aspect ratio differs between hardware/software players

[skaffman]

Folks,

I'm experimenting with ripping my Babylon 5 DVDs to SVCD (one 45 minute episode per CD) using DVD2SVCD, and for the most part it's working very well. However, there's a problem with the aspect ratio when played on my Pioneer 454.

When I play the SVCD on the Pioneer, there are _very_ large black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, 2 or 3 times larger than with the DVD original. The picture is correspondingly squashed. But when I play the SVCD using WinDVD, it displays fine.

The DVD box says 16:9, the "Conversion" tab of DVD2SVCD says "16:9 (borders added, encoded as 4:3)". This looks fine, to my untrained eyes, but the end result is not agreeing with the Pioneer.

Is this something I can adjust during the ripping/encoding process, or is it a fault in the player I have to live with?

[manono]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It sounds to me like your DVD player outputs 16:9. In the setup menu for the player, see if you can change it to 4:3.

[skaffman]

I had a dig through the player's setup, and the only related setting I could find was concerning whether the TV was 16:9 or 4:3.

However, I run through the DVD2SVCD process again, this time choosing "4:3 (no borders, encoded as 4:3)", left it running overnight, and it's displays absolutely perfectly now, with a correct 16:9 display on the TV.

I'd guess that the "16:9" advertised on the box was nothing of the sort, perhaps, but rather a poor transfer from the original.

Mysterious, but I'll know for next time :)

Thanks

[winxi]

Just for curiousity: Using WinDVD it play fine now, too?

[chandler]

Hi, I might have a solution for you.
I'm using the same DVD-Player: Pioneer 454 and I also had the same problem what you described...

Now here's how you can fix it. NEVER change the AR in DVD2SVCD, cause it will ruin your playback at WinDVD or either which software-player and that's final. However, you can setup your hardware player just the way it supposed to be playing your SVCD :D

Go to Intitial Setting by pressing Setup at your remote... Go to TV-Screen and change it into 16:9, despite if your TV is 4:3. Go back and exit setup, then play your SVCD and you will see that it has the correct resolution and AR as it supposed to be and how you encoded it :cool:

Hope this helps you, just worked fine by me :p

[skaffman]

*** Using WinDVD it play fine now, too?

Nope :-(
It comes out vertically stretched, with no borders

If I rip at "16:9(encoded as 4:3)", WinDVD plays it correctly, the Pioneer squashes the pcture vertically

If I rip at "4:3 (encoded as 4:3)", The pioneer plays it correctly, WinDVD plays it vertically stretched

Interestingly, if I tell the Pioneer that I have a 16:9 TV, then the TV detects the 16:9 signal, but still plays the signal vertically squashed. But if I then override the TV and put it back to 4:3, then it displays correctly!

Sheesh! Why do things have to be so complicated?

So, where does the problem lie, here? Is it the Pioneer, TV, DVD2SVCD, or the original DVD?

[manono]

Hi-

Interestingly, if I tell the Pioneer that I have a 16:9 TV, then the TV detects the 16:9 signal, but still plays the signal vertically squashed. But if I then override the TV and put it back to 4:3, then it displays correctly!

Interesting, but to be expected. That was the point of my post, and the point (I think) of winxi's question.

So, where does the problem lie, here?

There is no problem. If you encode as "16:9 (borders added, encoded as 4:3)", you have to set the DVD player to output 4:3. However, the remote control on my 16x9 TV has an "Aspect" setting that allows me to change the AR in the TV. Maybe yours does also. So, even if I encode as 4:3, and the DVD player (a different brand of Pioneer) is setup to output 16:9, I can still make it look "normal".

You could just encode anamorphic DVDs as 16:9 SVCDs, and then it'll play fine in WinDVD and on your TV with the DVD Player set for 16:9 output. But to preserve the same quality, you might need an extra CD for the movie, as you'll be encoding way more pixels.

[skaffman]

OK, I've got you (I think).

Thanks for the assist.