DVD WMV NTSC and PAL

[angela146]

I have several WMV files that were originally recorded in PAL format. I am in the US with an NTSC TV.

I have tried burning the WMV files onto a DVD using two different sets of video burning software. In each case, the files were re-encoded into NTSC but the conversion process chopped off about 10% of the picture. In other words, it looked like it had been zoomed by about 10%.

That is, only when I play the DVD in a DVD player attached to my TV.

When I play the DVD in my laptop, it comes out fine.

What do I need to do to burn a PAL formatted WMV file onto a DVD in NTSC format without loosing part of the picture?

 

[thecharlieman]

the drop off that you are seeing is the result of the difference in number of scan lines between NTSC and PAL.

check these articles from Wikipedia: here, and here.

that extra 100 lines makes a large difference in apparent picture size. all of the picture is there, just slightly compressed for NTSC.

 

[Sir Victor]

I have several WMV files that were originally recorded in PAL format. I am in the US with an NTSC TV.

I have tried burning the WMV files onto a DVD using two different sets of video burning software. In each case, the files were re-encoded into NTSC but the conversion process chopped off about 10% of the picture. In other words, it looked like it had been zoomed by about 10%.

That is, only when I play the DVD in a DVD player attached to my TV.

When I play the DVD in my laptop, it comes out fine.

What do I need to do to burn a PAL formatted WMV file onto a DVD in NTSC format without loosing part of the picture?

I believe that the re-encoding process simply threw away the 100 (50 from the top, 50 from the bottom) extra lines (625 vs. 525) of the PAL data. You will obviously loose the part of the picture that was in those 100 lines and the image will be zoomed in in the vertical dimension and therefore, also slightly distorted. Format conversion is difficult, there are ways to do a better job but they are complex.

 

[angela146]

thank you both!!