Aspect ratio on widescreen tv - letterboxed

This has been brought up before, and there always seems to be the same answer…'its a setting on the tv/dvd to correct to play 16:9'…I have an SD widescreen anamorphic video that displays on tv as letterboxed and stretched, but yet the main menu of the dvd from DVDSP4 displays perfectly. There is no setting adjustment for display on the DVD. The display setting on the tv is set to 16:9. I'm baffled here. How can the main menu display right but the vid asset is stretched and letterboxed? I worked in FCP6 and exported to QT movie….from there I dumped it into DVDSP4 and created what I thought was a standard 16:9 dvd. Thoughts,…ideas…suggestions?

You also have to mind the display setting on the DVD player appliance.
At home I have an Insignia (Best Buy) DVD player and a Playstation 2. Both of these appliances were originally hooked up to 4:3 TVs, and now they're hooked up to 16:9 TVs. Just to make matters more fun, the Playstation 2 has a setting that applies to games and a setting that applies to DVDs. On the Insignia player, using the SETUP button on the DVD player's remote control, I set the display to 16:9. If I watch a 4:3 DVD on it (such as an old Bresson movie) I just change the TV's display setting (the TV's Dynex, also from Best Buy) and I haven't touched the DVD player's settings in years. Some Hollywood DVDs from 2009 and earlier have the previews at 4:3 and the main movie at 16:9, a mild nuisance.
In short, my advice to you is to make sure that both the TV and the DVD player are on the same page, so to speak, on aspect ratio. If that doesn't work, you might be dealing with a holdover glitch that also affects Windows Media Player; let us know the brand of your TV and DVD player.

Similar Messages

So annoying: Import and Capture FORCING aspect ratio into widescreen

I filmed some stuff in 'cinema' mode on my camera, which creates the widescreen 'effect' in the 4:3 aspect ratio by simply making those black bars. But the video REALLY IS 4:3. Final Cut Pro recognizes that. However, iMovie keeps forcing it into widescreen ratio without cropping it. The result: terribly squashed people who look like oompa loompas and one VERY ANNOYED PERSON. I hate this. Even though the project is 4:3, it keeps doing that. I don't know what to do--it happens with both import from a separate file (captured via Final Cut Pro) and when it is captured in iMovie itself.
ANY HELP???

Check it out: www.mamluftcodance.com/video/071128t41rehearsal-a.mov. The beginning looks normal, the way it should (4:3 with letterboxing creating a widescreen 'effect').
Was actually seeking a sample of your source file to see if I could find a workaround in iMovie '08 as I was unsure whether or not I could simulate your original problem on my own. However, since you provided an output sample, as an intellectual exercice, I manipulated the playback of your file by segmenting the file, cropping the viewing area (which unfortunately included part of your title), re-scaling one segment to match the other (FYI: neither is 16:9 widescreen), and offsetting one to match the other's viewing area. As I was in a hurry, I didn't go back and correct my initial approximations, so some "elements" are still "rough." My guess is that your file was both shot in a "letterbox" mode and flagged as anamorphic -- thus, in effect, appying the "anamorphic stretch" to the already letterboxed content.
Playback Manipulated Version

Can I recover aspect ratio distortion (widescreen picture narrowed)?

I've been given a home-made DVD, shot at 16:9 but processed to 4:3. Unknown Windows program - sorry! Everyone is very tall & thin - even car wheels. I want to use iMovie to fix aspect ratio, crop some rubbish & add titles & soundtrack.
Is there any way to stretch the picture to the correct aspect ratio? Wide or standard, I'm not bothered. I extracted the DVD using Open Shiiva, saved as mpeg4, imported into iMovie, but can't find any way to stretch the picture.
I'm OK with iMovie HD, learning '08, used QT Pro a bit. What's the best way forward with this?

I think that's the first time I've been called amazing... apart from by my girlfriend... occasionally... very occasionally...

Can you set the aspect ratio to widescreen in photoshop elements 10?

I can set my camera to 16:9 for taking pictures that I want to develop into a video using photoshop elements 10.. But I can not figure out how to set Photoshop Elements 10 to 16:9 ratio. Is that possible?

