16:9 video, but looks stretched vertically

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Level 1

8 points

16:9 video, but looks stretched vertically

I am making a dvd in dvdstudio pro. My movie clips are edited in iMovie (16:9) and my menus are made in Photoshop with a preset (16:9).
The problem is, when i burn the dvd and put it into my dvd player that is hooked up to my tv, the picture fills up the whole screen and the menus and video looks stretched vertically. It doesn't look like 16:9. And there are no black horizontal "free areas" either as there usually is when it is 16:9. I have chosen my menus and video to be 16:9 in dvd studio pro. When i press simulate though, it first appears in 4:3, and when i change it to 16:9 it looks like it should.
What am i doing wrong? I want it to look better on my tv!

Macbook 2.2GHz Late november, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 2GB

Posted on Mar 15, 2009 3:47 AM

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Answer 1

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 15, 2009 6:44 AM in response to Drew13

I've tried both on a 4:3 TV and a widescreen TV, both CRT types.
It's the same dvd-player though.
The dvd-player works fine with 16:9 letterboxing with ordinary hollywood movies on dvd discs though.
Can't find the problem.

It looks so much better when the picture is letterboxed... so I need to fix this..

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Answer 2

Drew13

Level 6

12,387 points

Mar 15, 2009 8:59 AM in response to rabbarba

Sounds like something in the settings. To make sure we are on the same page

If a menu or track is set to 16:9 Letterbox (not Letterbox w/Pan or Scan) then on a 4:3 TV it should be letterboxed (assuming the DVD Player or Television settings have not been changed somehow) and on a 16:9 it will be full screen (not letterboxed)

When you play Hollywood movies do you see letterboxing on both a 16:9 and 4:3 television? If you are seeing it on the 16:9 also that is probably a bit different aspect ratio used on film.

When you build the DVD to your hard drive and open it in Apple DVD Player, what happens? Does it look square or rectangle? (It should go to rectangle and if the prior movie is 4:3 or you go from 4:3 to 16:9 in the same DVD you will see it change size.)

I would double check each setting for the tracks and menus one by one to make sure then check the settings on both the DVD Player and Televisions. On the tellevision make sure the aspect is 16:9 not 4:3 or any zoom.

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Answer 3

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 15, 2009 10:52 AM in response to Drew13

I have set all tracks and menus to 16:9 letterbox in the inspector.

When I play hollywood movies I see letterboxing on both a widescreen tv and a 4:3 tv.

When I built my DVD to my harddrive and opened it in Apples DVD player, it looks rectangle, but the height of the rectangle seemed to be too high. I have a 22" widescreen tft-monitor and the black horizontal stripes from the letterboxing are only about an inch tall in fullscreen. If i play a hollywood movie, the "black stripes" are much bigger, about twice as big. This is what I want my movie to look like.

I have checked the dvd-player and TVs settings but there seemed to be nothing wrong. I mean, the hollywood movies look great. Why doesn't mine?
How do I get my DVD to have these black stripes from the letterboxing effect?

Heres a picture on my 22" widescreen.
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3345/bild1k.png

And on my TV.
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/540/img3558.jpg

Sorry for the horrible quality

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Answer 4

Drew13

Level 6

12,387 points

Mar 15, 2009 12:12 PM in response to rabbarba

On your 22" it looks like you are playing back full screen on the monitor? Set the playback to normal size and the image should fill the entire viewer, full screen will cause bars due to the ratio.

The TV is definately off there, it should look more like your first image on a 4:3 Screen.

Anyway download this

http://www.dvdstepbystep.com/THEBUILD.dmg

It is a real pretty DVD Project (well okay real ugly) with a 4:3 menu and a 4:3 track and 16:9 track. Open Apple DVD Player and open the VIDEO_TS folder. Set the Apple DVD Player to normal size. When going to the 16:9 track the viewer should expand then shrink back at the menu and nothing should change on the 4:3 track (same as menu size.) If your project does this also the issue is probably not there and somewhere in the settings.

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Answer 5

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 16, 2009 1:44 AM in response to Drew13

It's playing in fullscreen on my 22"!

I see, the viewer gets wider when i press the 16:9 track.
And it goes back to the more square 4:3 look in the menu.

My build is also as wide as the project you linked to me (in 16:9)

So I guess there's nothing wrong after all.
But I don't see why it doesn't letterbox on my DVD-player which is connected to the 4:3 tv, automatically.

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Answer 6

Drew13

Level 6

12,387 points

Mar 16, 2009 5:44 AM in response to rabbarba

rabbarba wrote:

But I don't see why it doesn't letterbox on my DVD-player which is connected to the 4:3 tv, automatically.

Is there a setting in the DVD Player or Television that says something like "Zoom" or "Zoom and Pan"during playback?

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Answer 7

Olse

Level 2

210 points

Mar 22, 2009 3:24 PM in response to rabbarba

You need to enter the setup menu in the DVD set-top player and tell it what kind of tv it's connected to (4:3/16:9). You must also make sure that the menu(s) in DVDSP is tagged as 16:9 (in addition to the tracks(s))

Message was edited by: Olse

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Answer 8

Olse

Level 2

210 points

Mar 23, 2009 2:54 AM in response to rabbarba

rabbarba wrote:
There is no such option on the DVD-player. I have tried on another DVD-player too, but it was the exact same problem.

All DVD players have a setup menu, and all DVD players have the option to set wether it is connected to a 4:3 set or a 16:9 set. Look again. What kind of player is this (make/model)?

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Answer 9

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2009 8:30 AM in response to Olse

I found it now, changed the setting and it does letterbox, so problem solved. Quite annoying that it doesn't letterbox automatically, since hollywood movies do. (I know that they have a different aspect ratio)

Thanks for the help!

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Answer 10

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 15, 2009 4:03 AM in response to rabbarba

Forgot to mention, I have chosen 16:9 Letterbox in the menus and the videos..

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Answer 11

Drew13

Level 6

12,387 points

Mar 15, 2009 6:30 AM in response to rabbarba

Looks like you made the assests and settings right (16:9) and the settings on your TV could be off? Is it a 16:9 tv or 4:3?

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Answer 12

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 16, 2009 2:20 PM in response to Drew13

Yes, and I tried pressing it but it only zoomed closer. The outermost setting is the one in the picture I attached.

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Answer 13

Drew13

Level 6

12,387 points

Mar 16, 2009 2:29 PM in response to rabbarba

Is there a way to turn Zoom off and just set to Letterbox?

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Answer 14

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 16, 2009 3:08 PM in response to Drew13

You mean in the dvd-player? No unfortunately not.
But is it really the dvd-players settings that's my problem? Since I tried on another dvd-player and it had the exact same problem...?

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Answer 15

rabbarba Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 17, 2009 12:29 PM in response to rabbarba

Anybody else got input? I really need to solve this, it's a school project.

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