Aspect Ratio Question...Again

[Morloc]

I have ripped 2 DVDs and converted to AVI using DVD2AVI and then encoded using TMPGen. Both movies are 16:9 anamorphic and neither one was rendered with the correct aspect ratio. They both came out with the black bars too small and the picture stretched vertically. From searching these forums and an article I read on the anamorphic format, I gather that DVD players can properly re-size and re-position an anamorphic DVD to display properly on a 4:3 TV, but fail to do so with the VCD. So my first question is: what settings do I use in TMPG to properly convert an anamorphic DVD to a VCD that will display properly on a 4:3 TV? If possible, I would also like the result to display properly on a widescreen TV in case I get one in future.

The settings in TMPG that I tried that didn't work are:
Expert settings for source: 16:9 display
Video tab -> Video stream setting -> Aspect Ratio 16:9
Advanced tab -> Source aspect ratio 16:9, Video arrange method Full Screen keep aspect ratio 2

I have also tried "1:1 VGA" for the source with the same result.

I also clipped the top and bottom black bars before encoding, and this leads to my second question. Am I gaining any quality or reducing encoding time by doing this?

Many thanks in advance,
Morloc

[Haku]

By clipping the top and bottom your changing the ratio.
Also under the Video tab next to aspect ratio leave that set to 4.3.
Under the advanced tabset the source ratio to 16.9,full screen keep aspect raio,and dont clip.

[sterno]

Actually clipping the black bars is OK, but you have to check the box to replace the cropped area with black. With a relatively noisy source (like a capture from VHS or TV) you gain a little bit because the black letterboxing will have noise and you'll replace it with pure black (which will use less bitrate when you compress), but with a clean source like a DVD rip it doesn't make much difference. It might help if the top and bottom edges of the movie come out blurred, though.

Some people also black out some of the left and right sides because it doesn't show on the TV anyway. It can make a minor difference in the output quality by leaving you with a smaller image to compress, but I don't bother.

[Morloc]

Thanks folks, I'll give your suggested settings a try.

Morloc