problem with playback on tvs

[elpedro]

Hey, I tried searching and found nothing or really vaguely connected material. My problem is I have been using multiple programs since I started making dvds for tv, Nero VisionExpress, TMP, and currently Sonic DVD. With all these I have gotten the same problem where I lose a bit off the top and bottom. Now the files I use for burning at set resolutions of either 320x240 or 800x600 or in between but keeping that same ratio. Is there anyway I can fix this? is it a problem with files or problem with settings with programs? I have tried on two tvs, widescreen and regular. Not sure if you guys need more information to help. My computer is:
AMD duron 800mhz
256MD ddr400
120gb and 10gb HD
Khypermedia 8x+ and - DVD burner
Nvidia geforce 2 mx400 64mb

PS I have burned like 10 dvds so far trying to tweak the settings but nothing.
Any help would be really great, since I am down to 10gbs on my 120gb.

[jggimi]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

Commercial NTSC DVDs all have a resolution of 720x480, whether they have a 4:3 or a 16:9 Display Aspect Ratio -- the pixels are not square, as they are on a PC.

Your home made NTSC DVDs will either have the same 720x480 resolution, or in unusual circumstances, a smaller resolution that still meets the DVD standard: 704x480, 352x480, or 352x240.

The two resolutions you are working with do not meet the DVD standard, so, resizing must occur in order to encode and author a DVD. Your source has a 4:3 aspect ratio with square pixels, so your authoring tools will resize to 720x480, as previously mentioned, and use a 4:3 DAR flag.

It is possible you are experiencing the affects of overscan: these are areas of video signal that are hidden from view on a standard television set.

Test this by playing your burned DVDs on your PC. Are you still missing content? If not, then you are seeing overscan effects when playing back on your TV. If yes, then there is something wrong with your procedure.

If it turns out to be a procedural problem:

Assuming your sources are .avi files, you might want to use one of Doom9's step-by-step AVI -> DVD conversion guides; in particular, the one that uses DVD2SVCD/TMPG for video encoding, since you already have TMPG. http://www.doom9.org/conversionguides.htm

Good luck!