Needs help to get 16:9 on PAL TV

[tingsern]

I edited a HD video. Its aspect ratio is 16:9.

I used ProCoder 3 to convert the Canopus HQ AVI into MPEG2 format for SD. I choose PAL TV. I changed the default aspect ratio of 4:3 to 16:9.

I then used DVDitPro HD to author the MPEG2 file before burning it into a DVD. I choose the WIDESCREEN option.

When I pop the DVD into my standalone DVD player to test, it played the video as 4:3 instead of 16:9.

Where did I go wrong? Thank you.

[DigitalDave]

Perhaps you didnt go wrong. Have you tried the DVD in a different player or even Power DVD to confirm the 16x9 flag is there. If you import the M2v back into Edius - it will tell you in properties. Some DVD players need to be told to play 16x9. Have you worked in 16x9 before? i.e have you played 16x9 from this player onto the TV which I assume is 16x9 and NOT 4x3. Dont know about DVDit but some Authoring programmes require the AR to be set in the project- Encore does not and will produce in the AR you give it be it menu's or enodes, so you can have 16x9 and 4x3 in the same project.

DD

[antonsvideo]

what is your TV? a 4:3 or a 16:9?

if 4:3 TV, then the dvd player needs to be set to letterbox in its menu and not Pan and scan

if 16:9 TV, the dvd player needs to be set to 16:9 in setup menu

also, if using DVD Lab Pro, you can set 16:9 letterbox display on 4:3 TV, this will force players to show it correctly regardless of the users dvd player setup

[tingsern]

I am testing it on 16:9 TV. This Philips DVD player certainly can show 16:9 - if I load a commercial DVD on it, the screen changes from 4:3 to 16:9. So - I am definitely sure it has something to do with either ProCoder 3 or DVDit.

I noticed in ProCoder 3, if I select PAL TV as the target, the aspect ratio is set to 4:3. As I noted in the help, the aspect ratio is only displayed for info. Does this mean - even if I set explicitly to 16:9, the software ignores it and still encodes for 4:3?

I will try to play the M2T file on my PC and see if the aspect ratio is 16:9 or 4:3 - if it is 4:3 ... then the problem probably lie with ProCoder 3 - if it is 16:9, then it will be DVDit.

[antonsvideo]

PC3 needs to be set to 16:9, then it will encode with 16:9 flag

however, maybe DVDit is your troublemaker? or the DVD player setup menu?

if you test the DVD with PowerDVD and it shows 16:9, then your DVD player setup is to blame

[tingsern]

What option is there in PC3 to tell the software to force 16:9? I only see that in the target - if I choose PAL TV, it gives me a default aspect ratio of 4:3. If I change it to 16:9 - does it encodes in 16:9 then?

As for DVDit - it seems someone has reported this problem - and the fix is here as well ...

http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=30561&hl=Aspect+ratio

Will test it out tonight.

[antonsvideo]

yes, I always set this to 16:9, as a matter of fact I saved a preset as 16:9, so I no longer need to set it and I also close the GOP

PowerDVD will be your test confirmation

[shueardm]

I have not had this problem doing 16:9 Mpeg 2 in DVDit PRO HD.

Is this video a title or a menu?

PS, i think the other guy on the forum should not be using H.264 QT files to start with.

[tingsern]

I am authoring a video (6 minutes long) that originates as HD material in EDIUS. Written out as Canopus HQ file. Encoded using ProCoder 3 (Target - SD - PAL TV). I changed the aspect ratio from default 4:3 to 16:9. Output as M2T and WAV. Not M2V. Then author the M2T and WAV using DVDit Pro HD. I select the Widescreen choice. Burn the data on a normal DVD. Pop into my Philips DVD player - and it plays it as 4:3 instead of 16:9. The TV is the same broadcast monitor I am using (16:9 aspect ratio).

I have to test using PowerDVD player what aspect ratio is coming out of the ProCoder 3. If it is 16:9 - I know the problem is now either DVDit Pro HD or my Philips standalone DVD player. But - I know if pop in a commercial DVD into that player, it will switch the screen from 4:3 to 16:9.

[shueardm]

Why export m2t? Simply export a DVD target Mpeg2 and if you want a HD master also export a m2t file. The m2t is HDV not SD.

[tingsern]

Not true ... m2t is MPEG2 transport stream. m2v is elementary stream. The streams themselves can be in SD or HD - MPEG2 does not differentiate them. It is the inner data structures that tells the decoder whether the streams inside is SD or HD. M2T is designed to be transmitted over the airwaves, streamed over cable, etc. M2V is more meant for destinations where data is multiplexed with audio, etc ...

[shueardm]

Exactly, so why export m2t when you want to go to DVD?

[tingsern]

But, is that the cause of the problem here? Getting 16:9 to work on a PAL TV? I doubt it - I have used M2T and WAV before without any trouble. It was done without ProCoder 3 -

Was encoding timeline to MPEG2 using the Storm's MPEG h/w encoder chip and using DVDit to author the MPEG2 stream. Output from Storm was M2T and WAV. So - I am pretty sure that is not the source of the problem. Of course, it was SD source - output to SD h/w.

If source was 4:3, output played back as 4:3. If source was 16:9, it played 16:9. Everything was SD - of course.

Now - I am taking HD and converting to SD.

[shueardm]

Well, all i can say is that I don't have your problem and i don't use transport files. We both have the same software.

[tingsern]

I need to go back and see what exactly is the problem now - is it the output from ProCoder or is it caused by DVDit Pro HD .... will report back. Thanks for the discussion.