WHAT IS THE ASPECT RATIO? AND HOW DO I . . . .

[Manego1]

I was wondering what exactly is the Aspect Ratio for TMPGenc. I want to burn an SVCD after im done encoding to .mpg with Nero or VCDeasy but dont know what to put for the aspect ratio for both Video Stream and Video Source settings. Can someone explain to me which Aspect Ratio i use (1:1, 4:3.. etc) for DVD players to watch on U.S. T.V.'s.

Also, which one is better on burning SVCD's, Nero 5.5, or VCDeasy?

[y2flyy]

man thats kind of a weird question
the aspect ratio should already be set when you load it into tmpgenc
mostly you would not change it
in other words if you have a 16:9 avi file it would stay that ratio when you encode it to mpeg
but the only times I change the aspet ratio is when I have a not so good source file and the aspect could be full sreen or 4:3
and I change it to 16:9 to make it look better and I do that by using the second screen in the settings
but again since you are using svcd you really dont have to change the aspect ratio
I could be wrong but this is what I know
Y2Flyy

[Manego1]

Ok, but im not too sure on what the Aspect Ratio is. In this site, it says 1:1 Ratio is for viewing on Computers (VGA). And for the sVCD King Viper's Template, I loaded it and it gave me an Aspect ratio for the Video Stream of 1:1, am i suppose to change it?

[Digifreak]

Think of aspect ratio as the ratio of the horizontal video size to the vertical size. As for settings in TMPGEnc, it completely depends on what your source is and what you will watch it on. To be able to change a template click "laod" and browse to the "extra" folder an select "unlock". This will allow you to make changes to the settings that were previously greyed out.

[Manego1]

thanks. i heard from another person that to get your aspect ratio correct, you divide your Video Size, and if you get around 1, you should use 1:1, and if you get around 1.3333 you should use 1:1, and if you get 1.5ish, you should use 4:3. Is this true? and again, this is only what i saw from a person.

[Manego1]

I want to watch it on a Television from a DVD player. so what aspect should i use if its a SVCD 480X480

[Digifreak]

Is it a standard 4:3 TV or widescreen 16:9? What is the DVD aspect ratio?

[Manego1]

so i cant use 1:1 Ratio ?

[Manego1]

a DVD aspect ratio? i dont know. and yes its a standard U.S. Television.

[Digifreak]

For 16:9 DVD on a 4:3(standard) television, set source aspect ratio 16:9 and video setting aspect to 4:3. This will give you no distortion on 4:3 television but will play "stretched" on 16:9 TV in full mode. For 4:3 DVD, set both at 4:3 to play on 4:3 TV. For a 16:9 DVD and 16:9 TV, set both source and video setting to 16:9 but this will play "squished" on 4:3 TV. Keep in mind most people on here don't fully understand aspect, I have just run dozens of tests to see what works right.

[Manego1]

what does this mean ( got it from the conversion guide to SVCD )

Select Source Aspect Ratio select 1:1 (VGA) (if your source is in 4:3 select 4:3 525 line(NTSC) for NTSC and 4:3 625 line(PAL) for PAL).

How do i know if my source is in 4:3 or 16:9.

[Digifreak]

1:1 will work if both soure and output are set to 1:1 and you are watching a 4:3 DVD on a 4:3 television. But I still recommend my original recommendations. To find aspect, I run the VOBs thru DVD2AVI, do "preview" and note the aspect ratio. Sometimes you need to preview past the intro. and into the movie to find the movie aspect because a lot of times the intro. is 4:3 while the actual movie is 16:9.

[Manego1]

So whats the most common DVD player aspect ratio and the most common T.V.? and what is the difference between a 4:3 and a 16:9 T.V. and DVD? what if i have the video stream as 1:1, and the video source as 4:3, what would happen?

[Digifreak]

Mismatch of aspects causes slight stretch or squeeze of the picture, sometimes its not even that noticeable. Best thing to do is start with encoding a clip from the beginning of a Universal studios movie and view the output of the spinning globe at the beginning. Even a slight distortion is noticeable on the round globe. Most newer DVDs are 16:9 but be careful as sometimes they put both on the same disc and smartripper picks the wrong one(always try to get the 16:9 version as the 4:3 version usually crops off the edges). Use DVD2AVI preview to determine which you have. Unless you spent over $2500 on a widescreen TV then your TV is probably 4:3. Measure the TV and divide the horizontal width by the vertical height(about 4/3 or 1.333 right?). If the DVD is 16:9 then you would use source setting 16:9. I'm in the U.S. (NTSC) and it doesen't seem to matter whether I use 16:9 display or 16:9 525 line NTSC(I've checked still frame captures and compared pixel by pixel and can tell no difference). For your video output use 4:3 and you will see no distortion in the picture when played on a standard 4:3 NTSC TV. Do short clips and check the output (try jurassic or some other universal pictures movie) and practice, practice, practice.

