Aspect ratio error with PAL VCDs in TMPGEnc - please advise

[jarborra]

To bring back an "oldie but goldie" to this forum, could I please ask your advice on the topic of DAR in TPMGEnc. I’ve read the Doom9 DAR guide, syzygytec’s and Vejita-sama’s posts as well as FoxGarrison’s solution, but my problem seems to rather unique.

My aim: I want to create anamorphic PAL VCDs. I understand most players can't read this flag, like FoxGarrisson I just want to encode an anamorphic ("tall n' thin people") image that I can view in 16x9 mode on my widescreen TV.

My problem: Setting source and aspect ratio to 16:9 PAL in TMPGEnc and choosing Full Screen arrange should do the trick (and it does for NTSC discs) but in PAL mode (352x288 pixels in VCD) the image becomes slightly too stretched. In other words, pressing the 16x9 button on the TV doesn't "squeeze" the image enough - I've put Scotch tape on my TV to test this

My solutions: (1) By mistake, I chose NTSC VCD in TMPGEnc, chose PAL 16:9 source with full screen arrange then burned that MPEG in PAL mode using Nero. The image was the right size (in 16:9 mode) and undistorted. There seemed to be nothing wrong the the framerate....even though a 25 fps PAL source had been encoded as 29.97fps. Beats me. (2) My other solution involved using what I'd learned above and using Centre Custom arrange and setting this to 352x240 (the NTSC VCD resolution). This also did the trick although the image was slightly offset on my TV, although still correct and undistorted.

Neither solution is satisfactory and I'd love to hear what you guys think. Sorry for the long post, but I've spent all day today encoding, burning and testing this. Since I live in Europe, most of the DVDs that I "back up" are PAL so this is an ongoing concern for me. I also do not want to encode 16:9 letterbox, so please don't suggest that. It's anamorphic or bust for me!

Many thanks

Ras

PS I understand that there are supposed to be black bars with a 2.35:1 transfer and very thin black bars with a 1.85:1 transfer, even on a 16:9 TV.

[XP_Mainiac]

I too would like to do this.Hope someone can help.
I have almost all video tools but havent got around to messing with trying to do this.

Someone please help !!!

[jarborra]

Using the advice given on Doom9's forum, I decided to go with my second solution. It doesn't seem many people here are interesting in creating anamorphic VCDs but if you are, here's the trick:

Read and understand the simple math explained under Doom9's Basic Intro to DAR http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm then find out what the source aspect ratio of your movie is. If it's a DivX or XViD, open up VirtualDub and check out File Information. If it's a DVD it'll most likely say 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 on the box.

Depending on whether the disc you're creating is PAL or NTSC you have two ways to go. I slapped up an Excel sheet to do this - message me if you want a copy. I'm more sure about the NTSC, but here goes:

1. PAL

VCD resolution is 352x288. In 16:9 mode, your TV will stretch the horizontal to 288 x (16/9) = 512. Say your source is Cinemascope 2.35:1, you then divide by this 512/2.35 = 218 to find the correct (anamorphic) height of the picture

Set your TMPGEnc source and video stream to whatever (I found it doesn't matter when you do it this way) and set arrange to Center Custom with the area as 352x218

Encode!


2. NTSC

VCD resolution is 352x240. In 16:9 mode, your TV will stretch the horizontal to 240 x (16/9) = 427. Say your source is Cinemascope 2.35:1, you then divide by this 427/2.35 = 182 to find the correct (anamorphic) height of the picture

Set your TMPGEnc source and video stream to whatever (I found it doesn't matter when you do it this way) and set arrange to Center Custom with the area as 352x182

Encode!


This method will only look good on a widescreen TV in wide/16:9 mode or in ZoomPlayer using 16:9 AR so you make sure this is how you want to view your VCD!

If there are any mistakes above, please let me know. I've been rackin' my head over this all weekend and the above has worked for me on a few flicks so far (one NTSC XViD, one NTSC DivX and one PAL DVD).

Much obliged for any tips, pointers, or even flames from RadicalEd :P