hdtv to pal interlaced dvd?

[DiMarco]

I have an mpg in hdtv format at 59.94fps. Given that the framerate and image size exceeds PAL standards, it should be possible to convert it to dvd with a little framerate manipulation. Am I correct that hdtv is 60 FULL frames per second as opposed to half frames, and how can the frames be interpolated easily?

[edDV]

It is more likely to be 1080i (1920x1080 interlaced). As for conversion to standard PAL, I have no ideas. It would require both spacial and temporal conversion.

[DiMarco]

Actually, its 1280x720... is this HDTV standard, or is it simple widescreen NTSC? If the latter, can it be encoded to dvd as widescreen easily?

[edDV]

That would be 720p (1280x720 progressive) quite nice but still either 29.94 or 58.8 frames per second. The latter is what DTV puts out.

If it didn't originate on the ABC or FOX networks, it's probably a conversion.

[DiMarco]

So, what would it be best to reencode to for DVD - 29.94 or 58.8, and what exactly is 58.8 fps?

[funkguy4]

this looks like an NTSC source to me. and i don't know what those 29.94 and 58.8 numbers are either, never heard of them before. if you need to go to PAL (many players can actually play either system and convert on the fly given the target TV system) then you will, in addition to resizing the frame, need to change the framerate to 25 fps and then stretch the audio to fit that (BeSweet and GoldWave can both do this). You can try decimation by two, and if this doesn't work i think AVISynth can somehow merge every pair of frames to give an average of the two. Are you sure that 59.94 isn't really just some 29.97 being played back w/ frame doubling? In AVISynth, load up the file, then take the first frame and the second frame and subtract them to see if there's a difference.

Conversions between systems should generally be avoidedunless absolutely necessary.

[edDV]

58.8 was a typo, supposed to be 59.88 or 2x 29.94

720p is progressive. There is no need to deinterlace.

What you have are 1280x720 progressive frames at a rate of 59.88 frames per second or 29.94 frames per second.

[funkguy4]

What you have are 1280x720 progressive frames at a rate of 59.88 frames per second or 29.94 frames per second.

I'm pretty sure it's 29.97 and 59.94 fps. I think then that they must be doubled frames. So you can probably decimate by two when you go to transcode. I think encoding to interlaced PAL would be rather pointlss/wasteful. You will need to lengthen the audio though.

[edDV]

Correct again 29.97 and 59.94 fps. Sorry for the confusion.
but it would be progressive 1280x720 which was my main point.

720p is usually broadcast 59.94 frames per second (at the option of the tv station) but the file writer may have tossed half the frames for file size economy.