XviD to DVD > Maximizing compatability between different TV formats

[Curmudgeon76]

Hello all,

I've been using VSO's ConvertXtoDVD a lot lately, as well as TMPGenc to convert DivX and XviD to DVD format. I like VSO because it can do pulldown within the software, making PAL to NTSC conversions easy. I had some questions about TV format to specify in the program though.

If I choose automatic, it selects what it reads from the source's header. For example, I converted a 16:9 XviD (well, I should say it was "widescreen", it was a weird ratio though, not 16:9) to DVD and it kept the ratio I assume: when I put it on my 4:3 tv it was "zoomed in" and took up the whole screen. I tried setting my TV type to "4:3 letterboxed' in my DVD player's setup menu: that helped to a degree but I noticed the edges on either side were still cropped, and the aspect ratio did look a bit distorted.

If I tried setting the TV format to 4:3 in VSO the results seemed more acceptable: the image was letterboxed (the boxes on top and bottom were quite large) but the aspect ratio SEEMED (hard to tell without a frame of reference) to be the same as the original XviD but the picture was wide and short and as I said the black letterboxes on top and bottom were quite large.

I also tried, as a test, playing a commercial DVD i own and tried switching between "4:3 Pan and Scan" and "4:3 Letterboxed" in my TV type in my DVD player's preferences and I didn't notice any difference (the picture format didn't change, no difference in letterboxing, etc..)

To make a long story short, my goal is simply this: to convert an XviD to DVD format (NTSC) while maintaining aspect ratio (no cropping on top or sides) and letterboxing (if original source is a widescreen format). Additionally, I would like to be able to play the DVD on both 4:3 and 16:9 TV's without distortion or cropping (if that's possible)

If anyone could offer any advice it would be most welcome. Thanks so much in advance!

Justin

[guns1inger]

I have never seen ConvertXtoDVD crop an image. It has always done a pretty good job of resizing and preserving the original aspect ratio of the source. This means pillarboxing or letterboxing as required.

If you do have strange source aspect ratio, you may well be seeing overscan issue which could give the appearance of cropping. ConvertXtoDVD does not have the ability to add a border when resizing (or read avs scripts either), so if this is your problem, you need to look at a different tool.

When you play the disc back on your PC using a software player, is there any image missing ?

[Curmudgeon76]

Guns1inger,

I tried what you suggested: playing the disc back on my PC. The aspect ratio looks the same as the XviD for sure, and the "cropping" (the title of the film comes up in the right hand corner, I was judging the distance from the edge of the frame to the last letter in the title) looks the same on both the XviD and DVD. I would say, though it's a crude way of doing it, that if I put my finger on the edge of the frame, and my thumb where the text ends, it's about one inch on my monitor.

However, when I watched it on my TV, the distance between the text and the edge of the TV was like a quarter inch, VERY close to the edge, the "cropping" seems to be something that's happening on the TV/DVD Player level.

What I don't understand though is this: if I have the DVD Player set to "4:3" pan and scan" it enlarges the picture to fill the whole screen, and zooms it, hence a lot gets cut, yet if I set it to "letterboxed" it seems to fit it better, yet it still seems like some "cropping' is taking place.

The aspect ratio of the original XviD (as reported by ConvertXtoDVD) is 1.7895 (34:19), under where it says that it says "Automatic size: 16:9 (widescreen)"

hope that helps. Appreciate all your help in advance. Thanks!

Justin

[guns1inger]

Overscan. The display area of your TV, be it tube or plasma or LCD, extends beyond the border of the surround. The image fills the entire display area, however the area covered by the surround is hidden from your view, hence the appearance of cropping. This occurs with pretty much all televisions, and the amount that is hidden varies from TV to TV.

There is no simple answer to the problem. If you can get to the service controls of your TV, you might be able to adjust the display to shrink the image to fit within the surrounds (only possible with CRTs), however this could screw up other things. It also doesn't change the disc, so if you watch it on another TV, you will have the same problem again.

The most common solution is toresize the image down and add a border when encoding. On most TVs the border is hidden in the overscan area, and the image is more visible. On some TVs the border will also be partially visible. The standard method for doing this is to use FitCD to create an avisynth script that does the resizing and borders, then to load this into a standalone encoder to encode the video for authoring. It is not difficult once you get your head around it.

However, only do this if absolutely necessary. All your DVDs have image hidden from your view, as does every TV program you watch. The only time you may be missing out on something is when anime fan subbers put the subtitles in the wrong place.

1.78:1 is 16:9, so ConvertXtoDVD has done the right thing. If you play it back 4:3 P&S then you will lose the sides as your player essentially just zooms to the centre of the screen until it is full. Letterboxed shows it as it should be, and all you are missing is what is hidden behind the overscan.

Search the newbie conversion forums for the key words "overscan" and "fitcd" and you will find plenty of detailed posts on what to do next.