11/28/2005 5:39:19 AM

Just wondering whether it would be possible to have the option of anamorphically stretching the video to fit the screen resolution? Most video players (like WMP) can do this, and the output video is usually fine for 4:3 projection (as it should be, because the video is meant to be displayed 4:3).

I think the issue here is confusion with the difference between the PHYSICAL SIZE of the video being a 4:3 ratio and the RESOLUTION of the video being a 4:3 ratio.
In PAL DV video, the resolution is 720X576 (note this ISN'T a ratio of 4:3!) HOWEVER the video is best displayed on a monitor with the physical measurements being a ratio of 4:3 (e.g 400mmX300mm). This is usually achieved by having pixels that AREN'T square.
However, in a situation where the resolution is set at a 4:3 ratio (pixels ARE square) on the monitor, the way to best display the video, is to stretch it so that the physical measurements are a ratio of 4:3 (e.g 400mmX300mm).

Let me give you an example: The resolution output of a computer to a projector is 1024X768 (a ratio of 4:3) and the screen measures 4000mmX3000mm (also a ratio of 4:3, so the pixels are square). The resolution of the source video is 720X576 (not a ratio of 4:3), but the video is made to be viewed on a PHYSICALLY 4:3 monitor. Because the screen is PHYSICALLY 4:3, the source video will look normal when it takes up this whole physical area. To make this possible, the 720X576 source video has to be stretched to fill a 1024X768 area.
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Most of that rant can be summed up in the following statement:


The confusion is between PHYSICAL dimension ratio and RESOLUTION dimension ratio.
All 4:3 video is designed to be viewed PHYSICALLY 4:3. This doesn't necessarily mean that the RESOLUTION has to be 4:3




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I hope someone can make some sense of that and learn something from it. In any case, in my opinion, the best way to view 4:3 video is stretched to full screen (not cropped in any way), so this feature in SSP would make me happy.

11/29/2005 5:22:28 AM

Please no-one take offence to my post. I was simply TRYING to write down what I was thinking, which I am not very good at. I would also greatly recieve input from anyone in any form regarding my post. Despite how it might seem, I am not trying to portray the fact that I know everthing about the topic. Because infact, I know very little in terms of the computer side of things. I come from a video background.
I know nothing of how different software treats video, all I really know is that all 4:3 video looks normal when displayed PHYSICALLY 4:3. Not necessarily RESOLUTION 4:3.

AS FAR AS I CAN TELL some software can somehow stretch 720X576 video to fill 1024X768 (WMP seems to be able to do it, but please feel free to correct me if I am wrong in saying this). So my question is: Why can't SSP as well?

11/29/2005 9:17:30 AM

I'm not sure why you were afraid someone would take offense but you do raise a rather complex issue.


I don't know what functions SSP software has to do itself and what SSP depends on others to do, but the development team has pointed out previously that some video processing is performed by non-SSP software that SSP simply calls, such as Windows Direct Show and other libraries.  Programmers don't "reinvent the wheel", they often try to reuse existing software as much as possible.

The whole idea of "stretching" video is somewhat mysterious. In order to digitally stretch 720 into 1024, pixels have to be invented, and if WMP can do it, something must determine where to add the invented pixels and what content to put in them, and perhaps the device driver is responsible for some of it. I'd guess that kind of functionality is something SSP doesn't get involved with very much; SSP probably is depending on existing libraries.

In my case, I don't encounter problems with this issue as you apparently do, and therefore I'm not aware what specifically there is for SSP to "fix".

11/29/2005 8:41:13 PM

I think I understand what you are saying.  You want the capability to stretch video when played because you have some source video that, while it's native resolution is not 4:3, when stretched to a 4:3 display, it will look normal (that is, not stretched).

11/30/2005 3:29:28 AM

Thankyou for your replies.

Yep that's right Dreece. Infact, not only do I "have some source video that, while it's native resolution is not 4:3, when stretched to a 4:3 display, it will look normal (that is, not stretched).", but most (if not all) source video that ANYONE has will be the same (DV, MPEG2, AVI, etc.).
I just wanted to clarify that, incase you thought it was just me, with some strange source video I wanted you to accomodate.
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Lee: I don't want people to take offense at the seemingy 'other-people-know-nothing' way I wrote my first post (saying things like "The confusion is...", "...and learn something from it.", etc.). Because infact, I probably 'know-it-less'!

In regards to 'stretching video': I know it can be done somehow, otherwise how could WMP play one source video in various sizes (eg. 100%, 200%, full screen)?

11/30/2005 6:37:03 AM

Without saying to much.

I think you will find the new options for video playback in V7, will solve the problem you are having.

I have been happy with the playbacks I have tried in V7, that caused me problems in V5.5 and am able to fill the screen, that previouly I would have had to "redo" the video clip in WMM to get it to fit the screen, in 5.5

Hope this helps
Rod

12/4/2005 9:55:29 AM

When a 720X576 video is stretched to fit a 4:3 display. The image is stretched horizontally by 6.667%, only. I don't think this is significant enough that it is noticeable. Assuming that SSP doesn't stretch the video image, why does the user need it stretched?

12/5/2005 3:25:36 AM

I don't NEED it stretched, I would like the option. The reason being that the only other way to display the video full screen (why would you want to display it any other way?), is to crop some of it off.

12/5/2005 4:36:04 AM

12/5/2005 5:29:53 AM

No need to apologize, sometimes when online it is difficult to make ourselves understood. I have that problem all the time.

12/12/2005 2:54:49 AM

In a strange twist:

I have had a play with live video and video files through SSP recently and it seems it is dislpaying them just as I want!? I'm not sure what kind of video I was having trouble displaying full-screen in the past, but I can't seem to find it now (actually, it might have been live DV come to think of it, which I haven't tried recently. I'll check that)!?

So does anyone else have a problem with 4:3 video not displaying full-screen?

12/12/2005 7:04:14 AM

I was studying the promotional videos shown on display TV's at Best Buy recently and notice two differences (other than color and brightness) between some TV's. For instance one monitor might have its screen filled while another might show the exact same video with bands on top and bottom. Or one monitor might show people seemingly normal while the monitor next to it the same people seem fatter.

To me that is mysterious why some TV's show bands and others don't, and why some fill the screen normally while others seem to stretch an image just to fill the screen. Oh, for absolute standards!

And yes, occasionally some video backgrounds I use with SSP don't fit quite right but that is the exception rather than the rule, so I tend to ignore it.