WTF? 16:9 movies that are 4:3

[F-ING HOSTILE]

They are the same thing. DVD2AVI reports 16:9 letterbox movies as being 4:3.

That's strange! DVD2AVI has always read every 16:9 letterbox movie I have run through it (with the exception of the few odd DVD's I have mentioned)as 16:9.

[fslove]

Welcome to the world of 16x9 TV's and non-anamorphic DVD's! As you have discovered some DVD's are what's called "non-Anamorphic" which means they were not enhanced for widescreen TV's, thus the improper aspect ratio when you watch it on your 16x9 TV. You mentioned you used your TV's zoom function to try and obtain the proper aspect ratio but it is way to zoomed in. Are you aware that the 16x9 TV's have 3 or 4 different zoom modes each for different types of viewing? For normal Anamorphic DVD's (those enhanced for widescreen TV's) you keep the TV in Full (some manufacturers use different names) non-zoomed mode, but when you are viewing DVD's that are non-Anamorphic you must use one of the zoom functions to correct the aspect ratio. For 1.85:1 films usually the first level of zoom is used. For 2.35:1 films the second level of zoom is used. If you are getting way to much zoom you are probably using the third level (or higher if you have it) which will be way to much.

I am one of the lucky one that has the Panasonic RP91 that can automatically scale (different then zoom with much higher quality) the image to the correct aspect ratio that it should be. If it is a 4x3 film or extras that are 4x3 it will automatically switch to a 4x3 picture instead of a zoomed picture that fills the screen but is distorted. If the DVD is a widescreen film it will then scale the picture to the appropriate aspect ratio.

For all your attempts to remaster a DVD to be Anamorphic you will in the end get a much better picture quality by using the correct zoom mode on your 16x9 TV. There is A LOT more that goes into mastering a DVD to be Anamorphic then simply using consumer DVD mastering software!

By the way for clarification when using the term "Letterbox" you are in fact using the term that means non-Anamorphic DVD which is what a 4x3 widescreen DVD is. For Anamorphic DVD's (those that are 16x9 Widescreen) are referred to as Anamorphic DVD's.

[F-ING HOSTILE]

For all your attempts to remaster a DVD to be Anamorphic you will in the end get a much better picture quality by using the correct zoom mode on your 16x9 TV. There is A LOT more that goes into mastering a DVD to be Anamorphic then simply using consumer DVD mastering software!

I only have four viewing modes: Full (where a 1.85:1 DVD fills the screen), Zoom, Wide Zoom, and Normal (4:3).

For 1.85 Letterbox DVD's, Zoom seems to zoom in a little too far, and Wide Zoom is the same, but stretched sideways.

Out of the 400+ DVD's I currently have, only a few have turned out to be letterbox. I guess it's not a huge problem (only seems to be on older movies), but hopefully I won't find too many more!

If anyone's interested, I found a great illustrated explanation of Anamorphic video, and widescreen in general!
Click here: http://www.dvdweb.co.uk/information/anamorphic.htm

[monstersandpie]

Ejoc or FulciLives...

I'm trying out your process using DVD2AVI and AviSynth 2.5 with MPEG2DEC3
.
Everything seems to go well in DVD2AVI, but when I try to use your sample .avs script and open it in Media Player, I get an error which reads:

"Crop: you cannot use crop to enlarge or 'shift' a clip"

My process so far is to rip the dvd to my hard drive. Then I use DVD2AVI to do the resize as described by Ejoc. Then I save the save the project to use with AviSynth. When DVD2AVI is done processing, I try the .avs with the correct paths in place and I get the error.

So I seem to be stuck at this point. I'd really appreciate your help as these 4:3 only dvds have been a thorn in my side ever since I got my 16:9 tv.

Thanks.