Pan-Scan versus Letterbox

I am a bit confused about the use of Pan-Scan vs. Letterbox for 16:9 images to be displayed on either a widescreen (16:9) or a standard (4:3) TV set. Pan-Scan is confusing: I would have assumed that using Pan-Scan as the display mode for 16:9 images (this is slideshow I am talking about) would display the center of the image and cut off the sides on a standard 4:3 TV screen, and display normally on a 16:9 widescreen TV. Not so. I set the display mode to Pan-Scan and burned a DVD: on a stadard 4:3 TV both the sides and the top and bottom of the image was cut off. I thought only the sides would be cut. But worse, on a 16:9 widescreen TV, THE SAME THING HAPPENS! The image is cut off at the sides and top and bottom - it appears to be enlarged (like zooming in) somehow, and so the image resolution is horrible: grainy, etc. When letterbox is used, the widescreen image is good, even the title safe border is not even close to the edge, and the image displays quite well on a 4:3 standard TV with the black bars top and bottom. So my question is, when could a Pan-Scan be used? Is it only for a computer monitor? Would I experience the same thing with video? And what does the choice: "Pan-Scan & Letterbox" (the third choice) offer? very confusing.
Barry

BArry:
This information is taken from DVDSP User Manual:
=======================================
Using Pan-Scan to Display 16:9 Video
The pan-scan method of displaying 16:9 video on a 4:3 monitor was developed as a compromise between letterbox, which displays all the video content but with black areas at the top and bottom, and the only other alternative: filling the entire 4:3 screen, but cropping some of the content. With pan-scan, you can choose which bits of the 16:9 content to crop, ensuring the action is not lost by displaying the center of the screen only. The pan-scan method can result in sudden jumps from one side of the screen to the other (for example, to follow a conversation’s dialogue), which may make your video look as if edits have been made.
To make pan-scan work, you must have a pan-scan vector, a frame-based value that controls which part of the content to use. Someone watching the video creates the vector, deciding which parts should be seen. This vector must be available when the video is MPEG-encoded. The MPEG encoder included with DVD Studio Pro does not support pan-scan vector information. However, if the information is already part of an MPEG-encoded video stream, created with an encoder that supports the vector information, DVD Studio Pro passes this information along.
Virtually all movies shown on TV have been through the pan-scan process; however, pan-scan vectors are rarely used for movies released on DVD. Instead, a version of the movie is made using the 4:3 pan-scanned source, and is not intended to be played as a 16:9 video on 16:9 monitors. The other side of the disc often contains the true 16:9 version, set to display as letterboxed video on 4:3 monitors.
Important: Do not use pan-scan if your video does not actually support it. If you do, only the center part of the frame will appear.
=======================================
Hope it helps!
  Alberto

Similar Messages

  • Pan-Scan and Letterbox??????

    What is the difference in the Display Mode of 16x9 Pan-Scan then 16x9 Pan-Scan and Letterbox???
    Thanks

    What you want to use is Letterbox, not Pan & Scan or Pan & Scan/Letterbox. (Using both allows the user to choose which one)
    From the manual (do a search for Pan-Scan for more info in the PDF/manual)
    The pan-scan method of displaying 16:9 video on a 4:3 Monitor was developed as a compromise between letterbox, which displays all the video content but with black bars at the top and bottom, and the only other alternative: filling the enitre 4:3 screen, but cropping some of the content.
    Broad stroke - Pan-Scan uses "vectors" to control what part of a video is shown.
    Final Cut and DVD SP cannot add the vectors and if you set the playback it may lead to results you do not want (i.e., only center part of the video being shown.)
    Practically if you shot 16:9 and really shot with 4:3 in mind, the outside areas may not be needed, but you need to look at the footage....

  • 16:9 Pan Scan or Letterbox or Both ?????

    i am helping a friend make a dvd and the video was shot in 16:9
    in DVDSP do i select...
    16:9 Pan-Scan
    16:9 Letterbox
    16:9 Pan-scan & Letterbox
    we have no clue the difference between them
    thanks a lot

    Hi guys,
    My problem is that I captured all my footage already in 16:9 letterboxed and when I burn a DVD of my project with DSP 4 and play it on my HDTV it still letterboxes the image not only creating bars on the top and bottom but on the right and left side as well, thus not showing my video in my HDTV's full screen. Can anyone help me?
    If I turn on the anamorphic settings in the FCP 6.04 sequnce and or in DSP 4, the image does fill my HDTV screen but it squahes it, with bottom and top letterbox bars still showing.
    I'd appreciate a response back to my email in case I can't find this thread again:
    [email protected]
    Thanks!

