Widescreen on 4:3 TV

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Widescreen on 4:3 TV

I'm working on a DVD project in widescreen 16:9 format. My goal is to burn it on a DVD so that when I play it on my 4:3 TV, it will play in widescreen with the black bars on top and bottom.

I am editing the video in Final Cut Pro with a frame size of 1440x810. I have Anamorphic 16:9 turned off and when I export the video as a Quicktime Movie, it opens in widescren in Quicktime.

In iDVD, I want to make it so the DVD menu and the video I have edited plays in widescreen on my 4:3 TV. I have tried using Standard and Widescreen when creating a new project and both of them do not retain the widescreen format.

Is there anyway to make it so there is the black bars above and below the picture on my 4:3 TV while retaining all video content?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Posted on Aug 8, 2008 2:19 PM

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Answer 1

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Aug 8, 2008 2:27 PM in response to dragonaro8

Does this help?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7303938&#7303938

if not just come on back.

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Answer 2

dragonaro8 Author

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Aug 8, 2008 2:35 PM in response to SDMacuser

Sorry, but that wasn't any help. I have a normal DVD player and, depending on which version of a movie I buy, it will play in either widescreen or full screen on my 4:3 TV.

Is there anything else I can try that may help?

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Answer 3

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Aug 8, 2008 2:58 PM in response to dragonaro8

Try looking on this forum and Google for an OS X app that forces the WS flag to be read on most burned dvd's.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1257883&tstart=0

Message was edited by: SDMacuser

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Answer 4

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Aug 8, 2008 2:57 PM in response to dragonaro8

have a normal DVD player and, depending on which version of a movie I buy, it will play in either widescreen or full screen on my 4:3 TV.

That's because most (but not all) commercial DVDs have the 'force letterbox display' flag set so that the default setting of the 'what to do when a 16:9 disc is inserted' is ignored. Many/most set top DVD players have the default setting set to 'pan and scan' whereby the vertical dimension is filled and the edges of the image are cut off.

Go into your DVD player set up screen and change the setting to 'letterbox'.

There is a way to use MyDVDEdit ( http://www.mydvdedit.com/ ) on a disk image created by iDVD to change the setting, but most of us find it easiest to change the DVD player once than to change each DVD we make.

F Shippey

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Answer 5

dragonaro8 Author

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Aug 8, 2008 3:04 PM in response to F Shippey

I understand what you are telling me and it is one way to solve the problem, but I'm planning on giving out 10 copies or so to my family. When I buy a DVD from the store that says Widescreen Edition, it plays in widescreen automatically on my 4:3 TV. My goal is to make this DVD play in widescreen automatically on all DVD players it is played on, including all of my family members' DVD players.

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Answer 6

dragonaro8 Author

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Aug 8, 2008 3:05 PM in response to dragonaro8

Ah, sorry, I didn't read that last part of your last post. I'll try out that program and let you know how it goes. Thanks a bunch!

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Answer 7

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Aug 8, 2008 3:23 PM in response to dragonaro8

Then look here: http://www.mydvdedit.com/viewtutorial.php?t=27e&pg=forum

F Shippey

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Answer 8

dragonaro8 Author

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Aug 9, 2008 4:47 PM in response to F Shippey

Okay, I tried using myDVDEdit to solve the problem, but it didn't work. I followed the directions properly, but noticed a discrepancy:

In step two, it says "Next, display the VTS 1 parameters by clicking on the vertical IFO tab."

However, there is no IFO tab. Instead there is a tab that says VTS 1. Also, at the place where you see VTS 1 Parameters highlighted, in my window it only says Parameters and has a Cells button next to it.

Since all of the screenshots before, during, and after this step were the same, aside from the details I just state, I decided to follow along the tutorial. I changed the setting to 16:9 auto Letterbox and saved the project. When I burned it to a DVD, however, I still did not have the black bars above and below my video.

Do I have a different version of myDVDEdit? If so, then it should still work the same way, right?

Any other ideas out there?

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Answer 9

Aug 11, 2008 5:36 AM in response to dragonaro8

hey there dragono8,
why did you turn off the Anamorphic option, if you're exporting an Anamorphic(16:9) movie? see page 434 in FCS2 manual, Vol. 4. if you use the "Default" i think the movie will export "as is", w/ aspect ratio unchanged. try exporting QT movie as is, maintaining aspect ratio(anamorphic 16:9), then drop this QT movie into an iDVD widescreen project. creating a 16:9 project in iDVD usually sets the widescreen flag for your set-top DVD player. i've made several WS DVDs w/ iDVD & they play fullscreen on my HDTVs, as letterbox on my 4:3 TV.

good luck.

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Answer 10

Serena71

Level 1

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Sep 21, 2008 7:09 PM in response to dragonaro8

Did you ever find a resolution to the problem? I'm having the same issue. When I created widescreen in iDVD06 it gave me widescreen no matter the tv size. Now that I'm in iDVD08, I've hit a wall. Any new ideas?

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