TOP and BOTTOM black bars

[mrj03]

Today I ripped AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and the whole process went perfectly except for 1 flaw. The original movie says on the back cover 1.85:1 so i used the 16:9 (borders added, ecnoded as 4:3) Aspect Ratio. When I play the movie on my HOME DVD player the top / bottom bars are 4 1/2" / 5" respectively but the ORIGINAL DVD bars are 2 1/2" / 2 3/4". How can I get the SVCD to make the bars CLOSER if not the SAME SIZE as the original DVD so I'm not giving up so much viewable screen?

THANKS in advance....

[mrj03]

Later that same day I ripped THE THING and the whole process went perfectly again except for the same flaw. The original movie says on the back cover 2.35:1 so i used the 16:9 (borders added, ecnoded as 4:3) Aspect Ratio. When I play the SVCD on my HOME DVD player the top / bottom bars are 6" / 6" respectively but the ORIGINAL DVD bars are 4 1/4" / 4 1/4". This time the difference was even greater..!!

How can I get the SVCD to make the bars CLOSER if not the SAME SIZE as the original DVD so I'm not giving up so much viewable screen?

[manono]

Hi-

Based on what Amazon.com says about them Here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/0783227507/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469) and Here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/6304675771/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469), they are both Widescreen Letterboxed and therefore the DAR of both is 4:3. You picked the wrong Aspect Ratio. Plenty of (particularly NTSC) widescreen movies have a DAR of 4:3. For more information, please read Doom9's Aspect Ratios Explained (http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm).

[mrj03]

Originally posted by manono
Hi-

Based on what Amazon.com says about them Here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/0783227507/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469) and Here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/6304675771/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469), they are both Widescreen Letterboxed and therefore the DAR of both is 4:3. You picked the wrong Aspect Ratio. Plenty of (particularly NTSC) widescreen movies have a DAR of 4:3. For more information, please read Doom9's Aspect Ratios Explained (http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm).

THANKS Very Much for the REPLY. This morning I ripped ALIEN which AGAIN showed 2.35:1 and I did as you suggested and used the 4:3 setting. The Results were as follows:
The SVCD played Top/Bottom bars of 2 1/4" / 2 1/4".
The DVD played Top/Bottom bars of 4 1/4" / 4 1/4".
It appears if I use:
4:3 it STRETCHES the screen.
16:9 it SHRINKS the screen.
Is there a setting I can change in DVD2SVCD to maybe ADJUST the screen somewhere in between..??

THANKS so much for ALL reply's.

[matrix]

How can I get the SVCD to make the bars CLOSER if not the SAME SIZE as the original DVD so I'm not giving up so much viewable screen?
Just use Anamorphic (no borders, encoded as 16:9).
Try it on a chapter first, see if your standalone can handle it.
I do it all the time, and the bars are exactly like the ones in the DVD.
I should mention that I have a 16:9 TV. But they say, that option is supposed to do it right regardles of the kind of tv you own. Never tried to play one on a regular(4:3) tv screen though.
Give it a try.
And let me know if it works. I intend to buy another dvd for a regular tv in the house.

[manono]

Hi-

I did as you suggested and used the 4:3 setting

No you didn't. I suggested doing it that way for 4:3 movies such as the first 2. Alien really is anamorphic 16:9. There are several ways to find out what you have before wasting all the time doing it wrong. If it's anamorphic widescreen, the DVD case might say something like "16:9" or "Enhanced For Wide Screen Televisions". Others might include checking at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/B00000ILDD/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469) or Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com/DVD?0078748). However, they are sometimes known to be wrong. Perhaps the most guaranteed way is to run it through DVD2AVI briefly before encoding.

[mrj03]

Originally posted by manono
Hi-

I did as you suggested and used the 4:3 setting

No you didn't. I suggested doing it that way for 4:3 movies such as the first 2. Alien really is anamorphic 16:9. There are several ways to find out what you have before wasting all the time doing it wrong. If it's anamorphic widescreen, the DVD case might say something like "16:9" or "Enhanced For Wide Screen Televisions". Others might include checking at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/B00000ILDD/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469) or Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com/DVD?0078748). However, they are sometimes known to be wrong. Perhaps the most guaranteed way is to run it through DVD2AVI briefly before encoding.

