4:3 picture in a 16:9 frame

[pooksahib]

In the above scenario, I could resize the frame or leave it as it is and add a DAR flag (which my player can read).
Does it matter which? My thinking is the DAR flag as it will cause less 'disruption' to the original file...

[Alwyn]

What do you mean, "frame"? Is the frame currently 16:9 with black side bars or do you have a 4:3 video which you want to put in a 16:9 frame?

I would strongly suggest you do not put a 4:3 video into a 16:9 frame, because if you do, when the video is viewed, either on a portrait screen eg a phone, or on a 4:3 screen in any orientation eg an ipad, the burned-in black side bars will reduce the size of the actual video.

If your video is 4:3, just leave it as-is. Almost all 16:9 players and TVs will play it properly. They will display black on the sides.

[pooksahib]

Hi Alwyn. By "frame" I mean the dimension of the video file e.g. 960*540. Whoever created the video in question put a 4:3 picture into a 16:9 frame with no black bars which means it's 'stretched' unless I repair it.

[Alwyn]

Arrgh, gotcha.

[Alwyn]

No takers... you can set the flag with AVIDemux (which I think is using FFMPeg under the hood).

Open the file.

Set video>Copy

Set Audio>Copy

Set Output Format > MP4 Muxer

Output Format: Click Configure, then "Force" 4:3.

Save.

Check that your players respect the new flag. A test I did displays a reflagged file OK on my Android phone and my ipad, but not on my LG TV smart- TV; I had to manually set the TV display to "4:3" to make it display correctly.

My personal preference is to frame the video as it is supposed to display. Flagging, IMO, is an anachronism of the past.

[Sharc]

Does it matter which? My thinking is the DAR flag as it will cause less 'disruption' to the original file...

Provided that your player(s) respect the DAR flag it has the advantage that the picture gets only resized once (at playback time).
With resizing and reencoding to 4:3, the picture gets resized 2x (means causing more 'disruption'), unless you resize it to the display's native resolution.

[pandy]

Hi Alwyn. By "frame" I mean the dimension of the video file e.g. 960*540. Whoever created the video in question put a 4:3 picture into a 16:9 frame with no black bars which means it's 'stretched' unless I repair it.

Pillar box is used when your player is unable to decode 4:3 fitted in 16:9 - usually it should be not problem to encode 4:3 anamorphically and display it as proper 4:3.