Question about a file captured from TV

[RockofAges]

I have a 720p capture from my set top box. It's an older TV movie. I have a question about re-encoding it into a SD file.

I have my TV Box set to 16:9, but the movie source seems to be 4:3. I feel like it aired via 16:9 as well, since the TV stations logo goes into the video borders at times. I was wondering if i should crop the video to 4:3 or just re-encode it with the borders since that seems to be how the TV station aired it?


I was also wondering if it would be safe to make the video 720x540? Would that cause playback issues or is it better to just do 640x480? I would prefer the higher resolution, but don't really see people use 720x540.

It's just kind of confusing.

Source Sample: https://mega.co.nz/#!q9sGzDoS!Y5uik-8F3Ke7IBjDu6yrSjL3vFy06il73qDtbslchPY

[usually_quiet]

I would crop to 4:3 since the movie has to be re-encoded anyway, but that is a personal preference. The resolution you should use will depend upon what you want to do with the re-encoded video and what you will use to play the video. Are you going to keep the SD video in a file? If you plan to author a DVD, AVCHD disc or Blu-Ray disc, those formats have specific requirements you need to follow. Will you use a computer to play the file or something else?

[RockofAges]

I would crop to 4:3 since the movie has to be re-encoded anyway, but that is a personal preference. The resolution you should use will depend upon what you want to do with the re-encoded video and what you will use to play the video. Are you going to keep the SD video in a file? If you plan to author a DVD, AVCHD disc or Blu-Ray disc, those formats have specific requirements you need to follow. Will you use a computer to play the file or something else?

What would be the best universal resolution to go with? I plan on just archiving the file, but would like to be able to have it work on as many devices as possible just in case in the future. I want to burn it or something. I don't want to have to re-encode the file again, would 640x480 be the safest resolution to go with?

[usually_quiet]

You would probably be safe with either 720x480 or 640x480.

[RockofAges]

You would probably be safe with either 720x480 or 640x480.

720x480 gives like a 12% AR Error so it seems like 640x480 is my only option as much as i don't want to use such a low resolution.

[DB83]

You need to specifically add a 4:3 flag to the 720*480 video else ,as you say, you get 3:2 rather than 4:3.

640*480 is natively 4:3 but if you plan on putting this on to dvd you will have to re-encode.

[RockofAges]

You need to specifically add a 4:3 flag to the 720*480 video else ,as you say, you get 3:2 rather than 4:3.

640*480 is natively 4:3 but if you plan on putting this on to dvd you will have to re-encode.

I wouldn't be able to use mod4 if i went with 720*480. So i think i'm gonna go with 640*480

[LMotlow]

You would probably be safe with either 720x480 or 640x480.

720x480 gives like a 12% AR Error so it seems like 640x480 is my only option as much as i don't want to use such a low resolution.

I'm afraid you don't understand the coding standards for these various formats. 720x480 is mod-4 in both dimensions. Almost all standard DVD and SD-BluRay are 720x480 encoded for either 4:3 or 16:9 playback.

640x480 is non-compliant for BluRay/DVD standards, so your desire for "universal resolution" won't be met.

Your original source is a 4:3 image in a square-pixel 16:9 frame running at 59.87 fps progressive. This is compatible with BluRay 1440x720p. If you remove 160 pixels from each side, you'll have a 4:3 960x720 image. That frame size can't be authored to BluRay spec. It can be burned to disc as a data file, but not as compliant BluRay or AVCHD because it's a non-compliant frame size.

960x720 can be downsampled to 720x480 for DVD or standard definition BluRay. However, neither of those formats is proper for 59.97 fps progressive video. Standard definition DVD or BluRay video at 720x480 encoded for 4:3 DAR playback must be 29.97 fps interlaced.

-or....
960x720 can be upsampled to 1440x1080 for HD BluRay. However, the BluRay spec for 1440x1080 4:3 playback is 29.97 fps interlaced, not 59.97 fps progressive. You can burn that progressive 1440x1080 progressive video as a data file, but it will not be BluRay compliant for most players.

MPEG and h264 structure and encoding standards for BluRay: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=154533
NTSC and PAL DVD standards: https://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech

[RockofAges]

You would probably be safe with either 720x480 or 640x480.

720x480 gives like a 12% AR Error so it seems like 640x480 is my only option as much as i don't want to use such a low resolution.

I'm afraid you don't understand the coding standards for these various formats. 720x480 is mod-4 in both dimensions. Almost all standard DVD and SD-BluRay are 720x480 encoded for either 4:3 or 16:9 playback.

640x480 is non-compliant for BluRay/DVD standards, so your desire for "universal resolution" won't be met.

Your original source is a 4:3 image in a square-pixel 16:9 frame running at 59.87 fps progressive. This is compatible with BluRay 1440x720p. If you remove 160 pixels from each side, you'll have a 4:3 960x720 image. That frame size can't be authored to BluRay spec. It can be burned to disc as a data file, but not as compliant BluRay or AVCHD because it's a non-compliant frame size.

960x720 can be downsampled to 720x480 for DVD or standard definition BluRay. However, neither of those formats is proper for 59.97 fps progressive video. Standard definition DVD or BluRay video at 720x480 encoded for 4:3 DAR playback must be 29.97 fps interlaced.

-or....
960x720 can be upsampled to 1440x1080 for HD BluRay. However, the BluRay spec for 1440x1080 4:3 playback is 29.97 fps interlaced, not 59.97 fps progressive. You can burn that progressive 1440x1080 progressive video as a data file, but it will not be BluRay compliant for most players.

MPEG and h264 structure and encoding standards for BluRay: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=154533
NTSC and PAL DVD standards: https://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech

MeGUI puts it down as

"Source Type: M-in-5 decimation required"
"Tritical Decimate"

So the out put would be 640x480 @ 23.976 fps

That wouldn't be DVD compatible?

[usually_quiet]

My impression is that the OP would prefer archiving to a file. Otherwise he would have asked some questions about DVD and Blu-Ray requirements. If I'm right, even if the SD file created for archiving uses 720x480 resolution, it will probably be encoded as progressive (interlaced video is disliked by many) and not as MPEG-2, so it will have to be re-encoded anyway if for some reason the OP wants a DVD or Blu-Ray disc later on.

I guess the available resolutions depends on the container file, video format, and software the OP uses. If I remember correctly, the AVI container only allows square pixels because there is no aspect ratio flag. H.264 does support non-square pixels, so a 720x480 file is possible, but most people want to use square pixels and software could be set up to use them by default.

[LMotlow]

MeGUI puts it down as

"Source Type: M-in-5 decimation required"
"Tritical Decimate"

So the out put would be 640x480 @ 23.976 fps

That wouldn't be DVD compatible?

No. For 23.976 film speed, you have to add 3:2 pulldown to get 29.976 fps. 640x480 is not DVD compliant. You can burn it as 640x480 film speed 23.976 as mkv or mp4, etc., but you can't author it to DVD or BluRay.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech

[RockofAges]

usually_quiet is correct. I would prefer to archive the file on a hard drive, but since Disney just unscaled it on their HD channel. I wanted to make it SD to save space. I was just trying to see if there were any "universal resolution" that would make burning the movie easier if i ever wanted to do that.

I do prefer to just store it on a hard drive and play it on wdtv etc

[LMotlow]

Seeing as it's already BluRay or AVCHD compliant, why not archive it as-is?

Seems odd that people want to record high definition nowadays and then lower quality and resolution to save space. You can't have both.