Try this add-on so you can schedule the sending of multiple emails:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/send-later-3/
http://chrisramsden.vfast.co.uk/3_How_to_install_Add-ons_in_Thunderbird.html
There's another add-on that might work in current TB versions:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/blunderdelay/

Changing the Aspect Ratio from Widescreen (16.9) to iphone (3:2)

Hi, I am new to IMOVIE and Macs in general , but needed to create screencasts for work. That means I take a screenshot video of a website, using Screenflick, and I import that into IMovie. I have successfully done this and exported the edited final versions to Quickfile and thought I was finished. Here is the punch: I have made these in 16:9 and have tried to put them in 3:2, but so far no success. When I do this, although the iphone shows it's in 3:2, there is no visual difference between the old 16:9 and the new 3:2.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for all your advice!!!
Cheers, Randy

I'm not sure why you want 3:2 when the iPhone tech specs say the screen is 640x480 which is 4:3.
Are you trying to crop you 16:9 content down to 3:2 (or 4:3)?
If so, perhaps you should look at something like MPEG Streamclip ( http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html )

Can I change the aspect ratio of existing projects?

Over the past few years, I created a number of iDVD projects of special occasions. I guess the default aspect ration in the older versions of iDVD was 4:3. I now have a widescreen TV and would like to view these videos in 16:9 mode. The TV can change aspect ratios but it distorts the video. Is there a relatively easy was to redo IDVD projects to change the aspect ratio to widescreen?

The TV can change aspect ratios but it distorts the video. Is there a relatively easy was to redo IDVD projects to change the aspect ratio to widescreen?
Depends on your goals here. You can duplicate what your widescreen TV and do fairly easily but you would still end up with screen distortion if you use the entire 4:3 display area. It is is also reasonably easy to crop your 4:3 aspect to a 16:9 area within the 4:3 viewing area and burn this to a DVD. While this would prevent distortion, part of your viewing area would be lost and the result would be the same as using the the "Zoom" display on your widescreen TV. A third option might be to select a 16:9 viewing area within the original 4:3 display area. Unfortunately, this would would normally require an advanced editing application or cropping and scaling either as a whole or in selected segments. In either case it requires a much greater effort on the part of the user.
In short, actually changing an aspect ratio from is original aspect is either easy but causes distortion or it is difficult and time consuming. Further, in either case you are merely duplicating what your TV can already do. If you don't want distortion, use 16:9 "sourced" (either original or cropped) content. If you want to reduce the distortion (and your particular TV has the option), use the "Justify" viewing option which applies little or no distortion at the center of the viewing area and most distorion towards the left-right edges of the screen. Otherwise learn to live with the distortion and decide whether you prefer the distortion being applied to the DVD or just on the viewing screen.

Aspect ratio and project presets problem

I am importing a clip that has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a size of 720x480. When I open it using VLC media player, it plays fine without any black bars and with the correct ratio. When I open the file in Windows Movie Maker it opens fine as well. But when I open it with Elements, large black bars are imposed along the left and right, and smaller ones along the top and bottom. I have picked a project that should have the same video size and aspect ratio (DV widescreen 48Hz), so I don't understand why it is imposing these bars. I have tried different widescreen project settings, but I get the same result. What am I doing wrong?

Great news. With some footage, PrE can miss the flags. Usually, it is the recording device taking a few liberties with those flags, but sometimes it seems that PrE just misses them. Players, and other programs, seem to see them OK. In those cases, Interpret Footage will force PrE (or PrPro) to treat that footage, as it should be.
Good luck, and thanks for reporting your success!
Hunt

Scaling | Zoom (i.e. "maintain aspect ratio, scale to fill and crop to remove outside boundary"

Hi,
I have a mismatch on the aspect ratio of my source and visual display region. (And please just assume that I can not conform the visual display region to match the source's aspect ratio.)
Flash's default gives me ""scale to fit" which maintains my source's aspect ratio but results in "letterboxing" black space.
Does OSMF (or Flash) have a configurable property that will maintain aspect ratio, scale to fill and crop to remove outside boundary? Or do I just have to code my own solution (e.g. using masking)?
I have a diagram here:
http://flexflashvideo.com/codesamples/2010/zoom_crop.png
Thanks,
g

Have you tried with ScaleMode in OSMF?
     var layout:LayoutMetadata = new LayoutMetadata();
        video.addMetadata(LayoutMetadata.LAYOUT_NAMESPACE, layout);
   layout.scaleMode = ScaleMode.ZOOM;
Ryan

What are the ideal specs for a DigiBeta master tape when authoring a "widescreen anamorphic" 16:9 SD DVD (original aspect ratio is 14:9)?

