Resolution problem!

[Mecha]

I just fixed the problem with how to convert avi to mpeg2 and later to author it to VOB and a neat menu. But when I burned it ( luckily with a DVD-RW ) I saw that the resolution was not good. It wasnt much.. but enough to notice that it was to big ( 720x576 ) .. Now Im running on PAL, 4:3. What resolution should I have? 704x576?

[guns1inger]

What do you mean, the resolution was too big ?
PAL resolution is 720 x 576 (although 704 x 576 is also acceptable). Are you concerned that you may have lost footage around the edges ? The answer is - you haven't. The edges of the picture, when watching TV, fall into what is know as the overscan area. This area is usually covered by the plastic edge around the picture tube, and is not seen. For footage captured from TV and played on a PC, these areas are visible, however if you put it back on a DVD and play it on your TV, they are gone again.

Where this can cause problems is when someone downloads a video of the net that has subtitles burned into it outside the safe areas. Put this on a DVD and the subtitles disappear.

It doesn't matter whether or not you use 720 or 704, this problem will remain. The only way to avoid it is to shrink the original image slightly (there is a formula, but you will have to search for it), then add black borders around the edges to bring the frame back up to size.

On some TV's you will not see this border, on some you will.