SVCD Menus on Pioneer DV-444

[Riccardom]

I have a problem in creating a still menu for my SVCDs and using it on the DV-444 (european PAL).
I tried the following ways:

- Nero5572: the menu is generated 704x576 but the DV-444 displays it beyond the side borders, it's wider than screen (with VCD works OK) ;
- VCDEasy: every configuration for SVCD (Low, High, hacked) produces a menu that DV-444 doesn't display (remain on the last frame) but the PBC works ;
- TMPGEnc 2.54: produces an mpg file (480x576) that even Mplayer can't read (about 16kb instead of 120-160 as the other) ;
- TMPGEnc 2.0: everything works fine with the basic SVCD template .

I haven't tested TSCV and DVD Movie Factory yet. I have a solution that works but i'm curious.
Does anyone have the same problem ?
Any idea on the different behaviour of TMPGEnc versions ?

Thanks in advance.
Riccardo

P.S.: i bougth this player because was stated it can play everything, but if i go out of specs (i.e. the Kwag or CyberMage templates) it works bad, out of sync or choppy. So I decided to remain inside (S)VCD specs.

[Riccardom]

Just an upgrade of my tests, if someone cares (doesn't seem so).

-TSCV: the converted menu is visible but is wider then the screen, like Nero 5572 .How can I create a low resolution (480x576) menu with TSCV ?;
-TMPGEnc 2.54: I managed to create a file of normal size, increasing the bitrate up to 12Mbps. The Mplayer can't read it but it works in PowerDVD and in DV-444;
-Nero 5582: my player read the disk, the PBC works but doesn't display anything, neither the menu nor the movies ! I'll try some other media otherwise I'll reinstall previous version.

It seems like the DV-444, when has a SVCD inside, is not able to display a 704x576 menu, while with a VCD inside, those menus are displayed.

Bye
Riccardo

[Riccardom]

Just to let you know...
I changed the setting in the DV444 setup, TV screen.
I have a 4:3 TV so I had tried only 4:3 LetterBox or Pan&Scan.
Just to try everything I chose 16:9 (that means a 16:9 movie or a 16:9 screen ?) and ...
opla', all the menus that seemed streched now works ok.

Bye
Riccardo

[Baldrick]

yep, changing to 16:9 seems to solve the SVCD stretching problems. I have a 16:9 tv so I had never noticed that but when i changed to panscan SVCDs become stretched....I think there is a comment about it in the dvd players list about the dv-444.

[kurtyboy]

Baldrick,

Maybe you can help me as you seem to be one of the experts around herre.

I too find that SVCD hi-res stills (704x576 PAL) are stretched horizontally when played on my Dansai 852 DVD player.

I am creating the stills with VCDEasy and I *am* selecting the option for 16:9 aspect ratio correction (I have a 16:9 TV). This option basically squashes the stills horizontally so that when viewed on a 16:9 TV in 16:9 widescreen mode they will be re-stretched back to their original aspect ratio and not appear distorted.

My Dansai DVD player is set to 16:9 as is my TV set. I have tried changing the Dansai to 4:3 P/S or 4:3 L/B but changing this setting makes no difference whatsoever.

The only way I can think of to correct this problem is to squash the stills horizontally TWICE with VCDEasy or a paint package. That way when they are stretched by the Dansai DVD player, and stretched *again* by the 16:9 TV they will look correct.

But why the hell does the Dansai insist on stretching them when I have not asked it to? Is it a bug in the player? The Dansai 1010 and 852 both do the same.