16:9 DVD Still Letterboxed on Widescreen TV

I have completed a slideshow on a 720/480 anamorphic sequence in FCP. I used Compresser(Best Quality DVD) preset option to compress the DVD. I have all display settings set to 16:9 on menu and tracks alike. My viewer plays the slideshow with the correct dimensions, yet when burned to dvd and played on several widescreen tv's, the image is letterboxed. This is not the case with the same tv's and other dvd's. The same dvd, however, plays just fine in the OEM DVD player installed on my mac.
Can someone advise as to what I could be doing wrong to produce this letterbox(like a 4:3 that is stretched wide) on my dvd's?

It appears I have a similar problem, onboard Mac DVD player fine, 4:3 monitor fine, widescreen monitor and it gets stretched. Will post an answer when I get there. Hope you do the same if you get there first.

Similar Messages

16:9 is Letterboxed on Widescreen TV

I have a 16:9 FCP project, exported QT 16:9 file and made 16:9 MPEG2 file for DVD using Episode Pro. This plays anamorphic in QT. Created a DVDSP4 project SD 16:9 Letterboxed. Plays fine in simulation. Final DVD is letterbox on a widescreen TV making the frame appear somewhat squished. I have not had this problem in DVDSP3. DVD's made this way in DVDSP3 are all anamorphically displayed on a widescreen TV and letterboxed on a 4:3 display. Any suggestions? Thanks, Jim

Jim,
It almost sounds like this is an issue with the display settings of the DVD player and/or TV than it is with the DVD itself. Obviously you're simulating in "16x9 Letterbox" mode since it looks right there.
The only other thing I would think is that you letterboxed your video as part of a 4x3 MPEG which you put into a 16x9 track and that your simulator settings are hiding this by making it "look right". That sounds far fetched though... so I'm sticking with it's the DVD player's/TV's fault.
Zak

Can iDVD7.1.2 make a DVD in Letterbox?

In the past, I have used earlier versions of iDVD (7.0.4 and earlier) on a Mac G5. Its standard output was to letterbox 16x9 video. Now, iDVD7.1.2 uses "squeeze" to convert 16x9 video. I would also like to create DVDs in Letterbox for people with old 4x3 TVs. I have a workaround which is to have Final Cut Express 4.0.1 output the edited video back into my HDV camera to create a HDV tape which I have the camera play and downconvert to DV using the letterbox option back into Final Cut Express. This works but is time consuming. Previously, I used the same procedure with the camera squeeze option to create squeeze DVDs with earlier versions if iDVD. iDVD 7.0.4 does not run on OSX 10.7.5. It crashes while "Reading Themes". Is there any way to get iDVD 7.1.2 to use the letterbox conversion or to get Final Cut Express to create (using Export using QT conversion?) a letterbox NTSC QT movie that iDVD 7.1.2 can use?
I am considering dropping back to an earlier version of OSX (Snow Leopard?} from 10.7.5. I am reluctant to upgrade from 10.7.5 because I might loose iDVD and Final Cut Express. I have tried Final Cur Pro X and strongly dislike it. It cannot read FCE 4.0.1 editing files.

In the past, I have used earlier versions of iDVD (7.0.4 and earlier) on a Mac G5. Its standard output was to letterbox 16x9 video. Now, iDVD7.1.2 uses "squeeze" to convert 16x9 video. I would also like to create DVDs in Letterbox for people with old 4x3 TVs. I have a workaround which is to have Final Cut Express 4.0.1 output the edited video back into my HDV camera to create a HDV tape which I have the camera play and downconvert to DV using the letterbox option back into Final Cut Express. This works but is time consuming. Previously, I used the same procedure with the camera squeeze option to create squeeze DVDs with earlier versions if iDVD. iDVD 7.0.4 does not run on OSX 10.7.5. It crashes while "Reading Themes". Is there any way to get iDVD 7.1.2 to use the letterbox conversion or to get Final Cut Express to create (using Export using QT conversion?) a letterbox NTSC QT movie that iDVD 7.1.2 can use?
I am considering dropping back to an earlier version of OSX (Snow Leopard?} from 10.7.5. I am reluctant to upgrade from 10.7.5 because I might loose iDVD and Final Cut Express. I have tried Final Cur Pro X and strongly dislike it. It cannot read FCE 4.0.1 editing files.

