dvd2avi reporting wrong aspect ratio

[J-Wo]

I have noticed that DVD2AVI (or its variants dvd2avidg or dgindex) report an incorrect aspect ratio after ripping with DVD Decryptor v3.5.1.0 in either file or ISO ripping mode. When I play the original DVD with PowerDVD, the movie looks correct as a letterboxed 4:3 movie. Under Configuration -> Information, powerdvd correctly states that the aspect ratio is 4:3. But after ripping, if I load the vob's into DVD2AVI the preview screen says it's 16:9 when it's so obviously not!!! Consequently, any transcoders like DVD-Shrink or encoders like DVD Rebuilder produce incorret aspect ratio output files. The movie comes out letterboxed 16:9, resulting in a very squished video.

Anyone know what's going on?

[jggimi]

J-Wo, you are describing a known limitation of these programs -- they use the metadata in the VOB set, whereas the players use the DAR field from the IFO.

You have an incorrectly authored DVD. Its quite common.

Until any developers include IFO parsing with DVD2AVI/DGIndex, or allow you to change it in the application, you can edit the .d2v file and correct the DAR. Alternatively, with some applications that use .d2v input such as Gordian Knot, you can correct the DAR in the application.

[J-Wo]

how odd...! Well I was finally able to correct this problem by using DVD-Rebuilder. It created an .ecl file for CCE, and I changed all the 16:9 flags to 4:3 and that fixed the problem. No idea how to fix this with DVD Shrink, but oh well!

[Cyberia]

We probably need the ability to override the Aspect Ratio selector. IFO parsing would also be nice.

Anything else that needs overriding from time to time? Maybe Field Order? or audio delays?

[J-Wo]

Oops I spoke too soon. While I was able to make DVD-Rebuilder encode .m2v files in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio, but after the final rebuild phase the result is stretched to 16:9 as seen on both my standalone player and through PowerDVD. I know this may be the wrong forum to ask but what can I do from here?

edit: aha! I feel so smart, I got it to work. Loaded the movie up on PGCEdit, then went to the VTST containing my movie. Then under Utilities -> Domain Stream Attributes, I changed the tick from 16:9 to 4:3. And it worked! :D :D