if you do find one in a million video store, the DVD will not be legitimate. Also, I live mostly in Colombia since that is where my wife is from. Here it is a different World. Nothing is legitimate. I never asked for sympathy, where did you get that from. People here are so poor sometimes they live on dirt floors. Rich people are here too. They will sell anything, anywhere to survive. Wise Up. Somebody here is going to buy DVD's here from the USA or whatever and pay 3,4,5 dollars in bulk and try to sell them here for 6,7, 10 dollars. I buy plenty of electronics here, my computers, other stuff. The price is outrageous because of American Greed. It is only a several hour trip from Miami. There is no need to gouge prices. Miami is like a bunch of foreign countries.

I've been in other countries, there are no rules, you want to buy a DVD, you don't go down to Walmart and get one friend. Everything you get for a price that you can't afford ,drivers license, stolen car titles, fake everything. That's their survival. If someone wants to come from the USA and check the DVD's they sell here, more power to them. In the meantime the will probably get shot.. It is a entirely different World outside of the USA buddy. I buy a CD or DVD on the street like everybody else, what's the difference, same bootlegged one if you found a store. it's a nice country, wonderful people, they love Americans. But, let me tell you, there is more greed in the good ol USA than any other country. You are talking a lot of crap when you try to advocate american culture into another country. Most of them have no rules or conscience, just survival.

[smrpix]

So now you're saying, "What part of the world are you writing from?" is a REALLY relevant question.

[dennisl]

Hey Scott, you are right, perfect fit for the type of specific program or movie. Not all of us want the default. Also, anybody who wants to spend more money for any hardware that you can use software for a specific purpose is really throwing money away.

I don't care whether it is 1.5, 1.85, 1.77, movies are made in many resolutions, the same exact movie titles. There is no standard. and 4:3 is ridicuolus, use stretch on the TV and watch that disaster.

Anyway, I really enjoyed chatting with a bunch losers. You guys have absolutely no idea of what the world is like, what the technology is going toward. I have been on a lot of forums with smart good people. This is a totally useless forum, so I will unsubscribe, good riddens to all of you.

[Cornucopia]

And to you as well.

[aedipuss]

Outside the USA there is so much pirating of DVD movies that you might as well buy the DVD, only a couple bucks. They have very few video stores in South America, you just buy them dirt cheap on the streets

someone forgot to read the forum rules. no help allowed for illegal pirated material. you are just asking to get yourself banned.