blocky dvd when viewed on tv

[Tony Webber]

Hi,

Ive just got a DVD writer and am trying to make a dvd of my short film. I shot on DV pal and have encoded that to Mpeg2 via the cinemacraft trial version.

When i view the mpeg file on my pc it looks ok but when i burn it using adobe encore and then view it on a tv from a standalone dvd player it looks really blocky.

has anyone else experienced this problem?

Also does anyone know how to make letterboxed 4:3 video into anamorphic 16:9 so that it will be like a proper dvd would play?

any help would be great.

cheers

Tony

[Dan Euritt]

there is nothing "proper" about a dvd having to be 16:9 format... you could put black bars on both the top and bottom as part of the editing, but why ruin a third of the picture? most tv's, especially in england, still have the old square format.

you need to know the bitrate settings of your mpeg file in order to evaluate the picture quality.

[Richard Lewis]

"most tv's, especially in england, still have the old square format."

Dan I’ll think you’ll find that there is a very high percentage of people with widescreen TV’s in the UK. Hence why virtually all of our terrestrial TV stations put out programming in widescreen. Except ITV News…that really irritates me.

[Dan Euritt]

i've been sending product to england for years, i have a distributor over there... they are typically at least 2 years behind the u.s. in adopting the latest consumer technology.

considering where we are in america with widescreen tv penetration, there is little reason to think that england has more of 'em than we do... but if you do have solid info to the contrary, please post it, i need to keep track of what's going on over there.

[Richard Lewis]

I was under the impression that the majority of American networks still output 4:3, whereas virtually all our networks (albeit fewer) put out 16:9.

It has cost our networks millions even billions of pounds to convert. This would suggest to me that this change was very necessary to keep up with the consumers ever growing adoption of the widescreen format.

Since you make motor sports videos on an XL1s, I’m guessing your not aiming at mainstream broadcast, or even broadcast at all.

My original point addressed only the relation to widescreen TV and its necessity in the British broadcast market.

Plus, as I live in England, and I am a Broadcast Operations student, I feel that I may have more insight in this matter than you do.

All the best,

[Bogdan Vaglarov]

If you can see your MPEG2 file just right on the PC then the problem must be in the recorded media and/or the DVD player not liking the media. Is it more like a mosaik noise from time to time?

Or your software for DVD playback on the PC is smoothing a bad encoded material but I'm not aware of such software (usually if you see macrobloks on the PC you'll see them on the TV too).

Edit: Oh, I noticed it happens after authoring with Encore! Have you played back the DVD files (.VOB) on the PC to check if it is OK? Sometimes authoring programs reencode and that may cause your bad final result.
Use for example PowerDVD and check the DVD files on hard drive to view your final result before going to DVD-R.

[Dan Euritt]

richard, it is true that england could lead the world in per capita 16:9 tv set penetration... but the reason that england spent all those $$$ on the networks was because your country made a massive effort to switch to digital tv... it kind of had to, because back in the 90's, the cable tv network in england was one of the worst in europe... so it didn't have a thing to do with 16:9 tv's.

your current digital tv system supports both screen formats... but only ~55%(?) of the country is receiving the new digital signal, with little hdtv broadcasting going on.

if you ever do figure out what % of the population actually does have widescreen tv's, please let us know.

[Benjamin Durin]

<<<-- Originally posted by Dan Euritt : richard, it is true that england could lead the world in per capita 16:9 tv set penetration... [..]
so it didn't have a thing to do with 16:9 tv's.

your current digital tv system supports both screen formats... but only ~55%(?) of the country is receiving the new digital signal, with little hdtv broadcasting going on.
-->>>

16:9 is not linked with HDTV or digital TV. And you can have 16:9 on DVD so you don't need the cable to appreciate films in 16:9.
I would agree with Richard that the USA are just discovering 16:9 TV sets whereas they are already succesful in Western Europe.

[Richard Lewis]

The only reason that I even commented on this thread was because you (Dan) said "most TV’s, especially in england, still have the old square format."...Which just isn’t true. The use of the word "especially" is rather unjustified.
We’ve been shooting 16:9 for broadcast for, I would guess since 1997-8 ish (if not earlier).

Digital television hasn't effected the transmitted aspect ratio, as our analogue signal is still transmitted in 16:9, so I don’t see the connection you have suggested.

"I would agree with Richard that the USA are just discovering 16:9 TV sets whereas they are already successful in Western Europe."

Definitely true, I thought that it was general knowledge that widescreen TV’s are more prominent in the UK and the rest of Europe, as opposed to the US.

I have had a quick look on the net, but I can’t find a percentage, but it is considerable.
I shall continue to research, and I’ll get back to you Dan.

[Dan Euritt]

<<<-- Originally posted by Richard Lewis : Digital television hasn't effected the transmitted aspect ratio, as our analogue signal is still transmitted in 16:9 -->>>

"Full widescreen (16:9) is NOT broadcast on the analogue transmitters, but a compromise format of 14:9." -http://www.itvregions.com/corporate_info.php?region=West&content=5037

that analog signal reaches over 2 million brits, and i believe that it splits the difference between 4:3 and 16:9... hence my reference to the differences between analog and digital broadcasting in england.

"However, a record number of 5.5 million analogue television receivers were sold in the UK in 1999, including 842,000 Widescreen television receivers. There is every prospect that this record will be at least equalled in 2000. While we should all welcome the change of format from 4:3 to 16:9 now taking place, the legacy problem of analogue television receivers continues to grow." -http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/ra/topics/convergence/forum/brema/15jun00.htm

in 1999, only 5.06% of the tv's in england were 16:9's: -http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/audiovisual/2000/16-9AP/16-9xpmarket_en.pdf

[Bogdan Vaglarov]

Hmmm... I'm quiting this thread - I thought the topic was different!

[Rhett Allen]

I don't know about you guys but EVERY single store I've been to that sells TV's has at least ten 4:3 models for each 16:9 model and of those 16:9 models maybe 1 or 2 of them are HD compatible and of those none are under $1000. That sounds to me like it still isn't widely accepted much less the majority. I prefer the 16:9 format but it just isn't that popular yet. YET!

[Richard Lewis]

Rhett, that is completly the opposite over here. You'll be hard pushed to find a large 4:3 television in any of the major shops.

I think everything that has been stated here still goes to show that the original suggestion that England "especially" is not now a widescreen nation is unfounded.

I too feel that this thread is definatley now completley off topic, and I suggest any further posts are only aimed at addressing Tony and his original query.

[Dan Euritt]

rhett, i don't know what the level of technology is in plano, texas, but if you go out to www.costco.com and look at the entire tv lineup, you'll see that almost all of 'em are 16:9... nobody wants 4:3 in a big screen tv.

see for yourself: http://www.costco.com/Common/Categor...th=79*&Browse=

richard, you claim to be a broadcast operations student in england, but you didn't even know what aspect ratio the analog signal in your country is broadcast at... and you can't provide any stats at all wrt to 16:9 tv penetration.

so i'll stand by the opinion that tony should make his dvd in the same 4:3 format that it was shot in, instead of wrecking the picture quality in an attempt to tweak it to fit an unknown number of 16:9 tv sets.

but i'm also going to make sure that the next video camera i buy is 16:9-capable, because that's where the technology is headed! :-)

[Richard Lewis]

I "claim to be a broadcast operations” you must really be trying to piss me off...you think someone would be sad enough to make that up??!!

Dan, I am indeed a Broadcast Operations student, not Post Production, or Broadcast Technology, or even Broadcast Transmission student, which my college also specialises in.

I have already expressed my opinion about this thread.

I’m going to go off and watch my widescreen TV.

Cya.