maikii
06-29-2004, 11:07 PM
Many DVDs only come in widescreen format (16:9), with the same aspect ratio as the original movie. When watched in that format on a normal TV, computer screen, or Pocket PC there are black lines ("letterbox") at the top and bottom of the screen, as the aspect ratios of the screens on those devices is not so wide.
I don't mind watching letterbox format on the TV or computer screen. However, the PPC screen is so small, I would rather have the picture fill up my whole 320x240 screen, and not have the black lines at top and bottom! (I know purists will cringe that anyone prefers full screen, but I certainly do for PPC!)
Anyone else feel that way? If so, have you found a good way to convert the video's aspect ratio from 16:9 to 4:3? I think it involves some calculations, cropping off from both sides of the video so that the aspect ratio is correct, then resizing to 320x240. (For instance, crop from the 720x480 of the DVD, to 640x480 by taking 40 off each side, then resize to 320x240.) Is this how to do it. (I'm surprised that the all-in-one automatic DVD-DIVX rippers like AutoGK and Fair Use don't have a button that says "reformat to 4:3", or vice versa.)
Another solution, keep the original ratio in the video, but change it in playback. I just discovered this yesterday. I had used AutoGK to create a PPC movie, from a wide screen DVD. In AutoGK one can set the width, but not the height, so I set 320 as the width. It ended up being 320x176, wide screen, with those black bars at top and bottom. While playing it back, not liking the letterbox effect on the PPC, thought about cropping it, etc., as above. Then, playing with the controls of Betaplayer, the player with which I was playing it, I looked at the Zoom control, chose "Fit Height", and the picture enlarged so that the screen was full, no black bars. I guess one couldn't see some of what was on both sides, as if I cropped them off. Has anyone else used this as a solution to the wide-screen problem, just using Zoom to enlarge the picture?
I'm wondering though, in using this Zoom feature, whether I should re-do the video anyhow, and give it a larger fixed width, so that the height would be 240. That way, if using "Fit Height" the picture doesn't have to be stretched (which can degrade video quality), but fits naturally in the 240 height screen. If I were to do so, what fixed width should I put in to get a height of 240, in wide screen format?
Any other suggestions and commentary of how people deal with the "wide screen problem" (a problem for me, at least, and I would suspect with some others as well, despite the purists who would object to seeing a movie any other way) on a PPC would be welcome.
I don't mind watching letterbox format on the TV or computer screen. However, the PPC screen is so small, I would rather have the picture fill up my whole 320x240 screen, and not have the black lines at top and bottom! (I know purists will cringe that anyone prefers full screen, but I certainly do for PPC!)
Anyone else feel that way? If so, have you found a good way to convert the video's aspect ratio from 16:9 to 4:3? I think it involves some calculations, cropping off from both sides of the video so that the aspect ratio is correct, then resizing to 320x240. (For instance, crop from the 720x480 of the DVD, to 640x480 by taking 40 off each side, then resize to 320x240.) Is this how to do it. (I'm surprised that the all-in-one automatic DVD-DIVX rippers like AutoGK and Fair Use don't have a button that says "reformat to 4:3", or vice versa.)
Another solution, keep the original ratio in the video, but change it in playback. I just discovered this yesterday. I had used AutoGK to create a PPC movie, from a wide screen DVD. In AutoGK one can set the width, but not the height, so I set 320 as the width. It ended up being 320x176, wide screen, with those black bars at top and bottom. While playing it back, not liking the letterbox effect on the PPC, thought about cropping it, etc., as above. Then, playing with the controls of Betaplayer, the player with which I was playing it, I looked at the Zoom control, chose "Fit Height", and the picture enlarged so that the screen was full, no black bars. I guess one couldn't see some of what was on both sides, as if I cropped them off. Has anyone else used this as a solution to the wide-screen problem, just using Zoom to enlarge the picture?
I'm wondering though, in using this Zoom feature, whether I should re-do the video anyhow, and give it a larger fixed width, so that the height would be 240. That way, if using "Fit Height" the picture doesn't have to be stretched (which can degrade video quality), but fits naturally in the 240 height screen. If I were to do so, what fixed width should I put in to get a height of 240, in wide screen format?
Any other suggestions and commentary of how people deal with the "wide screen problem" (a problem for me, at least, and I would suspect with some others as well, despite the purists who would object to seeing a movie any other way) on a PPC would be welcome.