Widescreen DVD questions... at DVinfo.net

Mike Meyerson · March 25th, 2008, 04:15 PM

I've read and searched on the subject...I have a few more questions.

I know that for people who still have 4:3 TV's, their DVD player SHOULD re-size the image so it looks right (letterbox). For those of you who provide widescreen DVD's to clients...do you ever get any complaints from people who can't get the DVD's to play right on their 4:3 TV's? Do you put any kind of note on the labels telling people to make sure their DVD players are setup correctly?

I'm shooting HDV for the first time (canon XLh1). I have a bunch of live performances and graduations to shoot in the upcoming months...I'm providing a lot of DVD's and I'm hoping that the transition to widescreen doesn't cause any headaches.

Thanks!

Robert M Wright · March 25th, 2008, 06:08 PM

Most new Hollywood films released on DVD are widescreen versions, and have been for awhile now. Most folks with 4:3 televisions and a DVD player have been pretty well exposed to that.

Martin Pauly · March 26th, 2008, 12:18 PM

Never had a complaint. I deliver almost all my DVDs in anamorphic widescreen (16:9).

- Martin

Mike Meyerson · March 26th, 2008, 03:25 PM

cool...thanks guys.

Paul Cuoco · March 26th, 2008, 06:12 PM

Most regular non-upconverting DVD players are set to letterbox widescreen on a 4:3 display as a default so you shouldn't have any issues.

James Brill · March 27th, 2008, 01:37 AM

Here is what I did just recently for a client.

Took HD footage in final cut and exported it via compressor

Threw mpeg 2 and the audio settings on it and saved it to a folder

Brought the audio and video tracks into DVD studio pro and flagged the track by pressing the F key which makes a flag appear on the track.

Burned it and what not like a normal DVD.

On a ps2 and a normal SD TV it was letterboxed. In my bosses dvd player and his HD widescreen TV the image filled the screen 16:9 anamorphic. With that same DVD player, however, connected to a SD TV we did not get letterbox but a squeezed 16:9 anamorphic picture. Some DVD players just don't read the flag I guess.

Just remember to do ALL the compression in 16:9.

If you are really concerned about the image filling up the screen you could put two tracks on there and have buttons on the menu accordingly or just do it 4:3 letterboxed and the HD TV people can just zoom in the image. That will not fix the aspect ratio problem though.

Martin Pauly · March 27th, 2008, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Brill

In my bosses dvd player and his HD widescreen TV the image filled the screen 16:9 anamorphic. With that same DVD player, however, connected to a SD TV we did not get letterbox but a squeezed 16:9 anamorphic picture. Some DVD players just don't read the flag I guess.

James,

Just to make sure: you DID reconfigure your boss's DVD player to 4:3 output when you connected it to the SD TV, didn't you? There is no way for a player to auto-sense what type of TV is connected. So without properly configuring the DVD player for the TV aspect ratio, what you described is exactly what should happen.

- Martin

March 25th, 2008, 04:15 PM	#1
Mike Meyerson Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mahopac, NY Posts: 293	Widescreen DVD questions... I've read and searched on the subject...I have a few more questions. I know that for people who still have 4:3 TV's, their DVD player SHOULD re-size the image so it looks right (letterbox). For those of you who provide widescreen DVD's to clients...do you ever get any complaints from people who can't get the DVD's to play right on their 4:3 TV's? Do you put any kind of note on the labels telling people to make sure their DVD players are setup correctly? I'm shooting HDV for the first time (canon XLh1). I have a bunch of live performances and graduations to shoot in the upcoming months...I'm providing a lot of DVD's and I'm hoping that the transition to widescreen doesn't cause any headaches. Thanks!

March 26th, 2008, 12:18 PM	#3
Martin Pauly Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Cedar Rapids, IA Posts: 563	Never had a complaint. I deliver almost all my DVDs in anamorphic widescreen (16:9). - Martin __________________ Martin Pauly

March 26th, 2008, 06:12 PM	#5
Paul Cuoco Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 93	Most regular non-upconverting DVD players are set to letterbox widescreen on a 4:3 display as a default so you shouldn't have any issues. __________________ To live a creative life, we must first lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce

March 25th, 2008, 06:08 PM	#2
Robert M Wright Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Minnesota (USA) Posts: 2,171	Most new Hollywood films released on DVD are widescreen versions, and have been for awhile now. Most folks with 4:3 televisions and a DVD player have been pretty well exposed to that.

March 26th, 2008, 03:25 PM	#4
Mike Meyerson Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mahopac, NY Posts: 293	cool...thanks guys.

March 27th, 2008, 01:37 AM	#6
James Brill Major Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Goleta, CA Posts: 299	Here is what I did just recently for a client. Took HD footage in final cut and exported it via compressor Threw mpeg 2 and the audio settings on it and saved it to a folder Brought the audio and video tracks into DVD studio pro and flagged the track by pressing the F key which makes a flag appear on the track. Burned it and what not like a normal DVD. On a ps2 and a normal SD TV it was letterboxed. In my bosses dvd player and his HD widescreen TV the image filled the screen 16:9 anamorphic. With that same DVD player, however, connected to a SD TV we did not get letterbox but a squeezed 16:9 anamorphic picture. Some DVD players just don't read the flag I guess. Just remember to do ALL the compression in 16:9. If you are really concerned about the image filling up the screen you could put two tracks on there and have buttons on the menu accordingly or just do it 4:3 letterboxed and the HD TV people can just zoom in the image. That will not fix the aspect ratio problem though.