Optimum File Size for DVD

[Eric Athroll]

Hi

The image files I use for making DVDs to play on a widescreen TV (16:9 format) are sized to 1024 x 576 pixels at 72 ppi.

I have been playing around with the various permutations in PTE 5 and Video Builder in an attempt to have the images fill the TV Screen with minimal loss of the image but also without having any spare background as this creates some unsightly distortions to the edges of the images.

I have tried many different settings in Project Options>Screen but no matter how I alter any of the options although the image size and placement changes in Preview but remain the same when the DVD is burned.

Am I to understand that whilst one can vary the image size on screen in the project and the Exe File there is no control over the image size on screen using VideoBuilder?

If it can be done I would appreciate some guidance as to optimum image size and resolution for DVDs and the PTE settings that affect the image size when making a DVD.

[alrobin]

Eric,

I may be wrong, but I don't believe you can use "windowed" mode to change the image size on the DVD.

However, you should be able to set the percentage of the window occupied by selecting values in "Percent of the slide to show main images" at the bottom of "Proj Ops / Screen". Does this have the desired effect on the DVD? If not, then the only other place that might have an impact is in "O&A", and using "cover screen" or "original" mode. However, these settings are made on a slide-by-slide basis. Generally, I find that the size of the image in PTE does not have much if any bearing on the size of the image in the DVD version. Having the correct "aspect ratio", both in "Proj Ops / Screen" and in the "DVD Proj Ops", is much more significant in determining the final appearance in the DVD version.

[Eric Athroll]

Hi

I have tried altering the "Percent of the slide to show main images" at the bottom of "Proj Ops / Screen" and whilst it affects the exe image size it doesn't appear to affect the DVD image size.

I realise that I could get over this problem using a sl9ide by slide option but that would be very tedious to do.

Perhaps Igor and his team may be able to confirm this.

I would also like to know if there is an optimum image size for DVD authoring as I am currently using 1024x576 pixels but I'm unsure if that is the optimum for DVD

[nobeefstu]

Eric,

Have you read this article ... from VideoBuilder pinned topics ?

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/aspect-ratio.htm

[Eric Athroll]

Hi

Yes, I have read this article and I do understand the effects of different combinations of 4:3 and 16:9 format ratios on the TV Screen image but that doesn't address my two questions.

I would like to know whether there is an optimum image size to obtain the best quality when making DVDs from PTE/VideoBuilder (and PTE exe files for that matter) and whether there is a facility to vary the amount of the TV screen that is occupied by the images when making a DVD using VideoBuilder.

I am working on a family history and shall be making DVDs in the 16:9 format as this seems to be the current standard for TV in the UK, although nothing is future proof these days.

As I said earlier, I have tried many permutations within PTE but the resultant DVD is always the same.

[alrobin]

I would like to know whether there is an optimum image size to obtain the best quality when making DVDs from PTE/VideoBuilder (and PTE exe files for that matter) and whether there is a facility to vary the amount of the TV screen that is occupied by the images when making a DVD using VideoBuilder.

Eric,

In Project Options, set "Percent of the slide to show main images" to 90%. This will reduce the size in VB also. (see screenshots for example using "50%". The thumbnail comparison is from the first window in VB showing potential PTE files for burning to DVD).

[Carol Steele]

Hi

The image files I use for making DVDs to play on a widescreen TV (16:9 format) are sized to 1024 x 576 pixels at 72 ppi.

I have been playing around with the various permutations in PTE 5 and Video Builder in an attempt to have the images fill the TV Screen with minimal loss of the image but also without having any spare background as this creates some unsightly distortions to the edges of the images.

I have tried many different settings in Project Options>Screen but no matter how I alter any of the options although the image size and placement changes in Preview but remain the same when the DVD is burned.

Am I to understand that whilst one can vary the image size on screen in the project and the Exe File there is no control over the image size on screen using VideoBuilder?

If it can be done I would appreciate some guidance as to optimum image size and resolution for DVDs and the PTE settings that affect the image size when making a DVD.

I size the images to 560 x 1000 pixels and then run a batch action which increases the canvas size to 576 x 1024 pixels (with a black background). I also find that I need to substantially oversharpen the images. They look terrible in Photoshop - but display fine on screen. Previous to doing this I always ended up with soft images on the television. I have included my actions which you might like to try out. Contains actions for both 4:3 and 16:9 displays.

Video_Preparation_For_PAL.zip

[Eric Athroll]

Al

I have tried altering the % figure and whilst it does affect the image size on my computer monitor for PTE Shows it doesn't alter the screen size of a DVD using VideoBuilder on my TV. I thought at first it was because I hadn't pressed the "set for all slides" button (not obvious, and different to Version 4) but several tests with varying % figures appear to make no difference to the TV Screen size.

Carol

Thanks for the Action file - I shall give it a whirl. I expect your method will produce an image size on my TV that will be smaller than the full screen and have a black border around it depending on how much my TV screen chops off and how accurate its centralisation of images is.

What I am really trying to do is to get an image that will overfill the TV Screen with a minimum of cutoff to avoid the distorted edges that I (and presumably others) get with TV. When I used a test image containing squares and circles the distortion of the TV Screen is considerable compared to the distortion free PC Monitor.

