Best way to change aspect ratio....

[Han Solo1]

.... of an avi file to give it Blu Ray like quality. I don't know if it's possible at all but changing the aspect ratio would be fine. I've tried multiAVCHD to convert it to an mkv file but wouldn't play on the usb connection of my LCD. I don't have a BD player otherwise I think I would have been able to burn the folder to BD and play it. I have also tried using XviD4PSP v5.037.8 rev 132 to convert it to a mkv format x264 lossless video encoding and MP3 VBR Q4 audio encoding. After several hours it couldn't complete the job because the file amounted to 80 gb and there was no available space. Through trial and error I have gathered what type of file can play on the LCD but I discovered http://lgusb.wikispaces.com/ that could possibly list what files can be played on the LCD. Incidentally my LCD's firmware is v3.12.07 which I don't know if it's the same as the v3.15 that they talk about on the site. So in conclusion I'm lost and I am seeking options. BTW the file is from an HD DVD (PAL) source and of course I am trying to view it on NSTC. The properties of the file are as follows:

[manono]

XviD4PSP can do it. Just don't make it lossless. Use CRF 18 or so for very good quality. However, whatever Blu-Ray quality it ever had was already lost in the conversion to an undersized XviD.

[jagabo]

That reference indicates the TV supports Xvid in AVI. But if you can't play that video as-is it probably just doesn't support Xvid at HD resolutions. If it does play but the aspect ratio is wrong you can use Mpeg4Modifier to change the aspect ratio without reencoding.

[Han Solo1]

I appreciate the advice but to clarify the original avi file does play on my LCD just fine. It's when I convert it that the file doesn't play. Also the video has black borders on top and the bottom. I don't know if these conversion processes would eliminate that or perhaps I need to crop somehow.

[jagabo]

It's supposed to have black letterbox bars -- like many movies, the video is 2.35:1 and your TV is 1.77:1.

[Han Solo1]

For XviD4PSP, I don't see an option for CRF 18 so I am using MJPEG HQ instead. This should take 4 hours or so.

[jagabo]

For XviD4PSP, I don't see an option for CRF 18

Select any of the X264 Q18 modes (they're CRF).

[Han Solo1]

OK so I set video encoding to x264 Q18 HQ, audio encoding to MP3 VBR Q4 and format to avi. The output turned out to be 23G which is to big for my USB memory stick, I suppose I have to shrink it somehow. Any suggestions.

[jagabo]

How much do you need to shrink it? You can try a higher quantizer. Q18 is pretty low and ends up with pretty high bitrates. Try one of the Q21 settings. That's a better compromise of size vs quality.

I'm not sure why you're doing this. The movie is 2.35:1, it's supposed to have black borders on a 16:9 TV. You just want a smaller file?

[Han Solo1]

I guess my objective was to rid the borders but I see that is not possible. I guess that what I would want to do is just increase the aspect ratio to a point where the borders are minimized as much as possible.

[guns1inger]

The only way to do that is to crop off parts of the image, then resize up, which is going to reduce the quality of the output. Why not just watch it the way it was shot ? What you want will throw away around a third (30%) of the image.

[jagabo]

You could crop the video to ~968x544. Or distort the picture by stretching it to 1280x720. Or you could do something in between. I would leave it as it is. Many (most?) Hollywood movies are 2.35:1. That's the way they are meant to be seen.

[Han Solo1]

Well I am about to call it quits on this little video project but before I do I just want to know what could I use to crop and/or resize? I'm curious to see what I get. And thanks for all the help.

[jagabo]

For AVI I'd suggest look at VirtualDub.