Why is the movie not filling my TV screen?

[freefallin]

Hello folks!
Just joined this site to ask the following question....
I've been trying to figure this out for days now and im getting really frustrated...hope i can get help from you guys...

I just converted an MP4 movie to XviD to put in my USB flash drive and plug in my DVD/stereo in order to play the movie on my non-LCD, non-LED, non-PLASMA, standard TV (here it is:http://action1.ru/images/catalog/big/tv/samsung/cs_21z40zqq_1.jpg).


Here is the info of the video file "before" conversion:



Here is the info of the video file "after" conversion:



I'm pretty sure my TV is 4:3 since its not rectangular so when i did the conversion, i selected 4:3. And made the resolution is 720x540.

Now when i play the movie, it is narrow (like there are two black, blank empty spaces on the top and the bottom of the screen - i think you call them bars). There is no option to change the aspect ratio or zoom either on the TV settings or the DVD player settings. What did i do wrong? Why is the movie not filling my screen?? And most importantly...What can i do to play the movie on my TV at full screen???

Appreciate any help guys!


P.S. I used Aiseesoft Total Video Converter to convert the file.

[jagabo]

Because your movie is 2.4:1, not 4:3. If you want 4:3 you have to crop off the edges of the frame.

[smrpix]

You have a widescreen movie 2:40 ratio (Cinemascope, Panavision) Your TV is displaying the entire image correctly. Even on a widescreen TV (16:9) you would be seeing some bars on the top and bottom. The only way to fill the screen is to cut off the edges or squish the image.

edit: jagabo beat me to it.

[Noahtuck]

Yep, what them guys said!!
Even a 16:9 movie will have some "black bars" on the top and bottom with a 4:3 tv.
When you go to a movie theater the screen is MUCH wider than it is tall and to fit a 4:3 screen you would lose
a lot of the video from the sides.

Here is an example from Star Wars,

http://jfswt.tripod.com/eng/ws/

Personally, even back in the day of owning 4:3 27" CRT TV's, I preferred to have some "black bars" on top and bottom in order to see the ENTIRE picture.

on my non-LCD, non-LED, non-PLASMA, standard TV

Now that was FUNNY!!


Really emphasizing what you have there!!
I had to LOL when I read that!!

[freefallin]

So no program that i can download which will convert the video file to 4:3 so i can watch the movie full screen??

[aedipuss]

any encoder can convert it to 4:3. by cutting off half of the picture on the sides. if that's what you want go right ahead.

[davexnet]

Or just elongating the aspect ratio and make everybody look tall and skinny.
I've seen some basic channels in my Time Warner cable system do just that.
SD 4:3 signal, with W/S content stretched to fill the whole picture.

[Krispy Kritter]

Back to the question of what is more important, seeing the whole picture (as the movie was filmed and intended to be seen) or filling the TV screen?

Most everyone here will say to leave it alone.

Especially since any tool you use to convert it to 4:3 will simply crop an equal amount off both sides to create that AR (you will only see the very center of the image). This will very likely be very noticeable in some scenes, and in many cases might remove a part of the screen that you need to see. Any content you buy that is converted from a widescreen format to 4:3 is done using Pan and Scan, which basically moves the viewable (ie: area to be kept) area to whichever part of the image contains the most important part of the image. So you could be viewing the far left, far right, center or somewhere in between.

[Noahtuck]

You can watch it like it was filmed,

And have black bars on the top and bottom,

Get the actual fullscreen version,

And miss some of the picture,

Squish it to look horrible but not miss anything,

And still see everything,

Or crop it and look like this,


This is just an example, but a lot of movies will end up the same.

[johns0]

You can watch it like it was filmed,

[Attachment 21208 - Click to enlarge]
And have black bars on the top and bottom,

Get the actual fullscreen version,

[Attachment 21209 - Click to enlarge]
And miss some of the picture,

Squish it to look horrible but not miss anything,

[Attachment 21210 - Click to enlarge]
And still see everything,

Or crop it and look like this,

[Attachment 21211 - Click to enlarge]

This is just an example, but a lot of movies will end up the same.

