A simple yet puzzling question about aspect ratio

[TheeeGod 3]

hey. i have been ripping dvd's for a while and never really thought much about the aspect ratio(s) of the various dvds. i almost always set the aspect ratio to 4:3. Since I have a 4:3 tv, i get a picture which is full screen, meaning there are no black bars. i am not sure whether this picture is better than the picture with black bars, meaning the aspect ratio of 16:9. my dvd player (pioneer dv 444 or 440) has an option where i can also choose the aspect ratio. it has three options: 4:3(letterbox: meaning it would display the picture with bars around it), 4:3(pan&scan: meaning it would zoom in on the center part of the picture and thus eliminate a good percentage of the black bars), and 16:9 (for tv's with 16:9 aspect ratio). i bought by panasonic tv like years ago and i doubt that it is 16:9. so my question is which aspect ratio should I rip the dvd(s) at in order to view them best on my tv? and does "best" necessarily mean full screen picture or a picture with bars around it? i read somewhere that dvd's should be ripped in accordance with the aspect ratio they were produced in. some site recommended that i go to amazon, find the movie and then choose the aspect ratio listed there. i just wanted if it makes a differnce whether I rip at 4:3 or 16:9 and which one would you guys use if you were in my shoes? i know its a lot of shit to read but thnx in advance

[poopyhead]

err....r u referring to the aspect ratio of your output video our source aspect ratio?

i'm assuming for your source aspect ratio under the "advanced" tab in tmpgenc, you enter in what dvd2avi tells you the aspect ratio of the vobs r....otherwise, your rip will be distorted...

as for your output video, 4:3 is designed for our regular cheap TVs....unless u plan to watch them in a 16:9 widescreen TV, 4:3 aspect ratio for the output video is good........

as for the options for your pioneer dvd player (which i have the dv333, btw ))) they only work for actual (anamorphic) DVDs, changing those options won't affect your dvd rips...only the actual DVD.....(i.e. if you indicate 16:9 on a 4:3 TV, then actual DVDs will be stretched vertically, resulting in eggheads)