I just received the masters for a new SD DVD. I would like to author a "widescreen anamorphic" SD DVD horizontally squeezed widescreen image stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. (On 4:3 displays, mattes should preserve the original aspect ratio. On 16:9 displays the image will fill the screen at the highest possible resolution.)
Below I've listed the specs of the Digi Beta master tapes the producers have sent to me for digitizing. I'd like to know this: What are the ideal specs for a DigiBeta master tape when authoring a widescreen anamorphic SD DVD, using material with an original aspect ratio of 14:9?
I've also listed my guesses below. Please let me know if my guesses are right. If not, please suggest alternatives (and if possible explain why.)
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF EXISTING MASTER:
Tape: DigiBeta
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.55 (14:9)
Vid Rate: 29.97 fps
Pixel Aspect: NTSC - CCIR 601
Frame Size: 720 x 480
Anamorphic: Full-Height Anamorphic (16:9 image displayed in letterboxed, non-distored 4:3)
Display Format: 4:3 Letterbox
MY GUESS AT IDEAL TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (for a DigiBeta, that is):
Tape: DigiBeta
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.55 (14:9)
Vid Rate: 29.97 fps
Pixel Aspect: Square
Frame Size: 720 x 540
Anamorphic: YES
Display Format: 16:9 Anamorphic (horizontally squeezed widescreen image)
Please feel free to ask for clarification or further information you need to answer my question.
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
Best, Noetical.
BTW, I can't wait for the day when everything has gone digital and we get digital intermediates instead of tapes to digitize!

Hi Nick...thanks for taking the time to reply to my question.
Nick Holmes wrote:
What you have there is a mess.
NTSC pixels are never square.
NTSC is 720x486, even when it is Anamorphic.
You shouldn't be using an already letterboxed master to make an Anamorphic version. Get the master that was made before the letterboxing stage.
When you make an Anamorphic DVD it should display as 16:9 full screen automatically on widescreen TVs.
The same DVD will automatically letterbox on 4:3 TVs.
Um yeah...duh. That's exactly what I was trying to explain in the preface of my question. I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear...all these things you mention are the reasons I'm putting together a list of the technical specs of the DigiBeta I need so I can have them send that instead of the stupid letterboxed version.
Look, I'm sending this request to some intern at their offices in England, asking for a master with which I can make an Anamorphic DVD. They already sent me this master, which as you and I both agree is an idiotic asset to use for these purposes. As such, I was hoping for advice on a more precise way of requesting the master that I need than asking for "the master that was made before the letterboxing stage." Upon reflection, perhaps I'll just do that. If you or anyone else has a suggestion about something I should add to my request that would improve the odds of them sending the tape I need, please repond. Thank you!
BTW, It's been a long time since anyone has responded to something I've written or said as though I'm an idiot. I remember now that I don't really like it. (Moving along...)

Aspect Ratio of Letterboxed DVX100 Footage

I'm wondering if anyone knows what the exact aspect ratio would be of DVX100 footage with the widescreen matte turned on. In trying to measure it in Final Cut, applying the 1.66:1 and 1.70:1 mattes don't do anything, but the 1.78:1 matte crops off a slight additional amount of any shot. Using Compressor, the 1.75:1 matte also crops off slightly more footage than was originally matted by the letterbox.
If it helps, here are the numbers that Compressor provides:
Using 1.66:1 matte crops the top and bottom to a value of 47. Using a 1.75:1 matte crops the top and bottom to 57 and selecting 'Letterbox Area of Source' crops the top and bottom to 54.

