Utilizing Black Bars in L'tr Box to Make Smaller MPEG Files?

[old_Bill]

When you convert a 16x9 video with TMPGEnc to a 4:3 (Full screen keep aspect ratio) video you get a Letter Box video when viewed on a 4:3 TV. My question is, since there is no information in the Black bars at the top and bottom, can you this fact to produce smaller MPEG files with TMPGEnc? It seems to me that ~20% of the screen is black and that should be a way to capitalize on this.

[banjazzer]

If you are encoding to mpeg1 VCD then it doesn't matter if the whole screen is black. The same number of bits will be used.

[dilligaf]

I clip the frame as a matter of course when encoding 16 x 9 for mpeg2 vbr, I think it cuts down the encoding time & gives a cleaner edge to the picture. Some 4:3 movies that appear widescreen can have subtitles embedded in the black area, the one that comes to mind is Dances With Wolves R4, these are best left 'unclipped'.

Might do a test to see if it affects file size

[banjazzer]

If you are encoding VBR where you specify an average bitrate, the amount of black will have no effect on the filesize, which is governed by the average bitrate. It will have an effect on the picture quality, though.