DVD2SVCD picture size?

[jw33]

Well first I have to say that DVD2SVCD is really a great setup. I have made about 30 SVCD and they all turned out perfect.........

Except for this. When I copy a older DVD that is in fullscreen format my SVCD comes out with bars at the top and bottom like a regular widescreen movie. Even when I choose 4:3 size.

When I copy a newer DVD in widescreen the SVCD comes out with huge bars on the top or bottom @16:9 or the picture gets streched with 4:3.

How do I keep the piture size the same as it is on the DVD? Widescreen to widescreen of fullscreen to fullscreen.

BTW I watch them on a Sony 32 inch Trinitron with a Pioneer 434 and none of the screen settings I change seem to do anything.

[jw33]

ttt

[Vejita-sama]

There are several things that could cause this problem.

1) Not all widescreen movies are ampomoric(sp) some are actually 4:3 movies with the black bars encoded as part of the video.

2) Also some movies that are really 16:9 have a 4:3 flag and vice versa. That'll screw up DVD2SVCD

3) Some movies are 2.35:1 (instead of the 'normal' 1.85:1) but both flag as 16:9 and DVD2SVCD doens't resize them correctly.

So the best thing to do is play the movie on your TV, look at the video_ts.ifo file, and set DVD2SVCD manually.

[freak_in_cage_10k]

This Problem has always confused me aswell!!! i asked a similar question but never got a reply so i gave up! I also use DVD2SVCD

Please complete the table:

When The SVCD is.......

actually 4:3- What aspect ratio should i use?
really 16:9 but have a 4:3 flag What aspect ratio should i use?
really 4:3 but have a 16:9 flag What aspect ratio should i use?
actually 2.35:1 but flag as 16:9 What aspect ratio should i use?

i hope you dont mind my asking this question jw33 in your subject m8, but it is of a similar nature and hopefully you will benefit from it aswell!

[Vejita-sama]

The first thing you have to keep in mind is the difference between resolution and DAR. They are NOT the same thing. I can have a DAR at any resolution (just not full screen). There's a good guide on this at doom9:

http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm

All DVDs have a resolution of 720x480. The MPEGs are encoded in one of 2 mannors:

4:3 or apomorphic

1) Let's say that I have a DVD of a TV show. Odds are that it was shot as with a DAR of 4:3 (I say odds are because some TV shows are shot in either HDTV or 16:9 film these days). The MPEG will be 720x480 and 'full screen.'

2a) DVD is of a movie, shot for a DAR of 16:9 (actually either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 more on that latter). I want to watch this on my 4:3 TV and the MPEG _MUST BE_ at 720x480 so I resize the video and add black bars to the top/bottom of the encoded MPEG to 'preserve' the DAR. But the movie is now 'offically' 4:3 or

2b) the movie is apomorphic, the MPEG is 720x480 but the DVD has a flag that tells your DVD player how to handle it. If you've got a 4:3 standard TV then YOUR DVD PLAYER adds the letter boxing. If you've got a HDTV then your DVD player does nothing.

However, movies are not actually shot 16:9, they are either 1.85:1 (more common) or 2.35:1. But both are 'flagged' at 16:9. This confuses DVD2SVCD.

x(S)VCDs only support 4:3 source. So they have to be encoded w/ option 2a. Now if you have a 1.85:1 movie cool, but if it's 2.35:1 DVD2SVCD will not resize it correctly.

Here's a typical DVD2SVCD AVS (avisynth file):

bicubicresize(480,360)
addborders(0,60,0,60)

That means resize the movie to 480x360 and then add black/borders 60lines each to the top and bottom (ie. back to 480x480). That's for a 1.85:1 movie. For a 2.35:1 movie you'd need to manually edit the AVS file to read:

bicubicresize(480,204)
addborders(0,138,0,138)

Q: How did I get those numbers?
A: 480/1.85=360 and 480/2.35=204

Ok, now here's the part that gets confusing. Most new DVDs are apomorphic, but some of the older DVDs (and a few new ones for no good reason) are encoded with method 2a. If these movies are flagged as 16:9 then then DVD2SVCD will f&ck it up.

So to answer you're questions:
====================================
{actually 4:3- What aspect ratio should i use?}

If the movie is 4:3 that could mean that it's either a 4:3 source or a film that's been 'hard letter boxed' either way you should encode it as 4:3.

{really 16:9 but have a 4:3 flag What aspect ratio should i use?}

That was a mistake. Most likely an apomorphic disc with the wrong flag. Encode as 16:9 (with the correct resize for 1.85:1 or 2.35:1)

{really 4:3 but have a 16:9 flag What aspect ratio should i use?}

Again, that would only happen by mistake. But IIRC I think that the OZ Seaon I DVD box is like this. A 4:3 show with a 16:9 flag in the IFO file. Encode as 4:3

{actually 2.35:1 but flag as 16:9 What aspect ratio should i use?}

16:9, but need to set resize correctly

[Movman]

I always use the settings 16:9( borders added encoded as 4:3) when converting avi ( divx ) or DVDs to SVCD.

Always getting the right aspect ratio