16:9 Output to 4:3 TV?

organism_seven wrote on 11/26/2003, 1:12 PM
Hi,

I have produced a number of DVD's filmed in the 16:9 format with my Canon XM-1.
Edited in Vegas and produced with DVDA.
The discs work great and output as expected.
Viewed on a widescreen television the image fills the screen correctly, and viewed on a traditional 4:3 TV the image appears letterboxed.
So, whether viewed on new or old TV's the aspect ratio looks correct.
No squashed or elongated people. Great.
But............., if I record the widescreen output to a VHS tape, the image still looks correct when played on a widescreen, but fills the whole screen when played on a 4:3 TV.
Is the "signal" (or whatever it is) that tells the player to compensate for the anamorphic output lost when transferred to tape from DVD?
If so, is their anyway to solve this.
I would like people to have one VHS tape that will play correctly on their TV's whether new or old.
Is this possible?
Any help appreciated.

Regards
Organism Seven

Comments

Finster wrote on 11/26/2003, 2:09 PM
VHS machines can't detect that the material is 16:9. You will have to render out a letterboxed version of your video to get it to display properly.
organism_seven wrote on 11/27/2003, 12:41 AM
Simple answer. Thanks.

Regards
Organism Seven
Tom Pauncz wrote on 11/27/2003, 5:19 AM
Hello Finster,
So can you put into a few words how you would do that with Vegas?

If my project is NTSC Widescreen, what do I need to tweak in Vegas to output letterboxed 4:3 version. I know how to put the black bars where they belong - just not sure of the Vegas settings.

Thanks,
Tom
Finster wrote on 12/1/2003, 10:20 AM
pauncz-- Material on the timeline should have properties set to widescreen (right click on clips to check). Set the project properties in viewer window to 4:3. Vegas will automatically letterbox. Then you can render to avi or print-to-tape.
farss wrote on 12/1/2003, 1:55 PM
If you dont want the letterboxed look you can crop to 4:3 but you may also need to pan so as not to miss vital parts. If you are shooting 16:9 it's always a good idea to have a 4:3 safe area rectangle in the viewfinder.

The other option is 14:9, work well on both 16:9 and 4:3.
bowman01 wrote on 12/4/2003, 10:40 PM
Excellent info guys, i've been playing my renders from a dvd player to a vcr... how annoying
Fuzzy John wrote on 12/5/2003, 4:45 AM
I am not sure whether you can do this on all DVD players, but in the setup for my Sony model I have a choice between 16:9, 4:3 Letterbox and 4:3 Pan. When I want to record a VHS tape from material I have on a 16:9 DVD I just change the setup to 4:3 Letterbox. That tape will not play on all other TVs letterboxed and with the right aspect ratio.

If I record the tape with the DVD player set for 16:9 on most other TVs the image fills the screen and it is compressed horizontally. But when I play that tape back on my Sony Wega XBR 32 inch TV (4:3 screen) the TV switches to 16:9 for playback. The picture looks like the letterboxed display on other TVs but the TV compresses the scan lines to only scan the height of the actual picture. No scan is wasted on the black bars. That is a definite improvement in the picture compared to 4:3 Letterboxed display on the same TV.
farss wrote on 12/5/2003, 4:50 AM
Be a little careful. Only putting image on part of the screen can lead to unpleasant scan burns, it's a big problem on plasma screens that play a lot of 4:3, when you put a 16:9 image on it you can see the section where the 4:3 has been.