I can't tell you exactly what aspect ratio the DVX100 with the widescreen matte turned on. I can tell you what a 4x3 matted aspect ratio should be. It should be 4x3 1.77777778.
Figuring this out in NTSC broadcasting specs is a little misleading Eg: 4x3 1.33 native equates to 720*486=1.48148148148 or 720*480=1.5 due to non-square pixels. Conversion to square pixels helps. 640*480=1.33333333. for 16x9 640*360=1.77777778.
I wouldn't rely on a correct line count coming out of the camera or out of Final Cut without a profressional grade scope ie: Tektronix.
So, if what you're trying to do if place mattes to match your video I would suggest creating the mattes manually to line up with the existing mattes.

Menu aspect ratio considerations for widescreen DVD

Hello all:
I'm building a DVD with widescreen content. My intent was to build widescreen menus as well, as this would ease the use of my widescreen video for menu backgrounds (no need for panning) however I've noticed that when I create widescreen menus in Encore, they show up letterboxed on a 4:3 TV when my DVD player is set to letterbox widescreen content. At first, this seemed to make sense, however I've since observed that none of my commercial widescreen movies behave this way. Rather, they fill the screen entirely on both my 4:3 TV and my 16:9 TV, regardless of how the DVD player is set to deal with widescreen content. It's almost as if the disc provides different sets of menus for both cases, or that the menu contains directives to force the DVD player to do pan-and-scan in the 4:3 scenario even if the default behavior of the player is to letterbox.
Am I making any sense?
Basically: Is there any way to create widescreen menus and guarantee pan-and-scan on a 4:3 display, or else provide both 4:3 and 16:9 menus and have the player decide which to use? It seems the commercial DVDs must be doing one of these things...
EDIT: Incidentally, one of the popular DVDs I tried was The Matrix: Reloaded.
Cheers,
Aaron

>Basically: Is there any way to create widescreen menus and guarantee pan-and-scan on a 4:3 display...
Not using Encore, no. Encore 16:9 menus will be displayed letterboxed on a 4:3 monitor.
It may be possible to hack it post-authoring, but I'm not sure. Take a look at the tools on videohelp.com. If it is possible, you'll have to design your menus so the buttons are within a 4:3 safe area, and also have to live with the difference in pixel aspect ratios.

Won't preserve aspect ratio letterbox?

Hey,
I have a cannon hd camera that films in 1920x1080 which is a 16:9 aspect ratio if I understand correctly. I'm trying to export this video size to a 640x480 using the quicktime conversion. From what I've read online and in the manual if I check "preserve aspect ratio", "letterbox" it should put two black bars on the top and bottom so that the video itself isn't stretched to fit into the 640x480. However, though I've tried many times, the exported video always comes out stretched. Is something turned off that I don't know about? Is there a problem in the software?
Thanks for the help if you can solve this puzzle.

I'm having the same problem and it's driving me nuts. I have HD footage and I'm trying to save a small sample as a demo. I want to email either a 16:9 clip or a 4:3 letterboxed clip. No matter what dimension I export to, it ends up as 4:3, even when "letterbox" is checked. For example, if I export to 720x480 (4:3), it's squashed. But if I export to 720x480 (16:9), it's squashed AND I have black bars ON THE SIDES! So I'm telling FCE to go from 16:9 to 16:9 and it converts it to 4:3 and then puts black borders on the side? How does this make any sense??
When you say "Place your edited widescreen sequence in a 4:3 sequence" what do you mean? I don't see sequence properties that control the aspect ratio.
Also, what should the compression type be? Like I said, I'm just trying to export a small 30-second demo clip. All of my exports are turning out 40+ MB. If I do a straight Export->Quicktime movie (no conversion) then my 30 second clip is more like 400MB.

