I don't WANT 4:3 stretched to 16:9

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I don't WANT 4:3 stretched to 16:9

It seems I have the opposite issue from the many posts I just scanned. I am using Apple TV to show SD 4:3 videos on a 1080p 16:9 HDTV. ALL videos appear stretched on my widescreen TV AND on other widescreen monitors I've hooked up, which I find aggravating since I want to always view videos in their original aspect ratio. I converted the videos (using MPEG Streamclip) to four different presets designated as Apple TV settings, plus a forced resolution. FYI, I have my HDTV set to NOT automatically stretch 4:3 content and SD DVD videos play just fine, as well as satellite programming all in correct aspect ratio. I'm the kind of person that others usually ask to solve their audio/video problems and I've tried all the settings I can find, to no avail.

A1218, Mac OS X (10.5.5), Sharp Aquos 1080p HDTV

Posted on Oct 28, 2008 4:23 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 28, 2008 4:37 PM in response to WFMC Video

Welcome to the  Discussion Forums

What settings have you used in mpegstreamclip, what is the source of your video, what resolution are they set to display at ( See This)

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Answer 2

Alley_Cat

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Oct 28, 2008 4:53 PM in response to WFMC Video

4:3 stuff displays fine for me, and I would hate it distorted too.

My first guess would have been your TV setting but you're confident that's not the case, so presumably it's one of your conversion settings.

AC

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Answer 3

WFMC Video Author

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Oct 29, 2008 4:47 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I have used a few different source videos so far, both purchased and originally produced. The latest source video was produced in Final Cut Pro with standard DV NTSC settings. (I have also produced DV NTSC Anamorphic videos with FCP and understand the difference.) In MPEG Streamclip, the settings I used were 'Export to Other Formats.../Apple TV/Apple TV 4:3 SD' and also 'Apple TV 960x540 HD' and manual 960x720.

Message was edited by: WFMC Video

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Answer 4

WFMC Video Author

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Oct 29, 2008 4:46 PM in response to Alley_Cat

Thanks, but we have two identical HDTV's that I use various equipment with - different DVD decks, different computers, etc. For instance, even when the two TV's are set to identical settings, videos from some DVD decks are displayed correctly and some are not. Maybe some day we won't have so many aspect ratios and device settings to deal with......

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Answer 5

Alley_Cat

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20,560 points

Oct 29, 2008 4:59 PM in response to WFMC Video

The AppleTV 960x540 HD would be a 16:9 export setting, and I guess the 960x720 would be seen as 16:9 too.

I've not exported from MPEGStreamclip recently, and it's possible there's been a change in that.

For SD (bearing in mind I'm in PAL territory), video tends to weigh in at about 720x576 source, and I would export this at 768x576 to get a proper 4:3 display.

I can't exactly remember what NTSC SD video comes in as but it may be 720x480 - if so you could either try an export at 640x480, or 720x540 to give 4:3 aspect ratio, either of which should display fine on the AppleTV in theory.

What's the native resolution of your video? (Assuming it's SD, if it's HD the aspect proably isn't 4:3 anyway).

AC

Message was edited by: Alley_Cat

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Answer 6

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,560 points

Oct 29, 2008 5:04 PM in response to Alley_Cat

Probably stating the obvious but when testing try a very short clip 10-30 secs to avoid wasating time encoding if it's wrong.

You might also want to try watching a preview of an old TV Show on AppleTV - something from the 70's would definitely be 4:3 and if it didn't display as such it would point to the TV settings.

What resolution is AppleTV set to btw?

AC

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Answer 7

Oct 30, 2008 2:27 AM in response to WFMC Video

960 x 720 is an obvious issue but you don't really give us enough info about your workflow, could you give us a specific example.

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