Adding pillars in Handbrake during re-encoding to prevent stretching

[MTW]

Hey all, just found this place and so far everything has been very informative, but there is something i cant figure out. I'm still pretty new at all this though so bear with me. Here's the situation... I have .mkv rips of an anime that VLC and Handbrake says are 704x480, but upon further inspection are actually 704x528 (4:3)... When re-encoding them in Handbrake, no matter the settings, it flattens it to an actual 704x480 (22:15 or something) resolution, resulting in a squashed image.
Original:

After Handbrake:

But the interesting thing is, if i force 4:3 aspect ratio in VLC it looks correct... any idea whats going on? also
and strangely enough, when i burn to DVD it ends up doing this for whatever reason (720x540 4 : 3) which is the squashed version with black bars, then upscaled...

I thought that NTSC DVD's resolution was 720x480? is there something im missing? if someone could explain this it would be nice......:


I am authoring NTSC DVD's if that makes a difference. So i was wondering... is there a way to add black pillars in handbrake so that when re-encoded, it fills the screen vertically w/o messing up the aspect ratio? or re-encode upscale to 720 x 540?
sorry for so many questions, i just cant seem to find any accurate info as many people and places seem to contradict one another...

[manono]

I have .mkv rips of an anime that VLC and Handbrake says are 704x480, but upon further inspection are actually 704x528 (4:3)

Are you sure about that? 704x528 is probably how they're resized for display. What does MediaInfo have to say about the resolution?

I thought that NTSC DVD's resolution was 720x480?

704x480 is also perfectly acceptable. Why are you using Handbrake if the end result is to be a DVD? You want your 704x480 (or 720x480 with slender pillarbars added to the sides) videos to be reencoded for DVD with the DAR set as 4:3. Nothing more, nothing less.

[MTW]

Are you sure about that? 704x528 is probably how they're resized for display. What does MediaInfo have to say about the resolution?

Media Info says 704x480... then how come it gets flattened when processed by handbrake if its resolution stays the same?

704x480 is also perfectly acceptable. Why are you using Handbrake if the end result is to be a DVD? You want your 704x480 (or 720x480 with slender pillarbars added to the sides) videos to be reencoded for DVD with the DAR set as 4:3. Nothing more, nothing less.

Im re-encoding with Handbrake as the original .mkv files' codecs (EDIT to be more specific: the codecs used for the audio & video that are packaged in the .mkv) are not compatible with DVD Flick, which is the only program i could find that authors DVD's that can read .mkv files. since other programs cant read .mkv files, i have to re-encode either way before using a DVD authoring program...
also what is "the DAR set"? care to elaborate?

[blud7]

The original was probably encoded as anamorphic, non-square pixels.

[manono]

Im re-encoding with Handbrake as the original .mkv files' codecs (EDIT to be more specific: the codecs used for the audio & video that are packaged in the .mkv) are not compatible with DVD Flick, which is the only program i could find that authors DVD's that can read .mkv files.

Try AVSToDVD. Don't waste your time with either Handbrake or DVDFlick.

also what is "the DAR set"? care to elaborate?

I said 'the DAR set as 4:3'. DVD has two and only two DARs (Display Aspect Ratios), 4:3 and 16:9. Both original resolutions might be 720x480 (for example) but the DAR tells the player how it's to be shown during playback. For yours you want 4:3 and then it'll look the way it should during playback.

Media Info says 704x480... then how come it gets flattened when processed by handbrake if its resolution stays the same?

As blud7 said, the 'source' had a setting in it that told the player to resize it properly (to the 704x528 you thought it was). When reencoding in Handbrake you never set that flag and so it plays as 1:1 (flat) rather than being resized properly. Don't blame Handbrake. But that's still no reason to use it to make an intermediate file on the way to making a DVD.