  • Settings for 16:9 & Pan Scan

    hi all,
    I need some clarification on some DVDSP settings. I am using DVDSP4, and I have widescreen footage saved from FCP, but the final output of DVD will be viewed like most, on a mixture of widescreen TV's and standard 4:3.
    I've stumbled by until now not knowing for sure what the settings should be exactly, and i've been pretty confused by - Playback Output Settings (under Simulator menu) and the Settings under 'General' for the menus.
    Have found that sometimes if i've set it up as widescreen, when it has been played on a DVD player the TV has not 'smart-scaled' it
    At present I have mine set as thus:
    GENERAL (TAB)
    SD DVD Menus Tracks and Slideshows : 16:9 Pan-Scan
    SIMULATOR (TAB)
    Display Mode : 4:3 Pan-Scan
    ENCODING (TAB)
    Aspect Ratio : 16:9
    I'd appreciate any advice you could pass on this.
    thanks

    If you have 16:9 material set it for Letterbox do not use Pan & Scan or Pan & Scan with Letterbox.
    On 16:9 tvs it will play back 16:9, on 4:3 televisons it will playback letterbox, though people can always change settings on TVs and DVD Players and mess things up.

  • Emergency: Pan-Scan / Letterbox / Pan-Scan & Letterbox??

    90 minute docu going to replicators in 2 hours.
    Master is a 16:9 HDV that's been exported to MPEG2. I want menu to be 16:9 (16:9 for full widescreen TV & 16:9 letterbox for 4:3 TV). I've already got 3 pages of menues set up with 14 buttons each. (I'm told Pan-Scan & Letterbox has only room for 12).
    What do I set my menues at for getting my 16:9 menu on widescreen TV (letterboxed on 4:3 TV)???
    Instant help much much appreciated.
    Thank you,
    Ben

    Ben
    What do I set my menues at for getting my 16:9 menu on widescreen TV (letterboxed on 4:3 TV)???
    Set tracks & menus as Display Mode: 16:9 Letterbox to get such behaviour, NOT PanScan.
    Hope that helps !
      Alberto

  • 16:9 footage appearing as Pan Scan 4:3 on TV!

    Ok.. so my footage mpeg2 16:9 coming out of compressor. I had everything displaying as 16:9 (including menus) on my screen and simulation. But when i burn to dvd it shows up on the tv as squashed video/menus. What am i doing wrong? Thanks

    You need to set the menus and tracks to display as 16:9 Letterbox (not Pan & Scan or Pan & Scan/Letterbox) Sounds like you did that(?) and if it is showing up otherwise on a television, it could be the settings in the DVD Player or television are set improperly, though you can do your best when authroing, the DVD Player and TV settings can overide things

  • How do I create motion for still photos/pictures. I'd like to pan/scan & zoom. Please help!

    How do I create motion for still photos/pictures. I'd like to pan/scan & zoom. Please help!

    You kind of answered your own question..
    Check out Motion in the FX Control Window and learn how keyframing works..

  • ATI Radeon 3870 for photomation pan/scan/zoom

    Hi all,
    I'm thinking about upgrading to the ATI Radeon 3870, but before I commit I would like to know if it will help with faster renders on the photo pan/scan/zoom (i.e. Ken Burns) style moves that make up the bulk of my work. I know it's good for Motion, but what I'm really after is speed on FCP renders for photos that have keyframe animated scale, rotation, and position parameters, as well as basic filters and transitions.
    Thanks!

    I don't know what your workflow is, but I've animated hundreds of photos in Motion before without problem. And if I'm dealing with a long sequence (one was about 25 minutes long), I simply break it up into manageable pieces of 4-5 minutes long and reassemble in FCP. I could do all that and still be finished before I had the chance to animate a third of the photos in FCP alone.
    To me, speed is a primary concern because obviously time is money. But as I said, I don't know how your workflow differs.
    Andy

  • Why my pan&scan don't work

    when i render all with color
    just pan&scan dont render and i have set the keyframe
    my project setting wrong?

