GordianKnot Input PAR set correctly for letterbox?

[StainlessSteel]

Hello once again,

I searched around a little and also got familiar with the DVD basics guide, but I couldn't really find a clean answer. Maybe can help me out with this one.

I've got a PAL DVD which is encoded in letterbox format. Using GordianKnot I have to set an input PAR. DVD2AVI told me the type is 16:9 which can't be really correct as letterbox 2.35:1 is not targeted to 16:9 widescreen screens. Therefore I don't know what to specifiy in GKnot. I presume like 4:3 is more appropriate, but when I set this aspect ratio the preview window the movie doesn't look correct anymore.

So what should I specify; the content is technically letterbox widescreen?

Thanks,

Stainless

[manono]

Hi-

You set what DVD2AVI says it is. DVD2AVI is rarely wrong. For confirmation, you can check the Stream Information.txt file that DVD Decrypter leaves after the decrypting stage. And you can also check the DVD case. If 16:9, it'll often say "Enhanced for Widescreen (or 16:9) televisions, or "Anamorphic", or "Anamorphically Enhanced", or some such. If 4:3, it might say "Widescreen Letterboxed", or it might not say anything at all, as they'll usually let you know if it's been anamorphically enhanced.

letterbox 2.35:1 is not targeted to 16:9 widescreen screens.

It sure is. Take a look at a 16:9 2.35:1 DVD, and compare it to a 4:3 2.35:1 DVD (in DVD2AVI or in the .d2v picture in GKnot). The 16:9 one will have much less in the way of black bars above and below the video. The 16:9 one will have a much higher resolution, and will look noticeably better on any kind of television. The worst problem that widescreen 4:3 DVDs have is an incredible amount of shimmer or aliasing around thin horizontal lines (steps, brick walls, venetian blinds, etc). They lack the resolution to resolve thin lines well.