848 x 480 (477) onto a DVD

[c0ugar2]

Hello everyone,

First time poster here. Well, Merry Christmas to you all. Any hoo, I've been reading this forum for quite some time. I must say, chock full of technical and helpful information however it did not help me, I think that has to do with maybe me making a big deal out of something little. But here it goes...

I have a Matroksa (.mkv) video with a resolution of 848 x 480 and AC3 audio - This resolution I am getting directly from the summary tab of ffMPEGX. The video has no letterboxing - No black bars above or below, or to the left or right of the video area

After reading countless threads on this forum, I've came to the conclusion that that video should be:

848 x 477 ...

If I apply even more to what I learned..

848 x 477 = 1.78 A/R.

So, I'm trying to put this video, with an A/R of 1.78, on a DVD. Using ffmpeg to handle the encoding (MPEG2 [.MPG] (ffmpeg) I end up with a video at 4:3 which is nothing like the original. I can't use the letterbox feature because frankly I have no idea how to calculate how much letterboxing I need and using the 'Decode with Quicktime' option w 'Letterbox' checked is not an option because Quicktime cannot play matroska wrapped videos.

Now, if I use mpeg2enc, (MPEG2 [.MPG] (mpeg2enc), it has a letterbox check box but it seems mpeg2enc will not allow me to use a resolution of 848 x 477. It fails soon as it begins to encode. If I choose DVD (16:9) and check the box for 'letterbox' then everything works fine.

I end up with a Video of 720 x 480 with 5.1 AC3 Audio ... but I just can't help that the video looks off.

So, here are my questions:

1. Why am I having so much trouble with what's supposed to be a 16:9 wide screen video. 848 x 480 (477) seems to be a popular resolution but I'm having nothing but trouble with it. What gives?

2. How do I encode this video so the proportions are maintained?

Edit: I believe that 848 x 477 and 720 x 480 are identical but I'm looking for confirmation.

3. Should I be using the 'letterbox' check box when using mpeg2enc even though the source does not have letterboxing

4. How do I determine the amount of letterboxing I need?

5. Calculating the bit rate may be over my head so is using the 'best' method when editing the bit rate the best option?

Okay, thats enough for now.

Thank you to anyone in advanced who replies.

Merry Christmas ladies and gentz,

[Case]

1/2/3/4/ Use the Autosize: DVD 16:9 video parameter to create a 16:9 DVD. This will preserve the vertical resolution (more detail) and be compatible with and 16:9 and 4:3 tv sets; standalone players can letterbox 16:9 material on their own, when sending a signal to 4:3 boxes. While encoding, no letterboxing is appied at all, as your going from 16:9 to 16:9.

5/ For ease of use, you may leave the bitrate at 4000 kbps if the video is under 124 minutes. Pressing the Best button can lower the bitrate a bit, allowing a possible few minutes more per disc.