Overscan

[1980sumthin]

I have just noticed that some of my DVDs have some overscan on my TV. These are the official versions bought from the store. What I was wondering is if there was a way to back them up efficiantly like the DVDDecrypter/DVDshrink method, and somewhere in the process us avi synth to add black borders to compensate for the overscan.

Where/how in the process can adding black borders be done? Can it be done without completely encoding the vob files into something else and then back?

[guns1inger]

You can't change it without re-encoding. If these are TV shows, or movies shot in the last 10 - 15 years, they will have been shot with overscan accounted for, and you won't be missing anything.

[manono]

Yes, AviSynth can add black around the video so you don't lose anything to the overscan. FitCD is the best tool to give you the right script. For example, to add 2 blocks (as it's called in FitCD), you'd add this to the AviSynth script for an NTSC DVD:

LanczosResize(672,448)
AddBorders(24,16,24,16)

Remember that you'll be losing resolution in the process (check out the new resolution before adding the black). Personally, I think it's a lousy idea. And what about after you get a nice HDTV which will have little or no overscan? And as guns1inger says, the video will have to be completely reencoded.

[1980sumthin]

It's on a couple Disney TV series produced in the 1980s so the DVD doesn't account for overscan. So basically I'm left with watching a zoomed in version with all the edges cropped off or I can make a new DVD with borders to compensate.

So you guys are saying that I would have to take the long route and Encode the Vobs to something like a lossless codec and then use FitCD with AVIsynth to encode to MPEG with the borders and then burn to vob format? Is that the only way I could go? I can't add borders to vob files and go Vob to vob?

[FulciLives]

If it is a TV show from the 1980's then you don't need to do anything. The issue of TV OVERSCAN was well known then and it was worse then than now so chances are you are seeing the same frame ... if not more so ... than a TV did back in the 1980's

Leave it be. You aren't missing anything you are supposed to see!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

It's on a couple Disney TV series produced in the 1980s so the DVD doesn't account for overscan.

Yes, it does. Overscanning has been known about since day one. Shows were shot with this kept in mind. The only things that get "cut off" are certain cheap kinescope jobs. The only two I've seen where the overscan is doubled (once by monitor, once by kinescope of monitor) was OUR MISS BROOKS and WHAT'S MY LINE?, and it was minimal anyway. Most of those WML kinescopes were restored before the GSN airings of more recent years (go back to film source to make new broadcast masters). There was really no way to restore tape versions, like what you have at home, as the interlacing would have been severely damaged trying to zoom out a whopping 5% (1.25% per side).

[1980sumthin]

Well the thing is that when I play the DVD on my PC I can see more around the edges than I can on my TV set. It's a noticable difference, at least on this one series anyway. For example, If I pause around the Title screen that shows the Series name, half of the last letter is cut off on my TV set but on my PC moniter it is just fine and shows an extra portion of the backround next to the final letter in the text of the title.

[lordsmurf]

You're just going to ruin the video trying to see an extra letters in the credits. That interlace will be what kills you, along with the resolution resize. It's going to look worse overall.

Your television sounds like it has an overly large overscan, FYI. It should only be 5-7%, and yours sounds like it has 10% or more cut off. Look at it on another television. Those cheap Walmart sets do that, especially the rounded screens with curved sides. A good tv will not have such issues.

Any DVD made from non-film/non-DV sources is going to have some degree of noise around the edges, be it blackness, CC, or even timebase distortions.

It seems awfully destructive just to see a few % of image on each side, and an extra letter in the credits. Some DVD players zoom out, BTW.

[manono]

So you guys are saying that I would have to take the long route and Encode the Vobs to something like a lossless codec and then use FitCD with AVIsynth to encode to MPEG with the borders and then burn to vob format? Is that the only way I could go?

No, you open your script directly in the MPEG-2 encoder of your choice and encode. One step, not two.

But since it turns out to be interlaced, then you have to do an interlaced resize, perhaps something like:

AssumeTFF()#if that's what it is
LeakKernelBob(Order=1)#if TFF
LanczosResize(672,448)
AddBorders(24,16,24,16)
AssumeTFF()#if TFF
SeparateFields()
SelectEvery(4,0,3)#if TFF
Weave()

And encode for TFF. This assumes some knowledge of AviSynth, which may not be the case here.

[1980sumthin]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I guess it's not worth it. I'll just have to live with it at least until I buy a new TV set.

lordsmurf you are right. This TV was a Walmart set bought about 7 years ago and I think you hit the nail on the head about it having more overscan than usual.

I'll have to test it on the new flat screen we just bought to see if it's any different.

From all you guys are saying, it sounds like I should just invest in new hardware and not new software. I really like the sound of the new DVD players that zoom out. Are they hard to find? I mean I remember the days when just finding out if a DVD player could play VCDs was a hassle as it wasn't always written on the box or display and the sales clerks usually had no clue.

At any rate, I appreciate the replies. Guess I'll just save myself the long process and live with it.