VCD image chopped off on TV

[kelman3]

Whenever I burn a file to VCD part of the frame is chopped of when I watch it on TV.

Top: The way it appears at fullscreen on my computer.
Bottom: The way it appears on my TV.

If you'll notice the one on the bottom has the Premiere Live logo cut off.






But when I converted an RMVB file to VCD, since it had a smaller frame (I think) the image seemed to show up picture perfect on my TV.
It seems like that's because the black border around the first image was cut off and so it fit perfectly.




The vast majority of files I convert to VCD are avi's and mpegs, not rmvb so I've been having this problem a lot.
It's not too bad but it really makes a difference with widescreen files though.




Anybody else have the same problem? If so, have you solved it?

Thanks.

[Richard_G]

Two words, Glossary, Overscan.

[kvlourash]

This is TV overscan, in which the edges of the frame are painted on parts of the tube not visible. I asked this question months ago and got crappy answers, so I finally hit upon using FitCD (a program link can be found on this site) and the "blocks overscan" option to generate an Avisynth script (another program whose link can be found on-site) that I feed into Quenc (yet another prog...) to generate a file with borders. Does this sound tedious? Yeah, but the only other program that I found with an option to do this was Tmpgenc (and it didn't work for me). Maybe someday DVD authoring programs will have this as an option...

[Krispy Kritter]

Are you comparing the same VCD on the computer and the TV? Or the original file and the finished VCD? I ask because your original file and the final output in VCD spec could be different resolutions. Other than that, it is most likely overscan.

[kelman3]

Yeah, it's overscan.
I ended up centering the image inside the frame.
Something like 340 x 220. When I play it on TV the image fits nicely.

The only problem is that when I play it on my computer it doesn't go full screen anymore.
It's centered inside the frame with a huge black border around it.

There has to be a way to get it to do fullscreen on both computer and TV.
Professional DVDs and VCDs can do it, so there has to be a way.

[Richard_G]

Actually, I think you'll find that professionally produced DVDs do it exactly the same. However, when producing the DVD the manufacturers take overscan into account and don't put anything important in the out 10% of the frame. Try it, I think you'll find that the same amount is cut off by your TV, it just won't have anything worth watching in it so you won't notice.

[lordsmurf]

Film does not have overscan. Your source does. That's why they can make discs that do not appear to have an overscan (but they still do viewed on tv). The end.