Something wrong with the PAR?

VideJoe wrote on 5/10/2006, 9:35 PM
Hi I rendered out a 25p project to MPEG (for PAL DVDA). The original footage was shot at 4:3, nothing special.
The rendered movie looks good on TV in terms of aspect ratio, but viewing the same video on a monitor it looks like the subjects are longer than normal, almost as if they are stretched vertically.
I used the PAL DVD, Progressive Project Settings.
Seems that the Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR) is off. I used the default 1,0926.
Any body had the same experience?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 5/11/2006, 3:25 AM
How are you viewing it on the monitor? Windows Media Player up through version 9 (if i recall correctly) didn't use the PAR setting while playing back DV files and some MPEG files. Version 10 seems to have fixed this.
VideJoe wrote on 5/11/2006, 11:29 AM
Yes I do in WMP 10.
Strange thing too is that the borders of the video touch the WMP screen frame at the top and bottom, while on another laptop with WMP 10 it looks okay, with black borders on each side of the video pane.
All WMP video settings on 100%.
Tech Diver wrote on 5/11/2006, 11:55 AM
Are you playing a file or a DVD in WMP? If it is a DVD, you must have purchased a third-party DVD Decoder plugin. If so, check to see if the plugin has a configuration utility or can be configured from "Tools->Plug-ins->Options" in WMP.
fldave wrote on 5/11/2006, 4:26 PM
Check the aspect ratio of your PC video card settings. Historically, everything was geared for 4x3. Newer modes allow "non-square" (4x3). For example, 1280x1024 is not 4x3. At this setting, everything is "squished" on my monitors.
VideJoe wrote on 5/11/2006, 9:26 PM
Indeed you may be on to something. My display settings are set to 1280x800 (wide screen), which comes down to a aspect ratio of 0,625 instead of the project aspect ratio of 0,75 (4:3).
Mmmm...how to solve this without changing the display setting.
VideJoe wrote on 5/11/2006, 9:31 PM
Guess my brain is just waking up. I would expect the video to be streched horizontally instead of vertically with the display settings I just mentioned. Am I right or am I...
fldave wrote on 5/12/2006, 3:58 AM
"I would expect the video to be streched horizontally instead of vertically with the display settings I just mentioned"
Depends on the player/software. If it is smart enough. Some of the 3D and image software I have used in the past did not compensate. I always have mine set to 4x3 ratio now, so I haven't investigated this problem lately.