1.77 widescreen and still letterboxed!

I have a 1024x768 widescreen (16x9) 42" plasma (HD Ready). Mac Mini connected with HDMI and set to 1024x768 stretched. I picked a movie which is exactly 1.77 aspect ratio (16x9) and when played using Front Row or DVD Player, I get a black bar on top and on the bottom. Shouldn't it fill the entire screen?

It's an anamorphic widescreen plasma display! The pixels are rectangular and not square. That's the confusion I think Mac Mini is undergoing, it thinks the display is 4:3 and thus letterboxes it before sending out to the display.

DVD Studio Pro - Letterbox from Widescreen Assets ??

I shot my video on Canon XHA1's and edited it in 16:9 widescreen and exported it as full QT and then created a DVD Studio Pro project as 4:3 letterbox. i chose a menu template (wedding) and it came up 4:3 but changed it to 16:9 so id have a widescreen in letterbox on the 4:3 screen. however, the whole entire video is widescreen and only the center of the video is visable.
anyone have any ideas what im doing wrong here?

soundman1024 wrote:
Let's go back a few steps here. As you're using DVDSP I'm going to assume you edited in Final Cut. What were your sequence settings?
If you open your exported Quicktime movie does it have black bars on the top/bottom?
In DVDSP which display mode are you picking for the track the movie is on?
ok, i completely forgot about this post or i would ahve come in and eliminated it. i found the solution. was supposed to click the menu, then select "16:9 Letterbox" from the menu and that fixed it wholeheartedly. sorry i forgot to post the resply to myself. i am REALLY liking DVD SP unlike my avid friends all told me, it is a full functional authoring suite. i just have to "learn" where everything is and how to get some of the things to function, like music playing while the menu is running, sub menus, etc.
thanks "soundman1024" however for your response

CS6 Firewire 16:9 preview is letterboxed on widescreen monitor

With CS6, is there a setting to fix the Firewire Preview since the 16:9 video is incorrectly letterboxed on a widescreen video monitor? It is basically letterboxing something that doesn't need to be letterboxed.This is for a 1080 24p AVCHD project with 1080 24p video files.
Adobe Encore & After Effects CS6 properly dsiplay the Firewire Preview on a widescreen monitor.
In Encore, there is acctually a setting in the Preview Menu that lets you change the TV Mode from 16:9 to 4:3 Letterbox. That only affects the preview when choosing to the Preview the DVD. When playing the video from the Timeline or clicking on a DVD Menu that setting doesn't change how the Firewire Preview displays and is always 16:9. Premiere is always 16:9 letterboxed.
Any suggestions on how to get Premiere to display 18:9 using Firewire Preview without letterboxing it?
Randy

I checked it using various Firewire devices but they all act the same in this situation. Pioneer DVD recorder, Sony DV camcorders.
The unique thing with Premiere CS6 compared to CS5.5 or earlier versions is that it allows Firewire previews with the Mercury GPU on, it doesn't force you to turn that feature off and use the Mercury Software setting instead which is lower performance if you have the proper video card.
I just checked it using Premiere CS5.5 and it does the same thing. In 1080 HD Sequences, Firewire out has the 16:9 incorrectly letterboxed, or what I call "double" letterboxed.
With both CS5.5 and CS6, the Firewire preview is correctly displayed in a DV 480i 16:9 Widescreen Sequence.
A little annoying but this is where an old Sony PVM 4:3 broacast video monitor works well in combination with a widescree 16:9 video monitor still. Simply turn off the 16:9 mode and it will dsiplay it correctly when editing an HD Sequence. When using a DV widescreen Sequence you would then click on the Sony PVM's 16:9 mode so it would letterbox correctly.
Surprised Adobe didn't fix this in Premiere CS6
Randy

Dvd won't play widescreen

Using iDVD 6.03. I've made a widescreen project and burned the DVD, but it doesn't play in widescreen format on my widescreen TV...neither of them. It plays standard (4:3 format).
What am I doing wrong?

