aspect ratio

[mistycat]

In MainConcept, how is a true 16.9 ratio achieved with the letterboxing? Thanks

[guns1inger]

You want to re-phrase that so it is clearer what you are asking. Do you want true 16:9, or letterboxed out put ?

[mistycat]

Sorry for not being clearer. If 16.9 is selected, output is still 4.3 with the picture stretched to fill the screen making items thinner and taller (unless the file is 4.3 with 4.3 selected. Most aren't). I assumed that true 16.9 with letterboxing (proper black bars) would eliminate this stretching. I can do this with TMPGEnc Plus but it's far slower and I prefer MC but can't find the proper setting. I'm looking at Copy and Scale but still experimenting. Thanks

[Aino]

Yes, the output remains 720x480 (4:3) but MC puts a "flag" that tells to the player that the video is 16:9 ratio, then the player itself add the black bars.

to probe it, play the .m2v file produced by MC on powerdvd.[/quote]

[mistycat]

Does this flag not apply to standalones or does my player not recognize it? On my pc, I can just play the unencoded avi with WMP Classic or Nero Showtime and see the bars. It is only when burnt to DVD that the picture becomes stretched. Thanks

[guns1inger]

To be completely in spec, and to make sure your DVD player recognises the AR, you need to encode the title to be 16:9, and author the disk to be 16:9. If you are unsure if the title is truely flagged as 16:9, look at restream.

[guns1inger]

Open MC and load your video. Select DVD from the Mpeg Type drop down (or mp2g2 if you set it all yourself. Click on Details, then click on Advanced. On the Video Settings tab you should have a dropdown called (surprise) Aspect Ratio:. Set this to 16:9 Display and encode

[mistycat]

I always select 16.9 (if appropriate) from the dropdown in Advanced, Video Settings but all that seems to do is encode a 16.9 file in 4.3 format resulting in no black bars and stretched video to fill in for the missing black bars. I have never seen a letterboxed result yet. Restream looks interesting; I'll look into it or just use TMPGEnc Plus but its so slow. Thanks

[mistycat]

Here is a solution to this issue that seems to work: download and open the calculator at www.tomzavodny.cz/program/bitcalc/index_en.php, input your source resolution [right side], select target resolution [ntsc/pal 720 by 480/576], this will give you a resize resolution to use in MC's crop and scale, untick keep proportions and encode as 4.3. Great encoder but shouldn't have this issue, especially for its cost. You can also make your own letterboxing by encoding as 16.9 and adjusting heigth in crop and scale by unticking keep proportions. only tried this once, though, so don't know if this works every time. Both methods substantially reduce Bitrate, so check with the builtin calculator in MC before encoding. You will have to manually type in the above link to access it.

[guns1inger]

If the source is 1.78 AR then yes, the video will stretch to fill a 4:3 frame. A good player will recognise the embedded 16:9 flag and compensate for you. If you author correctly as 16:9, so will your DVD player.

What do you author with ?

[mistycat]

Regardless of the AR, I have never seen proper Widescreen with letterboxing to prevent the picture stretching. The authoring program I use is Ulead DVD Moviefactory 3.5. Ulead came with my Pioneer burner and is what I learned on, so I'm comfortable with it but I don't see a 16.9 setting in it.

[mistycat]

Do authoring programs have the option to write as 16.9? If so, I don't see it in Ulead and when I encode with TMPGEnc Plus, it authors fine (takes 4 times as long, though on the same file and a bit lower quality). This must be an issue with MC because, while searching various forums, I found this same question asked time and again (with no answers but the one I found in one thread). If an authoring program can write as 16.9, please tell me which one. Would a better DVD Player solve this because I have tried 3? Can you recommend one? Thanks

[mistycat]

guns1inger-I never even saw the Avi resizer in your post until now. It appears to be an excellent tool for acquiring proper resolution. I should have looked closer; sorry I missed it.

[guns1inger]

No probs. Have a look at Fitcd as well. It is broader in scope, and can give you a basic avisynth script. The notes with my file give you a brief intro to using virtualdub for resizing, filtering and frameserving.

[mistycat]

Thanks. Shall do

[MrMoody]

Yes, the output remains 720x480 (4:3) but MC puts a "flag" that tells to the player that the video is 16:9 ratio, then the player itself add the black bars.

Note, this only happens if the player is set to "4:3 Letterbox" in its settings. If it's set to 16:9, it will stretch as the OP is describing.