Tips for import aspect ratio (4:3 & 16:9 widescreen)

I have spent several weeks importing video footage from various types of DVDs (old, new, PAL, NTSC, 4:3 and 16:9), and have encountered just about every aspect ratio problem known to Mac. Along the way, I have discovered a few things by trial and error, and wanted to share them with any other poor souls out there who are dealing with similar issues.
Note that this does not, as far as I know, apply to camcorder footage.
Please respect all local laws regarding copying of DVDs!
Useful programs:
MacTheRipper (freeware)
Cinematize (you have to pay, but it's downloadable and not expensive) for processing and converting video footage into a format iMovie can understand (.mov files for video and .aiff files for sound)
Amadeus II (freeware) for processing and converting sound files
iMovie HD
iDVD
If your aspect ratio is coming out wrong (stretched or squashed), try the following:
If you want to import just an excerpt, rip the entire DVD with MacTheRipper, then isolate the required excerpt with Cinematize & import into iMovie. This tends to work better than ripping only excerpts with MacTheRipper.
Import into iMovie all elements together (i.e. the sound .aiff, the video video.mov, and the combined file .mov). One or the other will probably be in the correct aspect ratio. This works better than importing just the .mov file by itself. Whatever you dont need can be deleted later.
If you want to make a Widescreen project, do this first (choose DV Widescreen when creating the project). Then create a separate project in DV (not DV Widescreen) format. This option is available only when creating a new project in iMovie. Then import the 4:3 video (all elements together, as above) into the DV project. Lastly, copy the 4:3 video clip ('copy' in th Edit menu), close the new project, open your Widescreen project and paste the clip (see iMovie The Missing Manual (Pogue) page 261 Grabbing Clips From Other Projects). It should appear properly pillarboxed and looking like 4:3!
In iMovie/Preferences/Import, there's an option 'Automatic DV Pillarboxing and Letterboxing' which you might need to fool around with. It may solve some, but not all of your problems!
A tip about Themes in iDVD: They may appear in 4:3 even if your project is 16:9 widescreen. I have an old DVD player which played the DVD I burned with the theme stretched. When I played the DVD on my computer, however, it recognized the different aspect ratios (4:3 for the theme, 16:9 for the video) and played them correctly. I suspect that a modern DVD player would do the same.
Good luck, and happy movie-making!

Connect two camcorders using a 4-pin-to-4-pin FireWire cable. Press Play on one and Record (..in VCR mode..) on the other.
However (..but I haven't tried it, and it's a bit too late tonight to plug two camcorders together; maybe tomorrow..) I'd guess that the 16:9 will be transferred as 16:9 ..I don't know if it'd be possible to force the 2nd camcorder to crop it as 4:3.
However, two other points: Dan reminds us that you can always crop 16:9 to 4:3 just by creating a mask, and Bob Whatsisname? ..Hudson, of course!.. shows how you can unsqueeze squashed 16:9 using QuickTime Pro.

How can i letterbox without changing the aspect ratio

How can i letterbox footage without stretching or compressing the image, so just chopping the top and botton off the footage. Also is there any way to perfectly define the measurements of the letterboxing to fit the -30 aspect ratio i have applied to other clips
Thanks

there are many many ways, a few example s include...
nest the sequence and then use the crop tool, or manually edit the "crop" motion properties, to crop off top and bottom of your edit
use the "Widescreen" filter
build and apply a "mask"
download and use my own letterbox matte generator
http://homepage.mac.com/andymees
the list goes on and on

Letterboxing and Aspect Ratio problem

I'm authoring a feature film DVD. All menus and movies are 16:9
When I play the Simulator in "16:9" everything is fine.
When I play the Simulator in "4:3 Letterbox" my menus are letterboxed as desired, however every movie is for some reason squished into 4:3.
Any ideas?
The Video Asset box in the Inspector tells me all my movies are 720x480 16:9.
All tracks show in the Track Inspector as display mode 16:9 Letterbox.
All Menus show in the Menu Inspector as Aspect Ratio 16:9
Also of note, one of my tracks is used both as a movie and as a motion menu. Although it's the same track, with the simulator in 4:3 it's correctly letterboxed as a menu, yet squished as a movie!
I exported from a 16:9 Anamorphic project in FCP (as a QTmovie set to Anamorphic NTSC DV) and imported straight into DVD Studio Pro. (I've noticed on these forums most people go through Compressor. I didn't. Would that be the cause of my headache?)
The movies display in my QuickTime Player as 16:9 clips with a size of 853x480

The Simulator is very far from accurate. Burn a disc, then pop it into a DVD player.

Aspect ratio on widescreen tv - letterboxed

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