Any reason not to update to 10.4.11?
The fdollowing is much easier than it looks!
HOW TO MAINTAIN 16:9 ASPECT FROM IMPORT TO BURN
This is the way I do it. There is no compulsion on you to do it my way, but this works (for me). I started this method before iMovie and iDVD were upgraded to 6.0.3, and because not all elements of the various iDVD themes (particularly the pre-iDVD 6 ones) are consistent in keeping to 16:9 throughout the process.
The widescreen preview works just fine when you check your finished project within iDVD. The problem only happens when you either burn a project or save it to an image.
In this ‘How To’ article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2938
Apple suggest one reason why this is so:
“When you play a widescreen DVD on a standard size television, the text or buttons on a widescreen menu may approach the edge of the display, or appear cut-off.
When you are creating your DVD, be sure to keep in mind the audience who will be playing this disc. If you use a widescreen (16:9) theme and import widescreen footage for example, this will create a widescreen DVD by default. Consider whether the intended recipients of your DVD may be using a standard size TV (4:3) or a widescreen TV.
The movies you import as part of this project will likely play back letterboxed on standard television sets so that all of the content is visible. However, the DVD menu screens may be played as full screen with this configuration. As a result, some of the text or buttons in a widescreen DVD may not be visible on a standard size television.
To avoid this, turn on the options for both Show TV Safe Area and Show Standard Crop Area from the View menu when assembling your menu screens in iDVD. Make sure that all buttons, text, and other elements that you want visible for both widescreen and standard screen audiences are positioned inside the innermost area indicator.”
However, a bug in iDVD 6, particularly when working with PAL, and which has been reported to Apple, is that the sub-menus in many of the themes (the chapter settings) default to 4:3 aspect, NTSC and mpeg 1, instead of the desired 16:9 in mpeg 2 in PAL. This may be partly a leftover from iDVD 5 or even a newer ‘feature’ of iDVD 6. Here is my failsafe workaround, which sounds a lot more complicated when reading about it, that it is in practice.
Living in the UK, I use PAL (25 fps). Wherever you see a reference to PAL (25 fps) in the following you may substitute NTSC (30 fps) in the various settings mentioned (if you don’t live in Europe), the basic idea is the same. I still use this method, and take these steps, regardless of whether it is always necessary. Worst case scenario: it would have worked anyway. Best case scenario: it works perfectly where it otherwise wouldn’t!
The object of the exercise is therefore to ‘fix’ all constituent parts of the project (video, titles, theme, effects, even audio!) in the desired 16:9 aspect to avoid producing a DVD where the movie is in 16:9 and the menu is in 4:3 or where other irritating surprises lurk in your project, which you only discover after burning a coaster!
First go to http://www.mydvdedit.com/index.php?lang=english and download myDVDedit. This is shareware although the download is free. Send the guy a few dollars/euros, he deserves it. While you are there, read all about it. Now install it in your Applications Folder. You will need it later.
You have finished your iMovie project with music, transitions and so on, and saved it to you Movies Folder. Before you started the project you naturally set it to DV Widescreen.
Open iDVD. Give the project a name, and save it as Widescreen if it didn’t default to the same aspect as your iMovie project. Now import the iMovie project into iDVD, choose a theme (any theme you like, even if it prefers to stay at 4:3) and save the project. Do what you would normally do to the theme and its drop zones. Save the project.
Now save as Disk Image on your desktop. Leave it there for the moment when it has finished/appeared.
Open your Movies Folder. Create a new folder. Name it PROJECTNAME – TS FILES (where ‘projectname’ is the name of your project!). Close the folder. You can of course call it anything you like, but this aids identification.
Now double-click the disk image on your desktop. It contains two folders: AUDIO_TS (which is empty, but please pretend that it isn’t) and VIDEO_TS. Drag and drop these to the folder you created in your Movies Folder. (This takes a moment).
Click on the AUDIO_TS folder and go to Get Info in the file menu. Right down the bottom is where you have to change the permissions. Under ‘Ownership & Permissions’ change this from Read Only to Read & Write. Click the small triangle next to Details, scroll down and click on ‘Apply to enclosed items’. You will be asked for your root password. Close the get info window, and now click on the VIDEO_TS folder and do the same. Close the Projectname-TS Files folder. You have now allowed yourself to change the properties of the contents of those folders, which leads us to the next all-important step.
Open myDVDedit. Go to File and open the projectname TS Files folder. By all means stare at it shock and awe, but don’t bother finding out what it can do, except for the following:
Top left you fill see a list of files. Lower centre you have a large window. On the vertical menu to the left of that, click te middle one (VTS or VMG).
In the window at the top left, ignore ‘First Play’ (if there was anything to correct in that, myDVDedit will have done so and told you).
Click on VMG Menu en (English). Now the whole thing springs to life.
Set Coding Mode to MPEG-2 (if it isn’t already)
Set Standard to PAL (or NTSC if that is what you want)
Set Aspect to 16:9 (not any of the other options)
Now save the file.
Click on VTS Menu 1 en (English) and repeat as above.
Click on VTS Menu 2 and repeat as above.
You have now permanently ‘fixed’ the entire contents of the TS folder (the disk image) in 16:9 aspect. Close myDVDedit – you won’t need it again until the next project!
If you have Toast 7 Titanium, open it. ‘Select DVD-Video from VIDEO_TS’. Choose Select from the main Toast window and select your projectname-TS Files folder. You are now ready to burn! You can set the burn speed (2x recommended) before the burn commences. Allow Toast to verify the burn before you eject the DVD-R disk.
If you don’t have Toast 7, then I assume you can burn the projectname-TS Files folder (disk image) via Disk Utility. I say ‘assume’ only because I have never tried it that way.
Either way, you now have a DVD which will play as 16:9 widescreen on any TV set, even the old ones where you can’t ask it to letter-box.

