Change DAR of MPEG-1?

[vonzippa]

I've got several .mpg files which contain MPEG-1 video streams along with an .mp2 audio stream. However, a lot of them have odd resolutions, for example, 448x360. These videos are playing at a 1:1 ratio, which is not correct for these files. Despite the resolution, they are meant to be played at 4:3. I can change this as a preference in my video player, but then the next time I play a 16:9 video, it will be stretched incorrectly and I'll have to modify the preference again.

Instead, what I need is to change the DAR flag(s) inside the MPEG-1 stream so that the video will play at 4:3 without manually setting a preference in my player. I know this is possible, but I haven't found an application that will allow me to do it successfully. I have tried Restream, which seemed to work, until I played the video and found it now had a 1.85:1 ratio, even though I had selected 4:3 in the program. I know Restream is primarily designed for MPEG-2 streams, so perhaps that is the issue there.

Regardless, I need to find another program that will allow me to make this modification. If anyone can help me out by pointing me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

[poisondeathray]

One option is to put it into an .mkv container with mkvmergegui, highlight the raw video track and select the aspect ratio in the format specific options tab. You can also change display dimensions if you want.

The benefit of this is the video is not re-encoded, so the original quality is preserved, and the change is reversable at anytime. Any setup that can playback .mkv will honor the aspect ratio flag set in the .mkv container

You could always re-encode, but you will lose quality, and MPEG-1 is usually pretty crappy to begin with

[TBoneit]

DVDPatcher, I use all the time.

"DVDPatcher, Change MPEG2 headers such as aspect ratio, resolution and more."
From user comments "Fantastic. A free tool what will patch Mpeg 1 & 2 files, you can shove a few (S)VCD films on 1 DVD without any reencoding. "

Remember to resample audio to 48000 if needed.


https://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVDPatcher

Good Luck