800×400 and 16:9?

[Walter Soyka]

[Heather Crank] “I’ve got to re-size an animation for a trade show. The original render setting was 720×480. The specs for the re-render are:

screen size – 11.3 (measured corner to opposite corner)
aspect ratio 16:9
resolution: 800 x 480 pixels”

Perhaps this is a small digital signage system? It’s possible that the device uses non-square pixels & requires a slight anamorphic squeeze.

I wouldn’t consider this a complete spec. You’ll need some information about the playback system. You should also be clear on what container (MOV, WMV, etc), codec (h264, WMV9, etc), bit rate, and frame rate you are expected to deliver.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Heather Crank]

Thank you Dave and Walter.

Here are all the spec they sent over:

The picture frame is a HP 11.3″ Digital Picture Frame (HP df1130 Series)
screen size – 11.3 (measured corner to opposite corner)
aspect ratio 16:9
resolution: 800 x 480 pixels

usb ports: 1 usb 2.0 for thumb drives and one mini USB 2.0

Internal Memory 128 MB

Memory Card slot 1 – SD/HDHC, MMC, xD, MS
Memory Card Slot 2 – Compact flash (CF1)

Media Format Support
Picture – JPEG
Audio – mp3
Video MPEG-4, motion jpeg

[Walter Soyka]

I always either buy devices like these or ask my clients to get me a loaner for testing.

A quick search on that model hasn’t really turned up any useful information, but I’d guess that this particular device will scale a “standard” 16:9 video to its non-standard raster. Either the panel is not truly 16:9, or it doesn’t use square pixels. There’s also zero guidance from the manufacturer (I think Lite-On makes this and HP sells it) about supported bit rates for compression, so you’ll need a unit to test.

You could try giving it 854×480 square pixel video, or you could try real 16:9 video scaled to fit (not proportionally) in an 800×480 comp.

Not all compression apps like non-standard frame size, so testing your workflow will be important.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Heather Crank]

Thanks Walter, I’ll give it a shot!

Really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

H