Letterboxing with widescreen source - CS4

I am using Premiere CS4 and I have an issue/problem (?) with the output from Media Encoder. The project is PAL widescreen.
I exported the timeline and selected "Microsoft AVI" codec. The resultant video shows perfectly in Windows Media Player, 16:9 aspect ratio. If I play the same avi file in Real player I get the video 4:3 letterboxed. The same results with any other compression; flv, f4v wmv etc.
Also, when I embed an flv video into Flash (CS4) I still get the 4:3 letterboxed result.
Not sure if this is a Premiere problem or Flash problem.
Any help appreciated.
Steve
Note: The original footage was shot on a Sony TRV-950 camcorder in 16:9 mode. Not sure if the black bands top and bottom were recorded by the camcorder and Premiere (and Windows Medi Player) recognises this and cuts them off. Whilst Flash doesn't.

The video that Flash sees is 4:3 format. The top and bottom bars are part of the footage as far as Flash is concerned. I have tried every permutation of dimensions within Flash but no luck. The problem surely resides in what Premeire exports, it's just that some programs (Window Media Player, Premiere Pro and DVD Encore) seem to be able to display it correctly.
The way that I understand how the TRV-950 works in widescreen mode is that it doesn't use the full height of the sensor, so it crops in-camera to give a 16:9 format.
Steve

HD 16:9 to SD DVD for viewing on widescreen SD TV

I know this has probably been discussed many times here before but I couldn't find anything with a search. I want to take my 16:9 HD movie and make a SD DVD which will auto zoom to fill a SD Widescreen TV.
Is there any way this can be done? Do I have to make do with letterboxing, which is not ideal when the client has a 28inch Widescreen SD TV, the movie on screen looks so small because of the black bands top & bottom.
One other question, can someone explain what anamorphic 16:9 is?
Many thanks
Mark

Hi, if you are using final cut pro you can take the HD-movie and place it in a 4:3 dv sequence. There you can drag it to the right size. After that you highlight the sequence in the browser and export it using compressor. Anamorphic 16:9 is a 4:3 file with rectangular pixels, when the pixels turns the picture becomes wider.

Letterboxing an widescreen format

I turned on letterboxing in imovie. I am editing and burning widescreen/hdv video. I have automatic DV pillarboxing and letterboxing on, but it doesn't put the black bars on the top and bottom when playing on a 4:3 tv. I thought it would do that? instead, it looks stretched.
Is this correct or can I get it to play right on a normal TV?

Hello Kingstone,
iDVD doesn't set the IFO file contained in your DVD to display the video as widescreen on a 4:3 TV. You should be able to solve the problem by changing the settings of your dvd player.
if you want to have the DVD display as letterboxed widescreen automatically you can create a disc image in iDVD and then re-author it with myDVDedit.
http://www.mydvdedit.com
hope this helps
mish

16:9 footage being letterboxed on widescreen tv. Why?

