16:9 Showing as 4:3

Maverick wrote on 10/27/2007, 4:25 PM

My first project seemed to go well but one part is not playing correctky on my parents widescreen TV.

The entired footage was shot in 16:9 using a SONY DV CAM and edited in V8Pro with project settings to PAL Widescreen (all rendering was in widescreen) and all files play in widescreen mode on the PC in WMPlayer, VLC Media Player & Nero Showtime. It was burnt using DVD 4.5 also with PAL Widescreen.

The footage was split into three different shirt films and each has it's own button on the DVD menu. The first two played correctly on my parents' Sony Widescreen TV but the third is shown as smaller than usual 4:3 size with wide black bars left & right and narrower black bars top and bottom - basically it looks like a smaller 4:3 screen contained within the widescreen area.

I have checked all settings in the projects and all media play correctly in many apps on the PC when played as mpeg-2 files.

Could anyone shed some light as to what could be causing issues with this one clip? It spoils waht was otherwise and enjoyable DVD.

Cheers

Comments

farss wrote on 10/27/2007, 4:49 PM

So the one video that doesn't play correctly, does it looks squished, i.e. tall skinny people etc.

In DVDA if you check the media properties of the errant video does it say Widescreen?

Bob.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/27/2007, 4:53 PM

sounds like it was a 16:9 file rendered as 4:3 with black bars & dvda was told it was wide screen so now additional bars are at the top/bottom.

some media player automatically scale out black bars if they're told to.

Maverick wrote on 10/27/2007, 5:28 PM

Thanks for the pointers.

I'll check these out tomorrow.

Cheers

MPM wrote on 10/28/2007, 12:19 PM

Generally players look to the mpg2 file headers for display info and show them accordingly. That said, the DVD IFO files list the allowed display modes, which in my experience may or may not be obeyed depending on the player -- they can at the least be over-ridden in most players.

Utilities at videohelp.com like restream will let you see what the mpg2 headers are set to, and allow header editing. IfoEdit will show (& allow editing) the display modes set for a title.

If any black bars were rendered to the file itself, they'd show up on a PC player, same as with the included letterboxing you see on a W/S movie DVD with an aspect wider than 16:9. In fact, to test your player just stick in the average W/S DVD.

FWIW I'd *guess* that the problem player/TV display is the result of one of their internal display modes -- i.e. you can often get this sort of display with DivX depending on player display settings -- so you might not see this happening on other players &/or TVs. And I'd also guess whatever's wrong is allowing or prompting the display mode -- not ordering it -- but again those are just guesses.

I think I'd start by playing the VOB & separately the mpg2 files on your PC.