Help with DVD Slideshow in WS format!?

[deftonzman00]

I have a problem which I can't seem to figure out, and was hoping someone here may be able to solve...

So I am trying to put together a DVD slideshow as part of a present for my parents for Christmas. I want to take a bunch of their digital photos (which were obviously in 4:3 format originally) and make them into a widescreen DVD slideshow, since they have a DLP televison I wanted the slideshow to take up the entire tv screen with no black bars on either the top or bottom.

In trying to do this, I cropped/resized a group of these photos to 1600 x 900 pixels - which I figured was a good size for 16:9. I then used Nerovision Express 3 to load the files/make the slideshow, and in the options changed the Video Options settings to 16:9, high quality, and progessive scan. Once I do that, it automatically sets the resolution to 720 x 480, which I assume is a standard DVD resolution. Anyhow, so I burned this DVD, and took it to my brothers house to try it out - since I don't have a 16:9 tv to test it on. The DVD played just fine, but there were still black bars on the top and bottom of the slideshow.

I am wondering what I need to do in order to get this thing to work correctly without any black bars? We tried various aspect ratio buttons on his Sony TV (zoom, normal, widescreen, etc) and were able to get one to work so that it filled the whole screen, but it was cutting a bit off the top of the picture I think. Can anyone help me figure out first of all if I am resizing the pictures to an incorrect aspect ratio, or if I am using wrong settings in Nero - or for that matter if I should use a different program all together.

Thanks in advance!

[guns1inger]

You haven't taken into account the fact that pixels aren't square on TV. On a PC, the image uses pixels with an aspect ratio of 1:1 (i.e. square). On TV they are different for 4:3 and 16:9 and also for PAL and NTSC (so four combinations in total).

Personally, I would resize them to DVD resolution manually, rather than letting Nerovision do it. That way you have greater control over the quality of output. If you want them to fill the screen then you need them to finish up at 720 x 480 (NTSC), however to get there you need to crop them to 720 x 360, then ressize the vertical. Of use one of Photoshop CS2's built-in TV templates.

[deftonzman00]

Thank you very much for your response guns1inger. However, I am still slightly confused. I guess I didn't realize that TV's pixels were not square. Is there a FAQ, tutorial or guide somewhere that would explain these Photoshop CS2 templates a little better. I downloaded the trial CS2, and see the templates, when I use them on a picture, it distorts them (eg stretches them out horizontally). Are you saying that the TV, since the pixels aren't square, will make them look normal again? Also, which template would I use for a NTSC TV to fill up the entire 16:9 screen? There are several choices on there, D1, D4, Anamorphic, etc etc with various numbers attached to each such as .9, .95, 1.2, 1.333, etc.

In laymans terms, lets say I have 4x3 aspect ratio original pictures with pixel counts 1600w x 1200h. Assuming I want to keep the most amount of the original picture as possible, I would want to keep the width at 1600 pixels, and crop a percentage of the top and/or bottom of the picture. Then I would resize this image smaller, but keeping the same aspect ratio. After I would do this, then I would apply one of Photoshops preset TV aspect ratios, is this correct? I think I'm confusing myself more, the more I type! Sorry for this mess of a post, but hopefully someone kind of understands what I am trying to ask...

[TerryG]

One way to do this is to crop your slides to 16x9 and then squeezing them back to 4x3. This produces an anamorphic photo. Then use these squeezed 4x3 photos to produce a DVD which gives you a widescreen slide show when played on a widescreen TV when you strech it.

You can also use Restream to change the flag from 4x3 to 16x9 and then it will play widescreen automatically. However, to do this you must demux the mpg file first.

The way I do it now is to use MenoriesOnTV.com. It does it all for you. No need to pre edit any photos. It will also do pan and zoom and you can include video too. It cost $50.

[deftonzman00]

Thank you guys for your responses. I guess this task is a lot more difficult than I would have imagined when I began. Guess I should have started this a few weeks back, and not a couple of days before xmas! They are just going to have to live with black bars...

[guns1inger]

The CS2 templates come in two flavours - square and non-square pixels. The non-square pixels will appear distorted on your PC, but will be fine on your TV.