Footage shot in 16x9.
Edited in fcp in a 16x9 sequence setting.
Exported the movie and put in to compressor.
Encoded at 90min, best, 16x9.
Put in to dvdsp and menu and video is 16x9 letterbox, not pan/scan or anything else.
Video plays on 4:3 tv with letterbox.
Video plays on widescreen tv (two different tv's) with letterbox.
This just isn't right, but I can't figure it out. Thank you in advance

You can try a reinstall of the software (make sure to remove the receipts) and also you can try a new user first.
1.) Which players were you trying this on and did Apple DVD Player change to 16:9?
2.) If the DVD SP Pro screen switched to 16:9 then it is working properly and could be the player you are trying. Sounds like it did not switch to 16:9 when you opened it in Apple DVD Player?
3.) Also when did you set 16:9 Letterbox on the track itself and not as a general default?
Could be wrong, but do not recall this issue coming up before if the settings in Final Cut, the encodes and DVD SP were correct (people have had improper settings before.) It is computer software and things can get bugs, but it is worth looking. The project open up from the build file DID NOT open properly in Apple DVD Player? - which is why yu said you had drop downs?
If you can say exactly the workflow, from original source footage, settings in Final Cut, the exact version of DVD SP, your OS it may show where it is falling apart, other than a general issue with DVD SP (since it seems not 16:9 ever worked properly for you?)
1.) Running OS 10.4.11 on a PowerBook G4 733 (yes?) It could be the computer maybe out of spec for the version of DVD SP....
2.) Running Final Cut Suite/Studio version with Final Cut xxx (???) on the system
3.) The original material is x capture on a x camera as x type of footage
4.) Captured (how)
5.) Edited in a Final Cut sequence with the following settings:
6.) Exported from Final Cut as self contained/reference movie at what settings version
7.) Ran through Compressor and bitVice with the following settings
8.) Bought into DVD SP (which exact version)
9. Set the track itself to 16:9 Letterbox?
10.) Built project and it did or did not open in 16:9 prior to burning.
11.) If it played back properly at 16:9, then burned to what brand DVD
12.) Tried it on Brand and models of DVD Players and television, with proper settings on both TV and DVD Player (check settings)
Some of the things, like brand of media, probably would not affect this issue.
Have you tried a 16:9 project in iDVD with a small portion of the footage that is exported from Final Cut Pro and does that work properly? (You can make a disc image in iDVD and mount with disk utility and play in Apple DVD Player?)

Dvd not playing in widescreen

hey all, once i make a dvd in idvd, it plays in widescreen on my mac, but not on my tv..im guessing its my dvd player which is a couple of years old..am i right? thanks
aaron

hello aaron,
what john beatty says is absolutely true, but there is another thing that you might want to consider, especially if you want to give a dvd to somebody and you want it to play right the first time.
the IFO file on the dvd tells the dvd player how to play the dvd and of course working with iDVD you don't have any options here but you can do the following:
1. make a disc image of your dvd (recommended procedure anyway)
2. copy the video_ts folder from the disc image on your hard drive
3. make sure you set permissions for this folder to read & write and "apply to all enclosed items"
4. tweak the IFO file with myDVDedit to the correct settings - usually 16:9 & auto letterbox.
5. save and then make absolutely sure you set the permissions for the video_ts folder back to read only and "apply to all enclosed items"
6. burn the folder to dvd with toast using "DVD from Video_TS folder"
note: when setting permissions OSX tells you to be careful because "you will not be able to change these settings". don't worry about that, you can change back and forth.
the tweaking part sounds like a complicated poweruser thing but it's actually not - myDVDedit makes it dead easy. this software is the single most powerful tool for all dvd creators: it gives you complete control over your output and even more important ... its FREEWARE!
check it out at http://www.mydvdedit.com/
oh yeah, they don't pay me to write this - i just tried it, and...wow... amazing.......geez!
viva la mela

Letterbox vs Widescreen

Hey all,
Can somebody explain the difference between letterbox and true widescreen?
It is my understanding that standard NTSC images, in full screen 4:3, are 720x480.
What are the dimensions of a widescreen 16:9 video?
What are the dimensions of a letterbox video?
Any light you can shed on this will be most helpful.
Thanks,
Dan

letterbox just has a black mask at the top and bottom, so it's still 720x480
widescreen is anamorphic which "stretches" the image horizontally, the idea is to use those pixels at the top and bottom which would be masked. So it, strangely enough is 720x480 too, but it uses more pixels for a higher resolution image. but if you look at it without the anamorphic flag, it's "squished".
Google "anamorphic video"

TM2 unable to restore Windows 7 after Windows 8 Release Preview - have restore DVDs, still fails.