    There were a few versions of Final Touch where geometry was rendered,but its not generally recommended practice. I know its there, but it doesn't work very well, and is particularly bad with interlaced media. You are far better off doing the scaling and stuff in FCP. Where there are motion tabs in the original source FCP project, the XML export process in COLOR tries to preserve those settings and will ignore anything you do within the Geometry room.
    jPo

  • Speedgrade crops footage on render output with Pan&scan

    I have a simple timeline with one DPX-Sequence and a Pan&Scan track on it.
    No gradings, no dissolves.
    some images in the sequnece have a lower resolution, so I scale them up to full HD with the Pan&Scan-Track. Everything shows up right in the viewport, but when I render the sequence, the scaled parts of the timeline come out being cropped to their original size with a black border around them.
    It also happens when I try to assemble a sequence with quictimes and sequences of different resolutions.
    I installe Update 6.0.4 but the error is still there.
    Is there at least a workaround?

    Try posting in the SpeedGrade forum
    http://forums.adobe.com/community/speedgrade?view=discussions

  • Encore Pan Scan

    Hello Everyone,
    I am building a DVD but i have a small problem.
    My DVD is 720x576(which is a normal DVD) ,but when i play the DVD on 40"TV it looks very blurr.It is because the quality of the video is low.So i am looking for away to make this video that when it plays in big TV to be in black frame(instead of pan scan which will streach it to full screan).
    Also does anyone know why Encore doesnt correctly do overide because i made a dvd which has override at the end of each chapter but instead plays all?
    Thanks

    First,  try your TV setting to make sure that you are not zoomed. Second, be sure you are using an "upscaling" player - true of almost all bluray players and newer DVD players.

  • Time compression and Pan & Scan

    Hi
    I'm editing a PPV special, and the networks are requesting that the Sony Digibeta Master be "time compressed when available."
    Is "time compression" a feature in FCP, or is it a feature on the Digitbeta interface only (like the 7.5 IRE NTSC setting)?
    Also, one of the networks requests a "Digital Beta or D-3 full frame panned and scanned scene-to-scene color-corrected NTSC master."
    "Pan and Scan" referes to cropping 16:9 video to fit within a 4:3 monitor, with no letterboxing, right? My show includes both 16:9 and 4:3 content. For past shows, it's never been a problem when I make the Digibeta of both 16:9 and 4:3. But for this network that requests Pan and Scan, would there be any problem?
    I only found these requirements on the Event Master spec sheet, not on the spec sheet covering promo spots. Why's that?
    THANKS!

    Also, one of the networks requests a "Digital Beta or D-3 full frame panned and scanned scene-to-scene color-corrected NTSC master." "Pan and Scan" referes to cropping 16:9 video to fit within a 4:3 monitor, with no letterboxing, right? My show includes both 16:9 and 4:3 content. For past shows, it's never been a problem when I make the Digibeta of both 16:9 and 4:3. But for this network that requests Pan and Scan, would there be any problem? < </div>
    Pan'n'Scan used to refer to the mechanical process of getting a widescreen image onto a TV screen. Movies were run through big film chains, scanners, to turn them into the highest quality quality video. There was a panning device that would physically move the image from side to side to maintain some kind of continuity with the original film's intent. The worst pan'n'scan films had unskilled operators running the mechanisms. Classic example is a two shot of dialog where we saw half of someone on the left side of the screen talking to an invisible person who was out of frame off the right side of the screen.
    I am not familiar with a more modern adaptation of the term "pan and scan" that does not include actually moving the widescreen image around. It's very complicated and time consuming to do it well while maintaining the integrity of the production. You are conforming someone else's composition to fit another frame. Touchy.
    Scene by scene color correction is a nightmare, too, but is necessary when going from film to video.
    bogiesan

  • Best way to do a 4:3 pan & scan in terms of resolution?

    Brethren,
    I need to deliver a broadcast quality version of my project in 4:3 pan-and-scan. The project is made up of five 20 minute long pieces, usually holding about 1 or 2 layers of video, sometimes 3 or 4.
    I've read a few other threads on this topic but I don't know that these solutions are ideal. Here are the possible methods I can imagine:
    option a) apply a matte to each clip in the entire project
    option b) change the overall settings of the project to ____?_____
    option c) export the movie to a quicktime file and re-import it and then alter the settings
    option d) take the entire timeline and "nest" it back into a new timeline and apply a single overall matte to that new nested timeline
    *MAIN QUESTION*
    *Which method is the best way to whittle things down to 4:3 and yet preserve image quality? I'm concerned that some of these strategies present issues of resolution loss. I want to avoid as much loss as possible. Is there a good method that I may have missed on my list?*
    *SECONDARY QUESTION*
    *Although I won't be "panning" too many clips, there will be a few clips that need to be scooted right or left. In such cases, what is the best method of "panning" while preserving image quality? (I think option "D" is unusable here because you can't pan individually if you've applied the matte to the whole enchilada.)*
    MY SPECS
    --The project exclusively uses footage from the Sony EX-1, shot at 24p, true 16:9.
    --I edited the project using the XDCAM 1080p 24 VBR 35mbs codec. But I exported it to QuickTime using the ProRes 422 (HQ) codec. The resultant exported QuickTime files are 25 gigs each, which is a bit too bulky for my system's 16gigs of RAM to re-import and re-tinker.
    thanks so much,
    Shanked

