4:3 on an HD TV

[Zane Barker]

Honestly much of how well a standard definition DVD looks on a HDTV depends on how well the DVD player and how well the HDTV handle upscaling the image.

I’ve seen some that make the image look good and some that make the image look bad.

**Hindsight is always 1080p**

[Bret Williams]

So I think you’re asking what’s the best way to fill a 16:9 space with a 4:3 source. Try using panoramic filters to sort of fake a widescreen image. Works great if the image is in the center. Just feels like a real wide-angle lens, stretching the edges of the image only.

Andy Mees has a plugin that let’s you choose the area that isn’t stretched. It works pretty well.

Other ideas would be to work in an hd or sd anamorphic sequence and add graphics to the left and right areas, or a blurry version on the content. Watch some espn or CNN and you’ll see them put their logos all over the left and right.

[Chuck Gamburd]

Well i thought about letterboxing it, but in final cut it squishes the image if i go straight 16:9, but panoramic filter might not be a bad idea. i am basically asking though what would be my settings for exporting that so it looks decent on an hdtv and a standard def tv, do i make my pixel ratio high and the video at 720×456 or does it not matter? just trying to make it look decent on both formats really.

[Chris Tompkins]

Make a new HD sequence
drop your vid in there.

Track one – rez up to fill screen, blur reduce opacity.
Duplicate video on track 2 – leave @ 100%, add drop shadow

Chris Tompkins
Video Atlanta LLC

[Bret Williams]

You’re confusing Chuck. What are you playing back this video from? If it’s a SD DVD player you’ve got one choice. 720×480. Either anamorphic 16:9 or 4:3. Letterboxing is not any option at all really. That option is only appropriate for achieving WS on a 4:3 only screen AND playback device, like a VHS and 4:3 TV. By letterboxing, you’re losing tons of resolution. To fill the HD screen you’d be blowing up the vertical resolution 300% or so. With anamorphic, you’re utilizing every pixel, and would be enlarging the image 200% roughly to fill the frame vertically. DVD players deal with anamorphic all the time as well as LCDs. It’s the standard for WS SD DVD.

How you achieve filling the anamorphic sequence is another matter. Your 4:3 footage will come in pillarboxed. Put something artistic in those blank left and right pillar areas or fill it with blurry content as others have mentioned. Do you get TV at home?

[Jerry Alto]

Bret- ‘Do you get TV at home?‘

Wow, you nailed me with that one. Lightened up the afternoon.

Jerry

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