16:9 W/ Standalone Dvd Recorder

[Bleeding Me]

Recently found a way to record a widescreen broadcast on a stanadalone DVD Recorder. Most people don't have WS TV so they just record in letterbox, but when they upgrade to WS TV's they are stuck with the black bars and a 4:3 ratio.

What you have to do is record the broadcast in 16:9. If you don't have a WS TV the picture will look stetched. Don't worry about this, you can fix it later. If you do have a WS TV it will look fine, but when you play it back on a normal TV or PC the the aspect ratio will appear 'tall and thin'. This is caused by the fact that many standalone DVD recorders do not set the WideScreen flag appropriately on recorded programs.

The way to fix this is as follows (this will only take about a min to do):

1. Rip the DVD to your HD with DVD Decrypter in File Mode and download the program IFOEDIT (google for it) and install it.

2. In the VIDEO_TS folder there will be several .IFO files - one (1) VIDEO_TS.IFO and some VTS_0x_0.IFO files (for example VTS_01_0 thru VTS_04_0).

3. (This step is to change the menu AR. So you may want to leave it alone)using IFOEDIT first open VIDEO_TS.IFO and select the first entry in the top window, named VMGM_MAT. In the bottom window scroll down to address 00000100 and double click on it to edit it. Set the "Aspect Ratio" to 16:9 and the "Static" to "Automatic Letterboxed" only - untick the "Automatic Pan&Scan". Now "Save" the file. Accept the option if it offers to also update the BUP file

4. now open the VTS_01_0.IFO and select the first entry in the top window, named VTSI_MAT. In the bottom window scroll down to address 00000200 and double click on it to edit it. At this point the "Aspect Ratio" should be set for 4:3 and the "Static" box should have nothing selected. Change the first to 16:9 and the second to "Automatic Letterboxed", and "Save" the file. Accept the option if it offers to also update the BUP file. Now do this for IFO files for VTS_02, _03, and _04 etc, etc..

Now you have correctly set the WideScreen information needed by a player so that it knows to automatically letterbox the picture when the player has 4:3 Letterbox selected, but when a player is set for 16:9 the program will be properly displayed on a WS TV.

[metlive]

thanks for this trick

i have a sony rdr gx7 & 4:3 tv

when i am using ifo edit & burn the new dvd files, i can't watch it on my dvd recorder... but it works fine on my dvd player (sony dvp ns305).. do you have an idea how i can make the dvd run on my recorder?

i already tried to reauthor it, but it doesn't solve the problem..

[Bleeding Me]

To be honest, I have no idea. It has worked at everything I've thrown at it so far. Must be just a little quirk with your DVD Recorder.