Change aspect ratio flag from 4:3 to 16:9 possible?

[JoachimS]

So I made a recording with my DVD/HD recorder from TV (using the external cable set top box), which is 16:9, but the TV will not be set to 16:9 mode automatically.

I could change the TV mode to 16:9 manually, but this is not a perfect solution.

My question: Is there an easy way or maybe some utility that can change some 16:9 flag in the VOB file without reauthoring?

Cheers,

JoachimS

[yoda313]

Hello,

Check out ifoedit. There MAY be a restructuring option there. Though REAUTHORING would probably be the only course of action.....

Kevin

[pixeljammedia]

Two ways to do it on Mac. Try Pulldown X or do it with a Hexeditor. A tutorial is located HERE.

[JoachimS]

So there is not really an easy way to do that without demultiplexing etc.?

Cheers,

JoachimS

[pixeljammedia]

Not that I know of, but it was authored with an incorrectly set flag so it seems you would want to reauthor anyway. It's not like you lose quality by demuxing and re-authoring.

[JoachimS]

Will it work if I demuxed each VOB separately, set the flag in the m2v file and muxed it again? It is not single VOB.

The video was made with DVD Recorder.

Cheers,

JoachimS

[myDVDEdit]

Funny, I just have answered the same question on a french forum.

myDVDEdit can do that

-With your DVD on your hard disk, open it with myDVDEdit
-Select the VTS file which contain the recording (VTS 1, I think)
-Click on the IFO tab
-Change the Aspect option from 4:3 to 16:9 auto letterbox
-Save, test, burn... that's all.

Jérôme.

[JoachimS]

myDVDEdit worked! Thank you!

Cheers,

JoachimS

[john yaya]

Excellent. I had the same problem. Someone gave me a DVD that was improperly flagged. I kind of figured I was stuck since I don't have any authoring software. Sounds like this should do the job.

[pixeljammedia]

Off topic, but I thought John Yaya would be interested:

The Return of the Banzai Institute?

[Spoffo]

OK. I must be doing something dense. I just downloaded myDVDEdit, and I can't get it to open anything. I've tried the actual disc, a copy of the VIDEO_TS file on the computer and a mounted disc image. I try "open" on each, and the program ignores me. What am I missing here?

[myDVDEdit]

myDVDEdit can't open CSS protected DVD.
Is it the case ?

Jérôme

[JoachimS]

I also ran accross a small problem: I did not have file permissions (some files protected, cannot be saved etc...) to edit the files in VIDEO_TS.

I quickly changed my access privileges from read-only to read/write for the VIDEO_TS folder including all files contained therein.

After that I could do the trick with myDVDEdit as described.

Cheers,

Joachim

[Spoffo]

The only thing wrong was the working of my head that late last night. (Yawn) No, it wasn't a protected disc. It was a file from my Panasonic stand-alone recorder. All I had to do was quit and re-launch the program and everything worked as advertised. (I, too had to re-set the write permissions on the VIDEO_TS components before I could change the flag.)

This is a great solution for the home theater crowd. ($ contribution to follow) I have a lot of widescreen movies recorded from HiDef down-converts using a stand-alone DVD recorder. The results are beautiful - almost commercial DVD quality - but the recorder flags everything as 4:3. This is no problem when playing back on my widescreen display, but on most 4:3 TVs there's no way to get past viewing them as very thin, squished people.

I'm going to spread the word on this over at AVS forum, though - sadly - most of them don't use Macs.

[john yaya]

Off topic, but I thought John Yaya would be interested:

I'm horrified you would post a link to something touting such an evil individual as Buckaroo Banzai. I am not the only one who sees a corrolation between his appearance here and not only the disappearance of our esteemed and revered CEO, but also the decline of a fine corporation which had a reputation for employing many individuals with somewhat unusual backgrounds. The mere sound of his name gives me shudders. Plus, it took a lot of work to repair the big hole he left in our building.