DVD comes out slightly squished and text cut off ON T.V.

[Gromit137]

Is there something to fix the output...it's a bit squished (making people a slight bit shorter) and some text gets cut off at left and right.

It's not unviewable but it bugs me...I set the aspect ratio to 4:3...used avi...mpegs...can't seem to get the DVD television friendly.
Thanks

[daamon]

Hi Gromit137,

Use GSpot on the source AVI and paste the screen shot here - it'll provide useful info to help people maybe figure out what could be the cause.

Also, what tool are you using to get to DVD, and what settings?

[guns1inger]

Your text being cut off sounds like overscan (see the glossary for details). What type of source (downloads, home made etc) do you have ?

[Gromit137]

I'm using Cyberlink's PowerDirector 5.0 but the same thing happens on Tsunami DVD Author. I use avi files from digital camcorder...edit them ...then produce a DVD.

[guns1inger]

If you are putting the text on, then you need to keep it within the title safe area. This is an imaginary area that allows for the problem of overscan. Most editing software will have a function to display the title-safe and action-safe areas, so you know where to work within. I suggest you look up your help files to find out how to turn this on. This will solve your text problems.

As for the distortion - do you resize or crop at all ?