Setting 16x9 flag on Pioneer DVR-433H?

[whoisjay]

Hi,

I have 16x9 footage in my NLE (4x3 stretched) and I want to create a DVD that when played back on either 4x3 or 16x9 displays will show at the right aspect by either using letterbox for 4x3 screens or full display for 16x9 screens.

However the Pioneer DVR-433H only sees the footage as 4x3 and sets no 16x9 flags. I checked the disk with IfoEdit and sure enough it shows as 4x3.

Anyone know if there is a way to set this on the Pioneer or if I need to do something else?

Many thanks
Jay

[whoisjay]

OK, I now know that this is in fact a shortcoming of the DVD recorders in general. They do not set the flag and so there is little I can do about it.

I could of course make a DVD using a computer, but I'm having to do 2 hours of material every day and a set top recorder is much, much faster. Luckily my Avid NLE has a reformat effect which is a real time letterbox so the DVD will at least display correctly if not to its full potential.

--Jay

[Frobozz]

Pioneer DVD recorders do automatically recognize a 16:9 flag sent to the recorder via either S-video or DV input. I've done both with my Canon camcorder's widescreen setting with my Pioneer DVR 510H and know of others who've had success with 16:9 copied from some cable boxes (not Motorola's) and D-VHS decks.

The problem in your case is your source isn't telling the recorder that this is an anamorphic video. Since the Pioneer has no manual way to set the flag you'll need to use an IFO editing application on a computer. Burn to DVD-RW so you don't waste any media. Copy the VIDEO_TS from the DVD-RW to a computer. Change the Read & Write permissions so you can make changes to the VIDEO_TS, Use an IFO editing app (I use MyDVDEdit with my Mac) to change the flag. Then burn a new disc.

[edDV]

Pioneer DVD recorders do automatically recognize a 16:9 flag sent to the recorder via either S-video or DV input. I've done both with my Canon camcorder's widescreen setting with my Pioneer DVR 510H and know of others who've had success with 16:9 copied from some cable boxes (not Motorola's) and D-VHS decks.

Well done Frobozz. Great info.

[next]

I have a couple of the Toshiba DKR2's and a couple of the Toshiba RDKX50's and they allow the user to set the wide screen flag. It is a recording option. When recording full screen 16x9 the resulting burned DVD plays correctly on both a 4x3 and 16x9 screen. Using this link as a reference the play back is in the right column middle and bottom pictures.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/anamorphic185demo.html


To do this I must convert a component signal from my SA8300HD to s-video. The Toshibas do not have component inputs.

[Epicurus8a]

Pioneer DVD recorders do automatically recognize a 16:9 flag sent to the recorder via either S-video or DV input. I've done both with my Canon camcorder's widescreen setting with my Pioneer DVR 510H and know of others who've had success with 16:9 copied from some cable boxes (not Motorola's) and D-VHS decks.

The problem in your case is your source isn't telling the recorder that this is an anamorphic video. Since the Pioneer has no manual way to set the flag you'll need to use an IFO editing application on a computer. Burn to DVD-RW so you don't waste any media. Copy the VIDEO_TS from the DVD-RW to a computer. Change the Read & Write permissions so you can make changes to the VIDEO_TS, Use an IFO editing app (I use MyDVDEdit with my Mac) to change the flag. Then burn a new disc.

If this is true, and I'm sure it is, this device (link below) might set the flag for you provided you use the Composite or S-video connections.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/filter/

You can specify when you order, if you want one of the option switches to be programmed to select between 16:9 or 4:3 Aspect Ratio, otherwise, it defaults to 16:9.

Copy Once or Copy Always option, allows you to record on all DVD recorders...

If you're interested, you could start another thread asking about this device. You could also try contacting the guy who sells them. Good luck!

[whoisjay]

Thanks everyone for lots of very useful info. I have opted for the reformat for now and will investigate a better way to do this using the info here. The DVD Recorder does have a DV in, so I'll test that too. Thanks.