Aspect Ratios

[RzSwede]

I've converted a XviD (576 x 240) in TMPGEnc to DVD using information found in various guides. I am totally happy with the quality, the audio, sync, smoothness and the last little tweak I need is to ensure the aspect ratios are OK.

In TMPGEnc I set 1:1 Full Size (Keep Aspect Ratio) and after converting to mp2 and authoring the DVD, it plays back perfect in Power DVD (aspect ratio is correct). When I put the disc in my DVD player connected to a 16x9 TV my TV defaults to widescreen but the aspect ratio is out, I get too much black at the top and bottom effectively squashing the picture a bit. I can get around it by pressing a "zoom" button on my TV which expands the picture vertically bringing it to the right aspect, however it darkens the picture and introduces a slight raster effect, so I would prefer to make sure the DVD is using the most appropriate aspect ratio.

Does this have something to do with anamorphic DVDs or is this something I may have to accept?

Hmm, I wonder if this makes sense to anyone

[thesicilian]

Hi m8,

I normally set the source aspect ratio to 16:9 display. This normally helps to fill the screen.

[RzSwede]

Yes, thanks for replying!
I continued to mess around with it yesterday and when selecting Videostream: 16:9 display and Video Source: 4:3 625 line (PAL) it seems to work, still keeping the setting "Full Screen (keep aspect ratio)" in TMPGEnc.