Good post,this one should be a sticky for people who keep asking how to get a full screen on their 4:3 tv with wide screen videos.

[Finley]

I'm like everyone else. I would rather preserve the original widescreen ratio, that way you're not cropping and squaring off any of the image. If you still want to crop the image into a 4:3 ratio, the only program I've ever done that with is Nero Recoder.

I have an old version of Nero, but I'm sure it's pretty similiar in the newer versions. You open Nero Recoder, select "Recode DVDs and Videos to Nero Digital", open your video file, click on Settings, and go to Crop.

Personally I wouldn't purchase all of Nero just to obtain that one feature. I'm sure there's cheaper, or maybe even free programs out there that can do the same thing. Just google "Crop Videos".

[Finley]

I'm like everyone else. I would rather preserve the original widescreen ratio, that way you're not cropping and squaring off any of the image. If you still want to crop the image into a 4:3 ratio, the only program I've ever done that with is Nero Recoder.

I have an old version of Nero, but I'm sure it's pretty similiar in the newer versions. You open Nero Recoder, select "Recode DVDs and Videos to Nero Digital", open your video file, click on Settings, and go to Crop.

Personally I wouldn't purchase all of Nero just to obtain that one feature. I'm sure there's cheaper, or maybe even free programs out there that can do the same thing. Just google "Crop Videos".

Actually there's evidently a version of Nero that's strictly dedicated to the Nero Recode feature. I don't know much about this version though, or if it still has the crop feature, or if it even remains free.

https://www.videohelp.com/download/NeroDigital_RC-2.2.6.17c.exe

[jagabo]

Handbrake lets you enter cropping parameters. It won't automatically calculate how to crop for the desired AR though.

[freefallin]

Thanks for the info guys! I guess i was looking for a software that would convert the video in a way where i would be able to watch the movie on my 4:3 TV in full screen like i would be able to see in wide screen. Catch my drift? Like a program that will somehow convert it to play on 4:3 TVs like the movie was mode for 4:3 TVs...therefore no cropping or cutting or such. Just the original movie with all its contents but only in 4:3. Guess no such software exists.

[jagabo]

Thanks for the info guys! I guess i was looking for a software that would convert the video in a way where i would be able to watch the movie on my 4:3 TV in full screen like i would be able to see in wide screen. Catch my drift? Like a program that will somehow convert it to play on 4:3 TVs like the movie was mode for 4:3 TVs...therefore no cropping or cutting or such. Just the original movie with all its contents but only in 4:3. Guess no such software exists.

How do you put a square peg in a round hole?

Virtually no theatrical movies were ever shot at 4:3. Widescreen movies were nearly always cropped when shown on American TV. You just never knew it because you didn't have an external frame of reference.

[sanlyn]

Just the original movie with all its contents but only in 4:3. Guess no such software exists.

The original movie isn't 4:3.

Period.

[Noahtuck]

Oy Vey

[sanlyn]

actually there are several editors in the tools section that can edit/resize XVid. Take your choice: https://www.videohelp.com/tools?toolsearch=&submit=Search&convert=XviD+to+XviD&s=&order...y=Name&hits=50 . In the app's resize dialog, resize to 640x480 and set the aspect ratio to 4:3. Enjoy.

[manono]

I guess i was looking for a software that would convert the video in a way where i would be able to watch the movie on my 4:3 TV in full screen like i would be able to see in wide screen.

You're not planning on ever getting a widescreen TV set? Those movies you want to make will look pretty silly once played on a widescreen TV set. Anyway, you'll never be able to get one like the 'square picture' movies shown on TV as those are panned-and-scanned to shift the focus within the original widescreen video and all you'll be able to do is crop it for your TV set. And as already mentioned several times, cutting off the sides is a stupid thing to do.