640x480 VHS capture looks stretched on 50+ inch HDTV

[jrru2]

I have captured some VHS at 640x480 resolution(my capturing software calls this "full size"), uncompressed in a .mov container, and then encoded it to H.264/AAC with a .mp4 container with Quicktime, and then burned it to DVD. On a CRT TV, as well as on a smaller HDTV, it looks fine, but on a bigger 50+ inch HDTV, it looks somewhat stretched. Is this just the way VHS looks on big HDTVs? Would capturing at DVD resolution(or any other resolution) make any difference? Also, would it make any difference if I used tmpgenc to encode the uncompressed .mov file to .mpg?

[edDV]

I have captured some VHS at 640x480 resolution(my capturing software calls this "full size"), uncompressed in a .mov container, and then encoded it to H.264/AAC with a .mp4 container with Quicktime, and then burned it to DVD. On a CRT TV, as well as on a smaller HDTV, it looks fine, but on a bigger 50+ inch HDTV, it looks somewhat stretched. Is this just the way VHS looks on big HDTVs? Would capturing at DVD resolution(or any other resolution) make any difference? Also, would it make any difference if I used tmpgenc to encode the uncompressed .mov file to .mpg?

If you encoded with 4:3 aspect properties, then the issue is with your TV settings. Look for a button on the remote that says "wide" or "P.Size" or check the manual.

[jrru2]

I have captured some VHS at 640x480 resolution(my capturing software calls this "full size"), uncompressed in a .mov container, and then encoded it to H.264/AAC with a .mp4 container with Quicktime, and then burned it to DVD. On a CRT TV, as well as on a smaller HDTV, it looks fine, but on a bigger 50+ inch HDTV, it looks somewhat stretched. Is this just the way VHS looks on big HDTVs? Would capturing at DVD resolution(or any other resolution) make any difference? Also, would it make any difference if I used tmpgenc to encode the uncompressed .mov file to .mpg?

If you encoded with 4:3 aspect properties, then the issue is with your TV settings. Look for a button on the remote that says "wide" or "P.Size" or check the manual.

I don't mean that the picture is stretched out of its aspect ratio, there's no problem with the aspect ratio, it's 4:3 no matter what. When I said "stretched", I meant that the picture looks like both the height and width have been stretched, but the aspect ratio isn't any different. The way I noticed this is that among the TV's options for picture size is an option called "Smart View", and when I select this, the picture is shrunk to half its size with black bars all around it(like letterbox), but while its smaller, it looks clearer than it does at its normal size.

[aedipuss]

probably too low a bitrate, and the fact you are stretching it from 480 to 1080.

[jagabo]

VHS is just a low resolution medium. Enlarging the picture just makes it more noticeable.

[jman98]

VHS is just a low resolution medium. Enlarging the picture just makes it more noticeable.

Probably this is it, although other possibilities would be that the playback device attached to the 50" TV is doing the stretching you see (an old Philips DVD player was notorious for this so it wouldn't surprise me if other models do it too) or the TV itself has botched things and is doing this although it shouldn't.

[jagabo]

Pretty much all players and TVs will enlarge a small video to fit the screen. They often have the option of keeping the aspect ratio or stretching to fill the entire screen.

[jrru2]

VHS is just a low resolution medium. Enlarging the picture just makes it more noticeable.

Probably this is it, although other possibilities would be that the playback device attached to the 50" TV is doing the stretching you see (an old Philips DVD player was notorious for this so it wouldn't surprise me if other models do it too) or the TV itself has botched things and is doing this although it shouldn't.

It's playing in a Samsung Blu-ray player, which I don't think is doing anything wrong.

Pretty much all players and TVs will enlarge a small video to fit the screen. They often have the option of keeping the aspect ratio or stretching to fill the entire screen.

As I said, the aspect ratio is fine, it keeps unless I tell the TV or the Blu-ray player not to keep it. The problem is that the picture looks just a little less clear on the 50" HDTV than it does on the smaller HDTV, and it looks the clearest on a 20" CRT TV, which I guess makes sense since that's where VHS was intended to be viewed.

Maybe it is just the fact that the VHS is low-resoltion medium.

[aedipuss]

Maybe it is just the fact that the VHS is low-resoltion medium.

you got it. vhs starts with low quality - 240 lines of resolution to begin with(if you're lucky).

[edDV]

How to explain this ....

This is 640x480. Your display card is expanding it.


This is 640x480 in a 1280x720 frame before upscale (stretch)

This is 640x480 in a 1920x1080 frame before upscale (stretch)

[jrru2]

How to explain this ....

What's with the rolleyes? That was a bit rude.

Anyway, I figured that that is what was/is happening. I was just holding out hope that there was a way around it, but it certainly doesn't seem like there is.

I was being a little picky about the quality of the picture anyway, it looks good enough.

Thanks for all the advice, all.

[edDV]

How to explain this ....

What's with the rolleyes? That was a bit rude.

Anyway, I figured that that is what was/is happening. I was just holding out hope that there was a way around it, but it certainly doesn't seem like there is.

I was being a little picky about the quality of the picture anyway, it looks good enough.

Thanks for all the advice, all.

Not intended to be rude. Was thinking how to explain it.