DVD NTSC - Standard v Standard Widescreen?

CubeAce wrote on 12/28/2018, 12:56 PM

This is a guess but some TVs seem to auto adjust screens for some formats and not others. What happens on some of the newer TVs that have different ratio wide screens (1.78 rather than 16.9) when connected to a BluRay or DVD player? Could that then give the correct aspect ratios of such material?

johnebaker wrote on 12/28/2018, 1:37 PM

Hi Terry

When exporting video to DVD or DVD format video with an AR of 4:3 the pixels are square, whereas an AR of 16:9 (widescreen) the pixels are rectangular ~ 1.42:1 - if they were square the image would be 720 x 405 not 720 x 576.

AFAICS the 2 settings are to ensure MEP uses the correct pixel shape in the following scenarios:

Project 4:3 objects 4:3 - export as 16:9 - objects are pillar boxed, pixels are rectangular.
Project 4:3 objects 16:9 - export as 4:3 - objects are letter boxed, pixels are square.
Project 16:9 objects 4:3 - export as 4:3 - objects are full screen rather than being letter boxed, pixels are square

Added: I am referring to the PAL equivalents if the NTSC options.

HTH

John EB

johnebaker wrote on 12/28/2018, 1:47 PM

@CubeAce

. . . . What happens on some of the newer TVs that have different ratio wide screens (1.78 rather than 16.9) when connected to a BluRay or DVD player? Could that then give the correct aspect ratios of such material? . . .

That depends on what the TV is set to do, eg my Sony Bravia can either:

maintain the image ratio automatically pillar or letter boxing the image depending on the ratio
zoom the image automatically cropping a small amount off the sides or top/bottom to ensure the smallest dimension is full height or width

I have mine set to option 1 as this is more preferable for me.

HTH

John EB

terrypin wrote on 12/28/2018, 4:09 PM

Hi John,

Thanks. So am I right that if my project settings were PAL 16:9 I could set the DVD option to either DVD Standard or DVD Standard Widescreen and get identical results?

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

johnebaker wrote on 12/28/2018, 5:14 PM

Hi Terry

. . . . . So am I right that if my project settings were PAL 16:9 I could set the DVD option to either DVD Standard or DVD Standard Widescreen and get identical results . . . .

It would appear so after further testing - it appears that the project settings override whatever you set in the export (MPG) or DVD burn dialog for SD or SD Widescreen.

However if you export as MP4 the AR options are obeyed. 😡

HTH

John EB

CubeAce wrote on 12/28/2018, 5:21 PM

@johnebaker

Thanks, John.

Is that why programs such as Photoshop has various options to change pixel groupings on export? I always wondered about that because if you keep to the standard photographic groupings but crop a stills image to a 16.9 ratio, a sphere will still be spherical on screen and not show as an ellipsoid. Or is it the difference between using an older cathode ray tube screen over an LDC or OLED screen?

I also have our TV sets set to your option 1.

terrypin wrote on 12/29/2018, 3:23 AM

Morning John,

Many thanks for taking the trouble to confirm that odd result.

Terry

Scenestealer wrote on 12/29/2018, 4:28 AM

@CubeAce

. . . . What happens on some of the newer TVs that have different ratio wide screens (1.78 rather than 16.9) when connected to a BluRay or DVD player? Could that then give the correct aspect ratios of such material? . . .

16:9 is 1.78 (actually 1.7777777....)!

johnebaker wrote on 12/29/2018, 4:33 AM

@CubeAce

Hi

Slightly OT however:

. . . . Is that why programs such as Photoshop has various options to change pixel groupings on export? . . . .

It been a while since I used Photoshop (~4 years) however:

the grouping function is to allow multiple layers to be aligned accurately.
there was the option to use square or rectangular pixels when exporting for video use

. . . . if you keep to the standard photographic groupings but crop a stills image to a 16.9 ratio, a sphere will still be spherical on screen . . . .

That is because PS or any image editor normally uses square pixels and cropping to the correct AR, they display correctly on 16:9 video/TV/monitor when used in video. This actually relates to this topic also from Terry re DVD menu oddities.

@terrypin - now I remember why I use 1600 x 900 pixel ratio for images. 😂

HTH

John EB

CubeAce wrote on 12/29/2018, 9:27 AM

@Scenestealer @Scenestealer

Doh! I meant 21.9. I really shouldn't be on my PC late at night.

Thanks for the information, John. This has been an interesting thread for me as I often use images and footage from different types of cameras on the same project.