Am I missing something? (VirtualDubMod upscale/VLC/aspect ratio)

[opopanax666]

Hi everyone,

I have no clue what might be wrong, so here goes:


This is the original vid (720x576), as shown in VLC.

Now let's say I want this in 800 width, and without black bands, so put up filters in VirtualDubMod, which give this:


But this after recode with Xvid encoder, plays like this in VLC:


Why? Why, in god's name, doesn't it play like the image on the right in VirtualDubMod?
I realize that everything to do with video on computer is a complete mess, and obviously the WYSIWYG-idea is also out the door, but really, why is it so difficult to actually get what you want? Why do you have to become a friggin' expert, only to do the most basic things?

Sorry for ranting, but honestly...

So, anyone an idea? TIA for any feedback!

[jagabo]

Specify the pixel aspect ratio or display aspect ratio in the Xvid config. It looks like you have 16:9 DAR or 4:3 PAL PAR. Or use square pixels and resize to a 16:9 frame size.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/322346-same-resolution-but-difference-in-display-w-...=1#post1995959

[opopanax666]

Specify the pixel aspect ratio or display aspect ratio in the Xvid config. It looks like you have 16:9 DAR or 4:3 PAL PAR. Or use square pixels and resize to a 16:9 frame size.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/322346-same-resolution-but-difference-in-display-w-...=1#post1995959

Thanks for the reply, and the link. I looked a bit more into this and found this guide, which starts with the sentence "There is a fair number of mind-blowing, scary oddities and secrets in the world of digital video".
After reading this article I stand fully by my rant ...

[jagabo]

The easiest way to deal with it is this: First resize to a frame aspect ratio that matches the display aspect ratio of your source. For PAL DVD and broadcast the display aspect ratio is usually 4:3 or 16:9. So resize the 720x576 frame to 768x576 (4:3) or 1024x576 (16:9). Then crop away the black bars and encode as square pixel, PAR = 1:1.

Although VLC is displaying that video 5:4 I suspect it supposed to be 4:3, with a letterboxed 16:9 source.