Trying to keep original resolution, but programs seem to auto crop/resize

[nyder]

I like to keep DVD's I rip in original resolutions as much as possible. The reason is I have a 1080p TV and honestly, 720x480 is about as low as it can go before it starts looking really bad on the upscale.

I used to use GK back when to rip DVD's at 720x480, but all the programs today seem to auto do everything for you, so i'm sort of stuck.

I also rip some PAL DVD's, some are 720x576 and others are 352x576 (doctor who episodes, ya, weird resolution). While I understand the difference between PAL and NTSC, i'm wondering whats best to rip those? I'd rather not lose any of the resolution if possible.

What I want to is to rip these dvd's to a smaller size while keeping as much quality as I can. I mostly view these on my TV (1080p), but might view them on older tech sometime (don't have a normal tv, but do have some composite/svideo monitors around).

So I guess i'm looking for: A good program I can use to convert stuff that lets me change settings, doesn't "auto" crap for me. Oh, and is freeware please.
Also any suggestions about keeping the max resolution on converting DVD's. Mainly for PAL sources playing on NTSC. In fact, stuff that is 720x576 I'd have no problem putting a border around and playing at 720p, is that even possible?

thanks for any help and any links to faqs or something that can enlighten me would be great.

Oh, and I'm not a newb when it comes do video stuff, but i'm not an expert either. I can figure my way around stuff usually, so pointing me to faqs/howtos & wiki's is cool. And if this is common knowledge and i'm just being thick headed, i apologize, i must be using the wrong search terms.

[manono]

If using AutoGK, you can easily disable the crop and resize in the Hidden Options (CTRL/F9):

To completely disable auto crop you can set threshold to 0.

After doing that , just below in the 'aspect' box, set it for 'Original'. Now you'll get the original ratio (1.5:1, 1.25:1, or in the case of your Dr. Whos, .61:1). And if you want to make sure you get the original width, back on the main screen, hit 'Advanced Settings' and then select a 'Fixed Width' of 720 (or 352 for the Dr. Who series).

http://www.autogk.me.uk/modules.php?name=TutorialEN#6

All of this guarantees you'll never watch your AVIs in the intended aspect ratio, only in the original aspect ratio, unless you have some way to resize the AVIs at playback time. There's a big difference between the two. You could even use Gordian Knot for this. It still works as well as it always did.

Oh, and I'm not a newb when it comes do video stuff...

Sure sounds like it to me. Are you sure you want your Dr. Who episodes playing at 352x576?

[nyder]

Thanks for the reply and links.


Sorry if I was unclear, of course I want to watch the stuff in it's original aspect ratio. Guess I really am a newb if peeps prefer to watch stuff in the improper aspect ratio. I figured they didn't. Of course, (and this is off topic) by the number of SD stuff they play stretched out in HDTV channels, i should of figured people prefer stuff looking weird.

Anyways, I've never dealt with the 352/576 res before, and nor have i dealt with a NTSC format where the height is larger then the width. I'm not even sure how that is displayed on a TV.

What I want is the best looking picture i can get without sacrifcing too much of the resolution. So if that means I have to resize the height, so be it. But as my target is 1080p display, i'm trying not to sacrifice too much resolution.

So sorry if I was unclear, and sorry that I am a newb by your standards, so please bare with me. I was just trying to say I wasn't a total newb, and could actually get programs installed, codecs, understood most the terminology and have actually used various programs to convert video to other formats, edit and whatnot. thanks!

[manono]

I'll assume you're watching using a DVD player that also plays XviD or DivX AVIs. Some might be able do a proper resize of the 720x480 AVI you create, but if using AutoGK and many other programs, it won''t set a PAR value in the AVI. You'll have to do that after the fact using MPEG4 Modifier so they'll get resized properly, if your player supports that kind of thing. That's usually not a problem if using a software player.

Anyway, you do know that DVDs get resized depending on whether the DAR is 4:3 or 16:9, right? Most all NTSC DVDs are 720x480 (1.5:1) and have to be resized properly so things look 'normal' at playback time. The AVIs made from those DVDs are often (usually) resized prior to encoding, to something like 624x352 for 16:9 material. or 640x480 for 4:3 material. See if this helps:

Aspect ratios explained

Anyways, I've never dealt with the 352/576 res before, and nor have i dealt with a NTSC format where the height is larger then the width. I'm not even sure how that is displayed on a TV.

The 352x576 DVD gets resized at playback to something like 768x576 (and then scaled to 1440x1080 for your TV set) so that things look 'normal'.