So I converted an AVI source file on my computer to MPEG2 using SUPER (by eRightSoft). I created an ISO image and burned it to a DVD using Nero. I played it on my PS3, ran like butter. I then played it on my Phillips DVP3980, and to my dissatisfaction, found the aspect ratio to be distorted and forced into fullscreen. So I go into the setup menu, change the TV Display option to 4:3 Letterbox, then to 16:9, only to discover no changes whatsoever. Finally, I tried using a different conversion program (TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress), but still the same problem. Help?
Let's see here... Well, it could be that your AVI isn't in a 16x9 ratio. I know it's a problem with Blu-Ray converting. Sometimes what some groups do when ripping a widescreen video is crop the borders off, leaving you with something that doesn't have the correct aspect ratio. The PS3 might be able to upscale this easily (it does a good job with upscaling videos off my hard drive, regardless of whether it's a "perfect" aspect ratio or not), whereas the Phillips just can't. Try adding borders to the video (with VDubMod or something) and re-encoding to see what you get. Maybe it'll work better this time.
Sorry, I mean the black borders that are sometimes on the top and bottom of some widescreen movies. Most (or some, at least) widescreen films are shot in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio or so, which is considerably "wider" than 16x9 screens, so what happens is that the video frame is Letterboxed to fit on a 16x9 screen, meaning those black bars are placed on top and bottom in order to show the entire video frame on a regular widescreen TV. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image) From what I can tell, what your DVD player is doing is stretching the video vertically to get to the correct aspect ratio. ...correct? EDIT: Realized I didn't even answer your question. What I mean to say is that some DVD rippers (y'know, those BitTorrent folks) crop off the borders while encoding from DVD to .avi/.mkv/etc. to save a bit of data (which really isn't all that much, considering it's... y'know, a single color). That answer your question?
I assume so, but when I run the file in DVD Patcher to check its aspect ratio it shows that it is in fact 16:9.
No that's not exactly right, very few movies are shot in 1.85 which is not considerably wider per se, look at it as less tall. 1.85 vs 1.78 is very similar (you are misinterpreting the Wikipedia graphic). Your 16:9 TV/player will add very small bars to make up the difference. A 4:3 TV will have larger bars. Look at it as a height difference rather than width. That also is incorrect, they aren't cropping off the borders/bars to save anything, because there aren't any, unless it's a WS movie formatted as 4:3, which were around in the old days, where the bars actually were part of the image. In that case the black bars should be cropped off. Run any WS avi though a player like VLC or NeroShowtime (not maximized) and you will see no bars because they are not there. Here's a screen of a 2.4:1 WS AVI from NeroShowtime: Here's what MediaInfo says about the AVI: Video Format : MPEG-4 Visual Format profile : Streaming Video@L1 Format settings, BVOP : Yes Format settings, QPel : No Format settings, GMC : No warppoints Format settings, Matrix : Default Codec ID : XVID Codec ID/Hint : XviD Duration : 1h 32mn Bit rate : 911 Kbps Width : 624 pixels Height : 256 pixels Display aspect ratio : 2.438 You can get MediaInfo if you like here: http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en Forget Super and TMPGEnc for now. Get DVD Flick (free) set it to NTSC (if that applies). Add your AVI. Under Edit Title-> General, set it to 16:9. You didn't say if you have a 16:9 TV. Either way a 16:9 formatted DVD will maintain the correct AR on any TV.
Well, those .avis have probably already had their borders cropped by whoever ripped them from the DVD. When you rip a widescreen DVD, you'll see that what you rip is actually a perfect widescreen DVD - 16x9. Even if the film was shot in a 1.85:1 ratio, DVD production adds those two borders to bump it to 16x9. When you watch a widescreen DVD on a regular 4:3 TV with Letterboxing, the widescreen borders are still there, but since they're black... well, they blend in well with the Letterbox borders. But yeah. I just ripped Transformers widescreen, and what I got was the picture (1.85:1 or 2.39:1) with borders on top/bottom to fit the full frame on a 16x9 frame. What you've got there is an .avi that's been ripped from DVD, and during the re-encoding process, the ripper decided to get rid of the borders, thinking that that'd save some data.
