Advice on adjusting the video resolution for iPod Classic

[edrbls]

I have a BD movie rip, resolution at 1920 x 816 and I wanted to know if there a way to optimize the resolution for playback on an iPod Classic 6g 2nd rev. I've tried using 4:3 640x480 and gotten terrible results, also tried leaving the aspect ratio default with 640x480 and I get a small video with huge black bars. I use WinAVI All in One Converter, If any one can help I'd gladly appreacite it.

[hech54]

Use HandBrake or WinFF. And if it is a widescreen movie....and the player has a "fullscreen" screen.....there WILL be black bars.

[edrbls]

And if it is a widescreen movie....and the player has a "fullscreen" screen.....there WILL be black bars.

Yes I know but the movie isn't an exact 16:9 widescreen, the black bars are bigger than usual here's a pic example of what I get on my iPod.

[Baldrick]

A 2.35:1 movie will have black bars.

But try instead handbrake. Use the ipod preset.

[Hoser Rob]

This reminds me of one of my favorite Family Guy bits. Someone's watching Lawrence of Arabia on a mobile phone. It's a black screen with a narrow horizontal white stripe in the middle. Sorry, couldn't resist.

The only way to avoid those black bars would be to crop the sides and resize. This is more complicated and takes more encoding time and I think usually looks worse than the bars. You're basically losing the composition of the video.

[edrbls]

A 2.35:1 movie will have black bars.

But try instead handbrake. Use the ipod preset.

I tried it and it did only one difference the resolution at 320x144 but the playback on my iPod is still the same as the image I've shown. Should I had changed some setting since I'm not familiar with handbrake I didn't know what to change.

This reminds me of one of my favorite Family Guy bits. Someone's watching Lawrence of Arabia on a mobile phone. It's a black screen with a narrow horizontal white stripe in the middle. Sorry, couldn't resist.

The only way to avoid those black bars would be to crop the sides and resize. This is more complicated and takes more encoding time and I think usually looks worse than the bars. You're basically losing the composition of the video.

Lol nice reference, made me laugh when I read it. How would I go on doing that I have all the time in the world to try and fail until I succeed since I'm very anal/OCD on my video playback quality.

[aedipuss]

try vidcoder, a gui for handbrake. you can use the custom cropping function to make it look however you want. it has a preview button to display how it will look.

[edrbls]

What if I convert the aspect ratio from 2.35:1 to 16:9 will that fix it without getting that bad stretching resolution?

[aedipuss]

well if you don't crop off both sides, and just stretch it, everything will look to tall and narrow.

[davexnet]

Perhaps a compromise? a small crop and a small stretch?

[edrbls]

Which of the three aspect ratios look best?, frame from the movie. 4:3, 16:9, 2.35:1 (Default Resolution)

Perhaps a compromise? a small crop and a small stretch?

What resolution do you recommend and how much much to crop and stretch?

[jagabo]

The iPod classic has a 4:3 screen. A 2.35:1 movie should have very wide bars, just like the image you posted. If you crop your video down to 16:9 it will have narrower black bars. If you crop it down to 4:3 it will have no black bars but you'll be missing nearly half the picture.

You could try cropping the 1920x816 frame down to 1450x816 (16:9) then resizing to a 4:3 frame size the iPod will play. The picture will be slightly stretched vertically but maybe you could live with that (I couldn't).

Correct AR:



Cropped and stretched:

[edrbls]

The picture will be slightly stretched vertically but maybe you could live with that (I couldn't).

Yes I couldn't live with it, I'll go crazy. I'll just get my friend to re-rip Scarface in an 16:9 resolution even though he'll get mad because of the high quality settings and the amount of time it takes to encode. Thanks though.

[jagabo]

I'll just get my friend to re-rip Scarface in an 16:9 resolution even though he'll get mad because of the high quality settings and the amount of time it takes to encode.

Just do it yourself then. Crop to 1450x816, resize to 640x360, encode.