Is there a definitive safe area (art woes) at DVinfo.net

Kevin Kimmell · February 28th, 2005, 02:52 PM

Hi,

We had an artist create an animation for our menu and he spent a good deal of time coming up with a piece that we're pleased with. I told him that 740x480 was the standard for our NTSC 4:3 DVD so that's what he created for us.

Of course I didn't think to fill him in on the safe area / clipping issue and I'm not sure we've got time for him to completely redo 60+ frames of animation.

I was going to just add a black border around each frame and recompile the animation myself but then the things that are close to the edge will show up oddly unless I add the exact amount of pixels to each side that get lost.

Is there such a thing? In other words, how many pixels are lost to the left, right, top, and bottom on a standard NTSC dvd screen?

Thanks,
Kevin

[Addendum: I meant 720x480]

Boyd Ostroff · February 28th, 2005, 03:16 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Kimmell : I told him that 740x480 was the standard for our NTSC 4:3 -->>>

I think that should have been 720 x 480, so you are already a little too wide.

I have an NTSC overscan test chart that defines the Action Safe area as 640 x 432 and the Safe Title area as 570 x 384. Not sure if there is an actual "standard" for this however, and not sure if this would be different for DVD's vs broadcast. When I play a DVD on my computer using the Apple DVD player software it shows the full frame (underscans). When I play it on my TV with a regular DVD player it overscans and doesn't show the whole frame.

Kevin Kimmell · March 1st, 2005, 08:17 AM

I meant 720...

And I was afraid that this was the answer.

Thanks.

February 28th, 2005, 02:52 PM	#1
Kevin Kimmell Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 209	Is there a definitive safe area (art woes) Hi, We had an artist create an animation for our menu and he spent a good deal of time coming up with a piece that we're pleased with. I told him that 740x480 was the standard for our NTSC 4:3 DVD so that's what he created for us. Of course I didn't think to fill him in on the safe area / clipping issue and I'm not sure we've got time for him to completely redo 60+ frames of animation. I was going to just add a black border around each frame and recompile the animation myself but then the things that are close to the edge will show up oddly unless I add the exact amount of pixels to each side that get lost. Is there such a thing? In other words, how many pixels are lost to the left, right, top, and bottom on a standard NTSC dvd screen? Thanks, Kevin [Addendum: I meant 720x480]

February 28th, 2005, 03:16 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Re: Is there a definitive safe area (art woes) <<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Kimmell : I told him that 740x480 was the standard for our NTSC 4:3 -->>> I think that should have been 720 x 480, so you are already a little too wide. I have an NTSC overscan test chart that defines the Action Safe area as 640 x 432 and the Safe Title area as 570 x 384. Not sure if there is an actual "standard" for this however, and not sure if this would be different for DVD's vs broadcast. When I play a DVD on my computer using the Apple DVD player software it shows the full frame (underscans). When I play it on my TV with a regular DVD player it overscans and doesn't show the whole frame.

March 1st, 2005, 08:17 AM	#3
Kevin Kimmell Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 209	I meant 720... And I was afraid that this was the answer. Thanks.