Quicktime 7.6.6 Pro vs 10.0 for converting VIDEO_TS to DV

Question

First - Please refer to This Thread I started in the iDVD Forum.
Klaus in the link above said I needed two components to Convert DVD to Dv. Can this be done with those components in QuickTime V10 or only in QuickTime 7 Pro. Currently I'm using Snow Leopard with V10, but I could port QuickTime 7.6.6 over from my G4. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

When I convert the VIDEO_TS files with Steamclip to DV, it creates the file as 720x480. Is that the resolution I should be using for converting the >Dv file to m4v for Apple TV.
Yes, this is correct. Both DV and MPEG-2 files a based on a "so-called" rectangular pixel aspect ratio. (720x480 for NTSC or 720x576 for PAL). The same encode matrix (720x480 or 720x576) is used to encode both 640X480 (4:3) or 853x480 (16:9) NTSC and 768x576 (4:3) or 1024x576 PAL display files. The only real difference is between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect files is the difference in PAR value embedded (or missing) within the encoded file and, as mentioned above, is one of the reasons I recommend users nat familiar with PAR encoding use the AIC video codec which is not based on a "broadcast" standard.
If I try to covert the VIDEO_TS files directly to m4v for Apple TV, the resolution is 960x540. Can't seem to get it to any other resolution no matter what settings I select.
The TV preset is based on compatibility issues between the TV1 and the TV2 devices. Basically, TV1 files are limited to 960x540 display limitations at frame rates greater than 25 fps. On the other hand, the TV2 device can play 1280x720 (720p) files at a full 30 fps. So, when creating TV compatible files, the preset opts to use dimensions compatible with both devices. If you want to 1280x720 files, simply use the preset to set up the preliminary encoding values and then change the dimensions before you actually start the encoding process. As long as you do not re-select the TV preset option, the increased dimensions will be used.
It of course looks slightly stretched out on my HD TV screen.
Actually, 1280x720, 960x540, 720x405, 640x360, 480x270, and 320x180 are common file dimensions all having the same aspect ratio of 16:9 (1.78:1) and should look the same, "relatively" speaking, assuming the source file aspect was 16:9.