Hello! I've pretty much run out of idea's on how to troubleshoot this so I'll do a summary of what I changed with the machine and then troubleshooting details further on. The particular hp touchsmart notebook I have is a TM2 1079cl, Product Number: WA812UA#ABA. I've only had it for the length of 2012, I purchased it used from another person about 1 year ago now specifically to toy with Windows 8 before it's release. As far as the hardwares actual age I can tell from the warrenty information that it was manufactured in late 2009, it states the warranty period was from January 2010 to Jan 2011.
Alright, so my history with the OS changes goes:
-> Purchased this TM2 in early 2012, ran the recovery partition to wipe it clean of the previous owners use and it ran through installation perfectly fine, then on a clean Windows 7 as if it were new. I'd also made use of a bootable Acronis True Image 2010 disk to make a hard disk image of the three other partitions for recovery (though I did not include the freshly installed windows 7 partition, figured it wouldn't matter if recovery could do it's thing right?)
-> Some days later I loaded the second of the three preview releases for Windows 8 onto it (Customer Preview build I believe).   All worked fine and it dual booted between the two without issue, afaik the only real changes it made amounted to converting the primary partition Windows 7 was installed on to an extended partition and splitting the existing Windows 7 partition equally 50/50 inside that extended partition. It had also overriden the boot manager / bootloader that was there before but again not surprised.
-> When Release Preview build came out over summer I did an update from inside windows 8 and all seemed fine still. The change between the two preview builds did develop an issue where I couldn't shut windows 8 down without a handful of error boxes poping up but I'm pretty sure that was unrelated.
-> More recently about thanksgiving time I decided to give the laptop to a family member with a archiac desktop that's got issues and general old factor that makes it not worth updating.   This person is pretty adverse to change so that whole "Win8-vs-what people are used to" thing comes into play.   I decided to wipe the TM2 clean back to the OS it shipped with.    Here's where I'm now stuck:
=> Before doing anything I made another True Image of the HDD as a just incase, glad I did.
=> Tried F11 to load the recovery partition only to find that because of the bootloader being tampered with by Windows 8 it doesn't actually go to the HP recovery partition anymore despite still being on the hard drive.
=> Grabbed the hard disk image from the beginning of the year with the recovery partition on it before windows 8 touched the machine, wiped the hdd completely clean, restored the disk image.   I could now get into HP recovery fine but....
=> I got a dialog error right off the bat saying that the recovery partition could not install and instructing me to insert disc 1 of the recovery software. Well I never made the dvd's myself with the one-time use burning feature when it worked so that's out and I had not bought the discs from HP's support site.   At this point I'm puzzled though why the recovery partition can't install despite the computer loading up into recovery just fine. For example command prompt in the Windows PE environment is functional and all files seem to be present. Maybe some verification that the recovery partition isn't pirated might have been triggered by hard disk imaging, i'm really not sure?
=> I then made used of the HDD image I'd just created before trying this and restored the other copy of the drive (Win8 tampered bootloader, Win8 release preview, win7, the inaccessible recovery partition and all).   Windows 7 and 8-RP could still boot.   Googled around a bit about the recovery partition key (F11) getting messed up by Windows 8 and came to find I only needed to set recovery as the "Active" partition to get it to start. Sure enough that got it to start but I'm running into the same issue where the actual recovery partition loads up but now refuses to begin the restore process without HP dvd's. Since I know for certain this worked months ago I guess once again since I ended up restoring that version of the recovery partition it may have also declared itself tampered with... great.
=> Contemplated what to do for a bit and then finally just ordered the DVD's from HP in December, I specifically got the recovery DVD's for my model and they did come from HP directly, not second hand from ebay or another person. Wasn't really that bad, $16, very reasonable price. Should be set right, legit OEM DVD's to use? Nope....