    A couple of things -
    • it makes no sense to go to ProResHQ with your source material. It is way overkill. ProRes standard would have been plenty and would have much more reasonable data rates
    • your work flow "bulky" problems have nothing to do with the RAM in the machine and everything to do with disk through put. If you are having hesitation issues, see the comment above re ProResHQ.
    • Why did you shoot 24p if you knew you were headed to broadcast?
    I need to deliver a broadcast quality version of my project in 4:3 pan-and-scan.
    What format/codec is the broadcaster requesting? Does it need to be delivered on tape?
    These are the issues that your solution will need to address -
    generating a broadcast 4:3 version, you'll need to:
    a) reduce the resolution to 720x486
    b) allow for some image location manipulation while cropping the sides
    c) add pull down to generate a 29.97 frame rate
    If you didn't want to move the image around, the easiest way to do this would have been to simply drop the exported version of each segment of your project into Compressor and let Compressor do everything in one step and in a batch process. With the MacPro set up to run as a quick cluster, Qmaster will allow Compressor to access all cores of the machine and will speed the process along markedly.
    Given the need to manipulate image position, you'll need an additional step before the files land in Compressor.
    Create a duplicate sequence for each segment and, with the 4:3 ratio crop marks on the screen, manipulate the image locations as nec to maintain framing. Then export a reference version using current settings. (You could do this as a nest as well. I tend to stay away from nests as they can lead to other hard to trace down problems.)
    Open up Compressor, bring in the manipulated files, apply the ProRes (standard quality) 720x486 preset, make sure frame controls are on better or best to smooth out the resizing and retiming. Frame controls gives you access to optical flow technology which will do a much better job than FCP alone can generate. Please note: You'll want to run some time vs quality tests. Frame controls set to "best" will dramatically increase rendering times.
    Then launch the whole shebang as a batch process and let it run.
    If you have something like a Kona 3 and you need to deliver on tape, the card will do the down conversion and add the pull down on the fly on playout to tape. This eliminates the whole Compressor step.
    Good luck.
    x

  • Pan & scan with slideshow title slide

    I've been trying to use the Ken Burns effect with a title slide in a slideshow - but can't get it to work.
    Is this possible please - without having to create a video workaround in FCP / iMovie?
    Thanks
    Julian

    Interesting: I just tried it, and Aperture will not let me do it. The only work around I can think of is to trick Aperture into thinking a text slide is a picture slide. You could create this faux text slide using the book tool, but it would be way easier to create it in another app that will save to a picture file format and then import it. If you have Powerpoint or Keynote ($20USD on App store), it will be super easy. You could also do it with Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Pixelmator ($30USD on App store), Gimp (free) or any number of apps.
    DLS

  • Mastering 16:9

    we're trying to master a PAL 16:9 SD DVD and we can't seem to get it to work properly.
    material has been shot in 16:9 anamorphic, captured and edited in fcp as such.
    in compressor we used the PAL 16:9 presets
    then in the DVDSP project, we set the settings for menus, tracks, etc to 16:9. first we tried with "pan&scan and letterbox" and later just with letterbox, but in both cases the disc plays on a 4:3 tv set with the video stretched to 4:3 format instead of letterboxing it ...
    what are the correct settings to get video that is mastered as 16:9 anamorphic to play as 16:9 on a widescreen tv and letterboxed on a 4:3 ?
    thanks!

    Hi:
    In DVDSP you must set your 16:9 tracks and menus as Display Mode: 16:9 letterbox. That way you'll get full screen in widerscreen TVs and letterboxed in 4:3 ones.
    Be aware that some DVD players and TVs settings can override your DVD configuration, but you have no control on final user system settings.
    Hope that helps !
      Alberto

Maybe you are looking for