How To Convert A 4:3 DVD To Play On A 16:9 TV

[MOVIEGEEK]

Many people(including myself) who made DVD's from home movies have problems with the picture stretching on 16:9 tv's.
One easy solution is to change the flags on the IFO files.

Tools you will need:
IfoEdit


1.Rip DVD to HD.
2.Open an IFO file and double-click on each MPEG file,make sure the Aspect Ratio is set to 4:3 then put a check in "Automatic Pan & Scan" and "Automatic Letterboxed",hit OK and Save(VERY IMPORTANT).
3.Repeat for each IFO.
4.Select "Get VTS sectors" and answer OK when asked.

[edDV]

What problem are you trying to solve? Horizontal stretching is usually a player or TV mode setting.

[MOVIEGEEK]

The problem is many authoring programs(esp. older versions) forget to put the flags on the IFO files.So if you play a 4:3 AR DVD on a 16:9 tv it will be stretched horizontally,if you play a 16:9 on a 4:3 tv it will be squished horizontally.Some DVD players such as Oppo can display the correct AR if the flags aren't there but most DVD players can't.

[FulciLives]

My 16x9 HDTV allows me to select 4:3 standard whenever I want. Now if I have the aspect ratio in AUTO mode it will sometimes not default to 4:3 standard WHEN IT SHOULD but I can still hit ASPECT RATIO on my remote and cycle through all the modes until I can get to 4:3 standard. In some cases I do have to put ASPECT RATIO on MANUAL to select 4:3 standard. For the record when I say 4:3 standard I mean "show the 4:3 image with the correct aspect ratio, centered, with grey/black bars on either side".

I have a Hitachi HDTV and from what I have read many other makers of HDTV sets do not have a MANUAL mode for ASPECT RATIO thereby often locking into a mode that is not always correct with no ability to over-ride it. Why? I have no idea. Just glad my HDTV is not like that.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Neil Goodwill]

I have been successfully using IFOedit and DVD Patcher for ensuring that my DVDs get played correctly. However, I have never experienced 4:3 being played on a widescreen TV with two borders on each side, although all proportions look correct, the picture is spread over the whole width. Is this correct or am I not doing something I should? After saving the IFOs I have not been selecting 'Get VTS sectors' because I've not understood what this does or what is supposed to happen once I have clicked on the YES option. Please can you explain?

[manono]

FulciLives described how 1.33:1 video on a 1.78:1 widescreen TV set is supposed to look. Black or grey bars to the right and left. If you have the entire screen being filled with such DVDs or TV shows, then either the video is being stretched, making people look fat, or it's being zoomed, and the top and bottom of the video is being cut off, but what remains is in proper AR. Either one should be fairly easy to spot so I don't know why you can't see it for yourself.

Doing a Get VTS Sectors is always a good idea after you've created a DVD, but not doing it isn't responsible for the way your videos look on your TV set. I'd play with the AR settings on your TV set's remote control if I were you. And make sure you have the DVD player set up correctly.