If I want to encode a 16:9 source...

[magomago]

Do I select the output as 16:9 or 4:3? Because I was thinking about it and I don't want to 16:9 the widescreen movie b/c I think it'll make it even smaller....

Do you know what I'm saying? Thanks

The source is a widscreen DVD

[manono]

Hi-

Whatever DVD2AVI tells you is the DAR, then that's what you select as Input Pixel Aspect Ratio. If you select 16:9 (if that's what it is) and then properly crop and resize in GKnot, the film will play at just the right size.

There are, unfortunately, plenty of 4:3 widescreen movies. That's why it's important to pay attention to what DVD2AVI says it is.

Maybe Doom9's Aspect Ratios Explained (http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm) will help.

By the way, is this your End Of Evangelion from the other thread? If so, it's non-anamorphic, widescreen letterboxed, meaning 4:3. Here's a link:

http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/1657.php

[piscator]

Best to select 16:9 or the aspect ratio is messed up.

If you use BSPlayer (or probably any other player besides the Media Player), you can easily select the desired playback aspect ratio if you don't mind watching stretched people. Or you can select Pan&Scan to keep the aspect ratio and don't mind missing half of the movie... Tough choice!

greetz,
Piscator

[jggimi]

Close, but not quite, from my experience.

If you think about it, all commercial dvds are anamorphic, since 720x576 is 1.25:1, 720x480 is 1.5:1, and neither of those ratios are 4:3 or 16:9.

As Manono mentioned, there are plenty of "widescreen" DVDs with DARs of 4:3. So just seeing "widescreen" on the box isn't enough.

In addition, sometimes the IFO (used by DVD players) and the MPEG2 flags (used by DVD2AVI) may disagree, leaving the Gknot user confused as to which DAR is correct.

To me, when I'm confused about the DAR, the easiest way to determine the proper DAR is to look at frame that contains a round object (ball, wheel, clock, etc.), and then pick the DAR that looks right.

If that doesn't do the trick, there is another method:

Look up the aspect ratio of the DVD, either from the disc, the box, or from www.imdb.com in the "technical DVD specs" section. That aspect ratio will be of the film portion of the transfer, so use Gknot's handy Autocrop feature to remove letterboxing, then pick the DAR that gets you closest to the intended film aspect ratio.