format ratio for DVD burning

[Photofanatic]

I am tearing my hair out because I have saved my slideshow in all 6 screen formats and have established that the best one which fills my TV screen height and only has a small gap at each edge is 1200 x 768 - this plays fine via my laptop onto my TV screen from the .exe format. When I take it through video builder however and choose 16:9 option for screen size it squashes it and leaves a large gap top and bottom!! The only other option I have is 4:3 which is clearly not the correct one for a letterbox format TV screen (15:9) Please can anyone suggest what settings I choose to get my slideshow DVD to fill at least the height of my TV screen - it seems to make everyone look like dwarfs!

Thanks

Joy

[davegee]

Joy,

When you make a DVD its format will ALWAYS be 4:3 (PAL) - 720x576 - no matter what format you choose in PTE.

So, the best format for a DVD is 4:3.

4:3 in PTE and also set your TV picture to 4:3.

Anything else is going to stretch your images out of proportion.

Try it before you progress.

DG

P.S. Please check your TV Manual for the specs - you will plobably find that it is 1366x768. It is possible that the TV will not go any higher than 1200 when connected via VGA lead. To get the full 16:9 1366x768 you will need an HDMI Lead connected from Laptop / PC to TV.

Is it a SONY 26" by any chance?

[Photofanatic]

It is a Philips 32" TV

So do I set the format to 4:3 in the project options of the PTE show or just in the project options of the video builder??

[davegee]

Did you check the manual for the resolution figures?

To prove the point make EVERYTHING 4:3 - images, settings etc.

Set the TV to 4:3 when playing.

It will not fill the width of the screen but everything will be correct in terms of aspect ratio and nothing will be squashed but you will get black lines on each side.

If you want to move on to other aspect ratios - 3:2 or 16:9 then you can set PTE to 4:3 and fit the images within the screen with black lines top and bottom.

When you play this back on your TV there will be black lines all around - the lines to the sides are because of the aspect ratio of the DVD. The lines above and below are because of the aspect ratio of your PTE show images (within the 4:3 screen).

BUT............. there will be NO squashed images!

[Photofanatic]

Thanks - I will have to start all over again because all my images are sized to 15:9 format which I thought would be the best to match the shape of the TV. Please can you just confirm - what dimensions in pixels do I need to resize my original images to if I am to have one per slide filling the screen as much as poss without distortion? Sorry to keep asking the same thing over - but I have had conflicting advice! Thanks

Joy

PS the output will be a DVD video disc

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Set your crop tool to 1024x768, this will give you 4-3 images.

Yachtsman1.

[davegee]

If the ONLY purpose for making the show is a DVD Video Disc then the resolution does not really matter - 1024x768; 1200x900; 1440x1080; 1600x1200 etc

However your computer monitor's screen has a part to play when viewing prior to committing the show to a DVD.

Construct the show to the HEIGHT of your PC Monitor.

If your EXE will be seen on another computer whose screen resolution you don't know then the 1600x1200 resolution is a good choice.

In screen options set 4:3, (your screen res height will determine the resolution) and tick the Fixed size of slide box.

If your screen resolution is smaller than 1200 high then the images will automatically fit to the height.

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For shows which are not going to become DVDs use your screen resolution/aspect ratio and tick the Fixed size of slide box.

You have already found that connecting your computer to the TV is a better option and CAN fill the screen with careful selection of resolution/aspect ratio and the correct connection.

You STILL haven't said what your TV manual says about resolution and in particular what it says about connecting via VGA cable.

Does your computer have HDMI / DVI connection? Does your TV have HDMI / DVI connection?

DG