Odd problem with DVD Rebuilder 4:3 letterbox to 16:9 conversion

[Edsel]

I used the Convert from LB 4:3 to 16:9 option on my old True Lies non-anamorphic dvd, and everything seemed fine. DVD Rebuilder ran and made the disk.

However, when I burned the disk and load it in my Panasonic BD60 player, the player doesn't see the disk as anamorphic. So I've got a pillarboxed image in the centre of the plasma tv, with the image stretched vertically. For some reason, the BD60 isn't seeing the dvd as 16:9. Of course, it sees factory pressed anamorphic dvd's just fine.

Oddly, if I play the disk on another player, it does recognize the disk as anamorphic. Is there some standard spot or way a player recognizes a disk as anamorphic? Or is it just a hack, and the two players do it two different ways?

Is DVD Rebuilder missing setting some flag somewhere? So one player looks in one spot and sees the disc as anamorphic, but the other player looks in a different spot for a different flag, and that one is missing? Perhaps it's copying over the structure of the original disk, which was flagged as 4:3 LB originally?

I've looked at the domain stream attributes of the generated dvd files with PGCedit, and they seem to be encoded as 16:9, but I really don't know all the places I'd need to check.

I would appreciate any help on this.

[jdobbs]

There are two places that must be set, one within the VOB stream itself and another within the IFO file. The IFO has priority and tells the player whether a disc is 4:3 or 16:9 -- DVD Rebuilder updates both (the VOB and IFO). The VOB is set by encoding at 16:9, the IFO is set directly by DVD-RB.

[Edsel]

Aha, that was it.

I loaded up the video_ts.ifo in IfoEdit.exe, and the flags were set incorrectly. The title set 3 with the movie in it was still set to 4:3 aspect ratio, with the Letterboxed (top&bottom cropped) flag set in the Static section. (this is exactly what the original untouched non-anamorphic dvd has).

The vts_03_0.ifo when loaded showed 16:9 aspect ratio, with both flags of Automatic Letterboxed and Letterboxed (top&bottom cropped) set. (again, the original is 4:3, just LB top&bot)

Changing the 4:3 to 16:9 in video_ts.ifo and re-burning had no effect. I then removed Letterboxed (top&bottom cropped) from the vts_03_0.ifo, and it worked.

I did some pre-processing with DVD Rebuilder to remove ads etc, so I can't officially call this a bug yet. It'll take some more experimenting to see if changing the video_ts.ifo was needed as well as removing the LB top&bottom cropped. But I'm pretty confident I'll find the same thing with an untouched source.

Thanks for the quick reply.

[Ghitulescu]

VIDEO_TS.IFO does not instruct the player what kind of streams are present. This is done in each individual .IFO. If the informations are conflicting, the player will pick up the info from the corresponding .IFO.

[MilesAhead]

You may get better results if you load the source into FitCD. I know it's an old app no longer developed. But it's handy for producing an .avs script to get anamorphic output. It will even work on .mkv input files. Just copy and paste the appropriate bit of avs script and use it with DVD-RB.

[Edsel]

I can confirm this as a bug now with an untouched original source. DVD Rebuilder properly sets the 16:9 flag and Automatic letterbox in the appropriate .ifo, but does not clear the old Letterboxed (top&bottom cropped) flag, leading to errors on some dvd players.

[jdobbs]

So you can "confirm" your own report, eh? :rolleyes:

[Edsel]

You've repeatedly asked for untouched dvd images to be used when discussing issues. I've complied with your wishes, making sure this is a DVD Rebuilder issue, and not something else. I've given you everything you need to confirm it yourself. I examined dozens of commercial disks, all of them have only the Automatic letterbox setting, none of them have both set like DVD Rebuilder produces. Maybe almost all dvd players don't care, and this has remained hidden for a long time. Clearly, one make and model does.

I know that you don't care one iota about DVD Rebuilder any more. This will still help those of us that paid for and continue to use an excellent product.

[jdobbs]

You kinda' missed the point...

[jdobbs]

By the way... I do care about DVD Rebuilder. It may be getting old, but it is still the highest quality DVD backup tool in world.