I have a suspicion that VideoBuilder will "convert" the project to the DVD standard size when authoring regardless of image size which will then always fill the TV screen unless one places some black "canvas" around the image to ensure it doesn't.

I don't know who actually programmed VideoBuilder but surely they must be able to provide some guidance on its use in relation to image size, quality and screen effects on the TV.

[Carol Steele]

Carol

Thanks for the Action file - I shall give it a whirl. I expect your method will produce an image size on my TV that will be smaller than the full screen and have a black border around it depending on how much my TV screen chops off and how accurate its centralisation of images is.

Doesn't seem to do that on my TV/DVD comb Eric. Don't forget there is a 'safe' zone and stuff outside the safe zone gets clipped. It appears full screen on my telly (with a very small amount clipped on upright images).

PS.

When running the actions, it will fail because you will not have my drive/folder structure on your system - so make sure that in the Destination you elect folder as where to save and then select the folder on your system where you want to save the files to as in:-

[alrobin]

I have tried altering the % figure and whilst it does affect the image size on my computer monitor for PTE Shows it doesn't alter the screen size of a DVD using VideoBuilder on my TV. I thought at first it was because I hadn't pressed the "set for all slides" button (not obvious, and different to Version 4) but several tests with varying % figures appear to make no difference to the TV Screen size.

That's strange - it works fine on my system. What other options are you using? Maybe if you send me a copy of your ".pte" file (no pics or music) I can have a look at what you are using. (alrobin @ alrobinson.com).

[Eric Athroll]

Hi Carol

Had a look at your action set and found I had already got most of them in my set for PTE. I don't know what the script one is ; it doesn't work on my PC and of course the "save to" file is different.

I am aware of the TV safe zone but at 100% (using 1024x576 pixels) my images are not cut off at all on my TV.

[Carol Steele]

Hi Carol

Had a look at your action set and found I had already got most of them in my set for PTE. I don't know what the script one is ; it doesn't work on my PC and of course the "save to" file is different.

I am aware of the TV safe zone but at 100% (using 1024x576 pixels) my images are not cut off at all on my TV.

The script part of the action is an instruction to run the 'Fit Image' script (which is under File->Automate). It might be specific for Photoshop CS3 - if you have an older version of Photoshop, you can delete this part of the action by dragging it to the waste bin icon at the bootom of the Actions palette and replace it with the standard 'Fit Image' and insert the parameters of Height=560 pixels and width=1000 pixels.

[Eric Athroll]

I must thank all of you who have input to this thread and also apologise for suggesting there was a problem with VideoBuilder where none exists.

Having carried out further tests I find that changing the "% of the slide to show main images" does indeed change the TV Screen image size. What caused me to think otherwise was that my initial tests were carried out with steps of 1% down to 94%.

Using reductions of 5% intervals down to 80% I realise that on my TV the differences are only apparent with quite drastic reductions. Also, unlike my PC Monitor, which can accurately display undistorted squares and circles over the whole screen, my TV appears to spread the image very significantly towards the edges of the screen. Thus, my first tests did indeed appear to have no effect.

I also notice that when I set the % figure to 100%, my TV cuts some of the image off at the sides but shows all of the image at the top and bottom with a small amount of distortion. I have also played with having a black border round the image but the distortion at the edges are so significant I would prefer to have my images clipped and fill the screen.

Other than setting a small zoom to each slide individually I'm not sure how else this can be achieved. I also wonder whether this is worth the effort as my intention is to make DVDs of my family history for posterity and I quite expect a different TV will clip them differently, particularly as mine is a CRT model and no doubt we will soon only be using LCD/Plasma ones.

As to optimum file size I am quite happy with the TV quality using 1024x576 @ 72 ppi.

[alrobin]

Eric,

Apology accepted - we all make mistakes and come to false conclusions at one time or other, especially when testing something as complex and full of features as PTE! Best of luck with your contributions to posterity! I think you are right about changes in popular TV's - I suspect most will be "wide-screen" before too long.

[Eric Athroll]

Hi Al

Given the current rate of technological change I begin to wonder if my efforts will be worthwhile.

I started making VHS videos back in the mid nineties and abandoned this avenue recently because they are likely to become unavailable in the not too distant future. Most of our major electronic stores have stopped selling them.

Will DVDs go the same way before too long I wonder.

[alrobin]

Hi Al

Given the current rate of technological change I begin to wonder if my efforts will be worthwhile.

I started making VHS videos back in the mid nineties and abandoned this avenue recently because they are likely to become unavailable in the not too distant future. Most of our major electronic stores have stopped selling them.

Will DVDs go the same way before too long I wonder.

Eric,

As certainly as death and taxes, especially given all the problems that people still seem to be having with DVD's. The rate of change is increasing exponentially, so DVD's probably won't even be around as long as VHS. Given all the hype over the new "iPhone" by Apple, people probably won't even be watching TV in the near future!

[Eric Athroll]

Al

I have negatives and slides of mine going back to 1956 and prints in albums well over 100 years old. I can still print from the negatives and scan the slides and prints and produce better images than was then possible.

I wonder what the future will hold for current imaging methods? Sad to think that there may be little personal history around in a comparatively short period of time for most people.