My source is a 4:3 miniDV plus some still photos and I want the final project to be 16:9. In the past I have just encoded a 4:3 letterboxed video since I always knew that the DVD would be played on a 4:3 source. Now I'm not sure of that anymore.

So I setup a short video clip and encoded it 16:9 and 4:3. Then I put both clips on the same DVD and compared them on my 4:3 TV.

To be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between the two in quality, but I don't have a 16:9 TV to watch so I don't know if my test is really valid.

So my question is whether or not I loose any sharpness by encoding a 16:9 project that will be letterboxed by the DVD player on 4:3 displays as opposed to encoding a 4:3 letterboxed project?

I suppose I could always do both and put both on the same disc like the commercial DVD's used to be.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks