Black Bars

[cinnamonhearts2]

Hello,
I am a newbie and not extremely techy. I downloaded a trial of a new product called "Video-to-HD" from Indocomp.com.
and I was wondering if anyone else has tried it or knows about it. It seemed pretty easy to download and use. I converted a couple of videos without difficulty and the black bars were gone, didn't see any distortion seemed to work great. Can someone who knows maybe a little more about this check it out for me and advise if it is worth it. It can be found at http://www.indocomp.com/Video-to-HD/Video-to-HD.html.
My appreciation in advance,
Jen

[manono]

Here we go again. This has been discussed already:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic370798.html?highlight=perceptual%20aspect%20resize

[jagabo]

It just distorts your video in a different way.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Why can't people accept black bars?

[Noahtuck]

Why can't people accept black bars?

Because when you are watching them on a 4:3 tv, part of the picture is missing, they cut it off or cover it with those damn black bars!!!!

[lordsmurf]

Why can't people accept black bars?

Because when you are watching them on a 4:3 tv, part of the picture is missing, they cut it off or cover it with those damn black bars!!!!

I know you're "taking the piss", but somebody might believe you!!

[cinnamonhearts2]

Wow,
I seemed to have stepped into a controversy. I read the info on the page you linked for me (thank you)
It looked like only one person has tried it, some people change their own pictures (too complicated for newbie), and everyone else thinks black bars are ok and we should just deal with them. I thought that black bars are bad and can damage my plasma tv. The store said they could burn the screen. That would be a good reason to have them eliminated.
I also saw the picture of news footage image that was on there. I tried that. Did a capture, and I don't see what you are referring to. I don't see any problems or distortions with the bottom of the page.

What resize function was used to do the other picture that was posted?
there was one person on your post that seemed happy with it.
Has anyone else downloaded the demonstration and tried to convert any video with it yet? or purchased it?
please advise.........

I am not really sure what mod 2, or mod 4 are (newbie thing), but I did notice that the preference page gave you options to choose mod 2. mod 4, mod 8, and mod 16. Is this what that person was referring to?
Thanks for your opinions and advice in advance,
Newbie Jen

[tomlee59]

Well, not so much a controversy as a misunderstanding by some earlier posters, who mistakenly believed that the black bars were hiding part of the image, and who were seeking some magical way to recover that lost video. From your most recent post, it is clear that you are concerned about a quite different -- and valid -- issue. Screen burn in plasmas is a real phenomenon, although newer displays are much more resistant to this than the early ones were. It's not that the black areas directly cause the problem -- it's actually the "lit up" parts that do. The unlit areas don't suffer wearout as fast as the lit up portions, so the worry is that if you watch a lot of pillared/letterboxed movies, you'll get uneven wearout. Upon playing a non-letterboxed film, the not-wornout areas will be brighter than the other regions of the display.

But this is only a serious problem if you watch a lot of letterboxed movies (and at high brightness, at that). If only a small fraction of your viewing is of such movies, then differential wearout is unlikely to be noticeable.

If you are concerned about this problem, then by all means scale up the image to eliminate the black bars. Just understand that you will then necessarily lose part of the image.

Before you go to the trouble of modding all of your films, first check to see if your display has a feature to scale the image to achieve the same result on the fly (most do). You'll still lose part of the image (that's unavoidable; blame Euclid), but at least you won't have to go through the hassle (to say nothing of the quality loss you'll also suffer) in re-encoding.

[Gavino]

I also saw the picture of news footage image that was on there. I tried that. Did a capture, and I don't see what you are referring to. I don't see any problems or distortions with the bottom of the page.

The problems are less obvious on a still image. In motion, the ticker-tape text changes in width as it moves across the screen.

[jagabo]

I also saw the picture of news footage image that was on there. I tried that. Did a capture, and I don't see what you are referring to. I don't see any problems or distortions with the bottom of the page.

Standard definition Fox news broadcasts a 16:9 image in a 4:3 frame. In this case all Video-to-HD does is remove the black letterbox bars. That's why there is no distortion. Your TV probably has a zoom function that does the same thing. With full frame 4:3 video Video-to-HD performs a non-linear stretch.

[Michael1T]

Hello tomlee59,

It clear you have never tried Video-to-HD as it does NOT cut off anything ... or any part of the Video ....
Except the Black Bars ...

So you lose Nothing ... Nothing is lost (if that was the case I would not use it)... I have bought this program my self and The (PAR) resize function is better than any tv(resize) I have ever used. Video-to-hd has the simplest interface I have ever used .. I have been looking to see if anyone makes a better program than this one before I bought it ... but I never found one...

It does Bit rate Matching and Batch mode processing ... it was just simple and it works ..

I have tested the Converted Files on VLC and Windows Media player and On my Xbox and on My PS3 and on My Popcorn hour Media Player and they all work fine ...

Michael

[jagabo]

It may be easy to use and, yes, it does what it says it does. Unfortunately, what it does is distort the picture in the most obnoxious way (except when only removing letterbox bars from 16:9 video in a 4:3 frame).

[Michael1T]

Hello jagabo,

Sorry ... But I have to disagree ... I have seen no other program that Looks half as good as
Video-to-HD and No one has ever noticed that I converted a 4:3 to 16:9 ...

Even a Newbie Like Jen ...

It Just Goes To show we all have options just some Better than others ...
And I say it is a Big improvement over watching 4:3 any day of the week ...

I payed for 46 " Big screen and I want it filled with the best possible picture not BLACK BARs

NO THANK YOU sir ...

After reading Jens Post I checked the Preferences and Found that they Must have updated there code for
People Like You that think you need Mod 4, Mod 8, or Mod 16 .. they are User Selectable

As for Me I am staying with Mod2 as is looks great and works on every player I own ...

They must have updated it in the last Update They released ... It is sure nice that The program pulls the Updates
automatically ... Just One more thing to Like ...

The Best $15 I ever spent ...

Michael T.

[tomlee59]

Hello tomlee59,

It clear you have never tried Video-to-HD as it does NOT cut off anything ... or any part of the Video ....
Except the Black Bars ..l

You seem upset for reasons that are mysterious. Look: This is very simple geometry. You cannot eliminate the black bars without incurring geometric distortion of some type (I am expanding "distortion" here to include the effect of cropping).

You are personally ok with geometric distortion -- fine. No one here is proposing to take away your right to create and enjoy distorted vids. All we are doing is pointing out what is going on so that individuals may make informed personal choices. The Geometry Police will not be coming to your home to delete your conversion software, so relax.

[Kayembee]

I payed for 46 " Big screen and I want it filled with the best possible picture not BLACK BARs

NO THANK YOU sir ...

Michael T.

Well, like Tomlee59 said, whatever makes you happy. But it wouldn't hurt to get more
familiar with the TV you bought. Most modern TVs have stretch-o-vision built in as an
option. Check your manual, look for a mode called "smart stretch" or "justified" or
some such. If your TV has it, you're wasting time and money by using an external
utility to do the same thing.

Kayembee, whose wife wouldn't notice a distorted picture if her life depended on it.

[Baldrick]

One video to hd topic is enough.
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic370798.html