cropped images in PAL 4:3 aspect ratio

[rickh1234]

I'm making some short ( 5 min ) slide shows using VS11+ and burning onto a DVD.

When I play the DVD back on my NZ PAL television set to 4:3 display ( only options on the TV setup are normal or wide screen ) the images are cropped as compared to viewing the individual images on my pc using a media player, a photo editor, or VS.

I took the DVD to a friends who has a large Plasma TV and had the same issue.

I looked through the setup options for the DVD player connected to my TV and there are only basic options available ( PAL / NTSC )

I searched the knowledge base using "aspect ratio" & "custom aspect ratio" Found lots of interesting items which led to various articles regarding image size for various video formats, ( PAL / NTSC ) New Zealand appears to be 720 X 576. I thought I had previously come across an article which referred to NZ PAL as 640 X 480 but can't find it now.

In the share step of VS11+ under project properties / MPEG properties for conversion area / change MPEG settings / customize. In the "Frame Size" area, the "user defined" option is not available and only the drop down sizes can be chosen.

VS11+ Project properties:
PAL (25 fps)
MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 25 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-PAL), 4:3

I used the default DVD settings when "creating a disc" in the VS11+ Share step:
MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 25 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-PAL), 4:3
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 8000 kbps)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)

I also burnt a disc with settings 704 X 576 but it looks the same on the TV.

The source files for my project are JPEG images from my Canon digital camera ( IXUS 80IS ) stored on my pc hard drive.

I noticed in the VS11+ " File / Preferences / Edit tab that there are 2 options under " Image Resampling Options" - Keep Aspect Ratio & Fit to Project Size. The setting I used was "Keep Aspect ratio".

Any advice greatly received,

Rick.

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi Rick
Welcome to the forum

Standard video is either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.
For Pal this is 720 x 576 for both, just to complicate things this is not 4:3. the pixels are stretched to fit the relevant frame using a process called Non-Square Pixel Rendering.

Images use square pixels, for pal 768 x 576 is 4:3---1024 x 567 being widescreen 16:9.

It is best to use these sizes as the minimum for your images,If you wish to fill the video frame then we have to use an image having a ratio of 4:3.
Or 16:9 for widescreen, its as simple as that.
Some cameras produce 3:2
Ok enough of that.

VS 11,
Change the background colour from black, any one will do, this will identify the actual video frame, for 4:3 it will probably fill the preview window.

Add an image to the timeline and you can see the unused portions of the frame. Any coloured bars will be included
This is what you should see on the final DVD.

Play the DVD on your PC.
What you see here is what you would normally see on the tv except………

Overscan
There is a problem with ‘OverScan’ aka ‘Safe area’

All tv’s loose a little bit around the edges, when I say a little it can be up to 15%
Using VS 11 we can see the safe area as a rectangle when viewing/creating titles.
The area around the outside may be lost when viewing on a TV.
Yep it’s a lot.
So images will lose some detail around the edges, more noticeable where the image is tightly cropped.

[rickh1234]

in the share step, under Preferences / Advanced tab, does the "TV Safe Area" setting have any effect on the viewable size of the image?

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi

No this option only changes the size of the rectangle indicating the safe area.
Its just a guide to indicate the safe area, it has no effect on your images or video files.

The overscan is inherent in your TV sets.
Some sets may produce a greater degree of overscan, others less.
So being aware of this you can set the safe area to match your particular TV.
But its still up to us to get the important details within the safe area.

I would thing that most users will leave the Safe Area as default.

Viewing the DVD on your pc will show the entire frame, your PC monitor does not suffer from overscan.

[DVDDoug]

If you want to see the whole slide on all TVs you need to shrink the image slightly so that it fits into the safe area.

You can overlay the shrunk-down image on a black or colored background to create a virtual frame around the image. I've also used this techinque for square still-images or other images that don't have a 4x3 ratio. I did this with my photo/image editor before importing the image into Video Studio.

[rickh1234]

thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.