Thanks for the SUGGESTION. I'll check AMAZON before starting AND observe the DVD2AVI screen during my next rip. Probly be Triple X next week.....THANKS AGAIN and Merry XMAS.

[tankd0g]

Originally posted by mrj03
THANKS Very Much for the REPLY. This morning I ripped ALIEN which AGAIN showed 2.35:1 and I did as you suggested and used the 4:3 setting. The Results were as follows:
The SVCD played Top/Bottom bars of 2 1/4" / 2 1/4".
The DVD played Top/Bottom bars of 4 1/4" / 4 1/4".
It appears if I use:
4:3 it STRETCHES the screen.
16:9 it SHRINKS the screen.
Is there a setting I can change in DVD2SVCD to maybe ADJUST the screen somewhere in between..??

THANKS so much for ALL reply's.

This might seem stupid but maybe digital zoom is being turned on in your player for some reason, check the on screen menu.

[mrj03]

AMERICAN_WEREWOLF_IN_LONDON listing is Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 and I used the 4:3 (No borders,encoded as 4:3) Aspect Ratio. I got an EXACT DUPLICATE as far as the thickness of the BLACK BARS.

A BEAUTIFUL MIND listing is Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 and I used the 16:9 (borders added, ecnoded as 4:3) Aspect Ratio. I got an EXACT DUPLICATE as far as the thickness of the BLACK BARS.

I'm using the Aspect Ratio(s) listed on AMAZON under technical information to choose my Aspect Ratio under CONVERSION. Now i've had 2 movies BOTH listed @ Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 and yet ONE needed to be set @ 4:3 (No borders,encoded as 4:3) and the other @ 16:9 (borders added, ecnoded as 4:3). Is there any OTHER way I can find out what setting to use since this doesn't seem to be a FOOLPROOF way either?? Thanks for ALL replies.

[Fire]

try using the "Anamorphic(no borders, encoded as 16:9)" option. I found that using the option "16:9(borders added, encoded as 4:3)" on PAL anamorphic dvds it didn't display the same AR as the dvd would on my 4:3 tv, the picture ended up slightly larger. I'm new to using dvd2svcd so maybe i'm doing something wrong, using the "Anamorphic(no borders, encoded as 16:9)" method works a treat and everything displays correctly so i just stick to that :).

I read the faq and it says not many players can handle the "Anamorphic(no borders, encoded as 16:9)" option, maybe they could add a section to the faq to include compatible players...pioneer dv-355 here works a treat with the player set to 4:3 letterbox :)

[manono]

Hi-

AMERICAN_WEREWOLF_IN_LONDON listing is Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1

According to both This (http://us.imdb.com/DVD?0082010) and This (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/6304675771/tech-info/103-5747718-9249469) American Werewolf in London is 4:3. Amazon.co also has an Anamorphic version listed, though, but obviously you have the letterboxed version.

A Beautiful Mind is Anamorphic (although there's a Full Screen edition also).

I'm assuming that by now you know the difference between letterboxed (4:3) and Anamorphic (16:9). 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 are movie ARs and not the DAR and have nothing to do with how you encode them. As I mentioned before DVD2AVI is pretty good at telling you the correct DAR. I've only heard of 2 examples before where it has failed.

However, DVD2SVCD does a pretty good job of picking the correct Aspect Ratio if you let it. I'll refer you to Q11 of the DVD2SVCD OFFICIAL Q&A (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21859):
Q11: The aspect ratio of the encoded video looks wrong. How do I fix that?

A: This should not be happening. DVD2SVCD uses the information from the VOB file to preset the Aspect Ratio, but unfortunately the VOB file is sometimes wrong. You can change to the right Aspect Ratio in the Conversion tab (4:3 or 16:9).
You might try Fire's solution, but not all DVD players can do that (mine can't).