=> The DVD's came. Two discs for main recovery and a third for applications and drivers.   Boot off disc one and it states it's formatting the drive how it wants (good, i'm liking this so far), copies all of the contents of the three discs to the hdd and begins it's reboot and install cycle.    Reboots a handful of times, you can tell it gets well past copying the contents of any of the discs and into installing windows. You see the Windows 7 boot logo a few times and even the standard "preparing your things" background that's similar to the Windows 7 login screen. The screen definitely gets as far as installing the proper graphics driver (and others I assume at that time) as the resolution changes to native for the TM2's LCD near the end.
=> Suddenly on the 3rd or 4th (I think) reboot of installing windows it starts for a moment then says shutting down, it reboots and it's back in the windows PE environment of recovery setup again (this time coming from the hard drive, not the DVDs) and says it's failed to restore and offers to start everything over from the very beginning.
That's where I'm stuck. The Recovery Partition died on me post-Windows 8 and the offical HP recovery DVD's are failing me (and oddly they're failing me seemingly in the very last steps of windows 7 restore, well after the DVD's themselves are no longer being read from).
>> Question 1: Does the HP recovery partition "self destruct" if it gets imaged by hard drive imaging software and restored? I can confirm mine worked fine once and then dead after going through Acronis True Image. Another possibility is maybe there's some ID's or tattooing of the hard drive or specific partitions that was lost when Windows 8 put it's newer bootloader into the machine or lost from Acronis? This is still the oem hdd that came with the computer, it has not been switched out.
>> Question 2: Are there any known problems with the official Windows 7 recovery DVD's for a late 2009 TM2 1079cl? I'm also aware of the Cyberlink recovery software patch / pre-install disc and tried this with results that were no different to without it. That said my machine does have the Cyberlink version of the recovery software, I read there's something like 3 different companies software for recovery depending on time period the laptop was made and sold.
Reference: [ http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&softwareitem=pv-80183-1 ]
>> Question 3: Plainly put, what now? Anything else to try or do I need to go find an RTM windows 7 disc and scrounge all the driver zips together? (Very much hoping to avoid that, I'm actually pretty curious to really understand what happened here and while that'll work it would answer nothing. hehe).
Maybe related things as well: Some searches led me to believe having the WLAN switch off at the start of recovery causes driver installation to flip out (and indeed win7 seems to drop dead during the last steps of driver install) however it's not possible it would seem to turn the WLAN card "on" before this point. Switch won't bring it to enabled state anyways.   As I mentioned above the Cyberlink recovery software patch has no effect on things.   No parts have ever been changed in this machine, original hdd, wlan card, ram modules, ect.   I doubt the motherboard bios / firmware has ever been updated, machine states it's revision F.02.
I have at my disposal:
* A lot of time, actually, hense why I really want to know what happened and not use the Win7 RTM disc.
* hdd image of HP recovery before Win8 touched the machine.
* hdd image of recovery after Win8 and a kinda buggy but still bootable Win8-RP.
* The correct HP-made recovery DVD's for my laptop, ordered recently (December 2012).
* Confident enough to toy with partition editing tools should it be a suggestion, never really used much outside of gparted on linux live discs however. Considering the current state of the machine there's nothing to risk losing anymore though.
Sorry for the text wall! I like being very detailed!
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I have the tm2 and have not experience an issue with the recovery and wifi being off, but it certainly is in the realm of possibility. I just had not encountered it on my own tm2, so I subconsciously dismissed it or just didn't think of it as a result.
Thank you for sharing your solution with the community.
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*** HD-DVD template for regular widescreen DVD project?

I have a sample of HDV projects that I have converted to .m2v in DVDSP in order to show on DVD. For now, I have to use a DVDSP template as the background menu. I'm not happy with how the menu looks on my widescreen LCD tv so I'm wondering if it's possible to use one of the HD-DVD menu backgrounds even though the video content of m project is .m2v. Will this make the menu screen look better or will the DVD have problems loading in a regular DVD player?
Thanks in advance!

The HD content is a different physical size and I would think that if DVDSP lets you import it as an asset, then it will certainly re-scale it for you to be a legal SD size.
You might be better doing this yourself and controlling the re-scaling more precisely... otherwise things could get ugly!

16:9 DVD Still Letterboxed on Widescreen TV

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