[Massa]

Hi,

I'd like to take the chance to ask one thing

To be very simple, if I've captured from my VHS camcorder to an AVI with my DC10, this AVI is 4:3 or 1:1?What settings in TPMGENC should I use?
Thnaks

[Manego1]

couldnt i use 1:1 for both Streaming and Video?

[Manego1]

whoops, you already answered that question. sorry. thanks

[kinneera]

Some rules of thumb:

4:3 = 1.33:1
16:9 = 1.77:1
720x480 ~= 1.5:1
2.35:1 is often the true aspect ratio of widescreen movies - even widescreen DVDs will have some letterboxing encoded for these to bring the aspect ratio to 16:9

The aspect ratio is independent of the resolution for the purposes of MPEG encoding.

* If you captured a VHS tape, 4:3 source and output is correct.
* If you ripped a 4:3 DVD, 4:3 source and output is correct.
* If you ripped a 16:9 DVD, 16:9 source and 4:3 output is correct. The full screen (preserve aspect ratio) option will letterbox. Other arrange methods will crop the sides or distort the image.
* If the source is Divx, you can either calculate the aspect ratio based on the resolution (AVIs directly correlate resolution to aspect ratio) and set the source appropriately, or you can use 1:1 source aspect ratio which is TMPGEnc's completely inappropriate catch-all setting. You will want to set the output aspect ratio to 4:3, and choose an arrange method that letterboxes or crops as you see fit.

[Manego1]

damn it, i never knew that. Now i will have to convert all my damn files that i converted again? So how bout what the person said above, about if your DVD and TV are 4:3, then i could use 1:1 for both video and stream. is that true?

[kinneera]

[Clicked the wrong button]

[kinneera]

If the files you've converted previously look fine, I wouldn't bother redoing them, but that's a personal call.

Setting source and output to 1:1 probably won't distort the video. That is typically true if you set the source and output aspect ratio to the same value no matter what. However, I don't recommend it. A standalone DVD player might read the 1:1 setting in the DAR field of the MPEG header and then proceed to happily play your video in a (distorted)square, leaving black space on the sides in any number of unpredictable arrangements. I know the Pioneer DV-343, for one, recognizes the 1:1 aspect ratio and will do exactly that.

[Manego1]

what exactly is a STANDALONE DVD PLAYER.

[kinneera]

One that you plug into your home entertainment system as opposed to a DVD-drive and software combination on a computer.

[Manego1]

makes sense. thank you.

[Manego1]

so standard U.S. TVs are 4:3, and most DVD players are 4:3? Therefore, if i were to sell copies of VCD's, the best bet for compatibility is 1:1 for both ......or 4:3 for both?

[kinneera]

You just can't oversimplify...

16:9 source if that's what the DVD source is. The ouput should always be 4:3 if you want a standards compliant VCD/SVCD.

4:3 TVs are still the most common, but you can't discount 16:9 TVs. Regardless, a widescreen TV will still have means of playing 4:3 content, so that shouldn't be a concern of yours at the authoring stage. And DVD players generally have settings that can be changed depending on your setup. Nothing is set in stone.

[Manego1]

so what would normally happen if its not Standard Compliant sVCD, can some DVD players still play the VCD's?

[kinneera]

Of course...non-compliant (S)VCDs are the predominant topic of discussion on this site! It's what's being discussed anytime you see XVCD or XSVCD.

DVD players are fairly widely tolerant of XVCDs. Less so for XSVCDs, even SVCDs in general. You could also think of it in terms of a sort of "risk level":

Higher tolerance of X factors of XVCD and XSVCD

- Non-standard bitrates and resolutions
- Non-standard aspect ratios (e.g. anamorphic SVCD, 1:1) *exact response is widely variable
- Non-standard audio sample rates
- Incorrect MPEG scheme (e.g. MPEG2 on VCD, MPEG1 on SVCD)

Lower tolerance

The more compatibility you want, the fewer such changes you should make, starting with the ones that DVD players tend to be least tolerant of.