DVD quality poor and aspect ratio changed

studioksr

Newbie Location: Madison, Wisconsin Joined: Jan 01, 2016 17:27 Messages: 26 Offline

Solved by

Aug 16, 2016 22:58

I imported 2 mp4 1920 x 1080 files to create a DVD but the quality of the image is terrible when played through the DVD player onto my TV (older HD Samsung). The problems are:

aspect ratio is distorted

resolution greatly deteriorraed

I think the two are related, and maybe 2 is caused by 1. Here are my steps:

Import files

create simple menu with two scenes

Select DVD 4.7 GB

16:9 ratio (this is what the mp4's were produced at)

MPEG-2

HQ-Best Qualty

Burn in 2-D

Burn to Disc

When the first one didn't work, I lowered the burn speed to 6x, but no change

I also tried AVCHD, knowing it would not work on my DVD player and I was right.

I opened the .pds file and created the DVD directly from that file - same problem

I have been reading for over an hour other people on the forum with similar issues but even though one was marked solved, did not see a relevant solution.

Things I did read were that several people say they do not allow PD to burn DVDs, they use some other sofware. I was shocked. I did save as a disc image, but as far as I know I don't have any software that can burn an iso image file to DVD and I am not willing to buy another program to do this. I have Cyberlink Power2Go 10 Platinum, but it says I can't do that with the version I have.

I am ready to give up and just send people MP4 files but that seems very unprofessional, so I am hoping someone can help.

studioksr

Newbie Location: Madison, Wisconsin Joined: Jan 01, 2016 17:27 Messages: 26 Offline

Aug 16, 2016 23:40

I tried one more thing. I discovered that I have ImageBurn on my computer and it can burn an iso image to DVD. I just tried that and had exactly the same results as I noted above.

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Aug 17, 2016 00:41

In the other post the photos in your screenshots are 4:3 as was your project. You used lightroom to change all jpgs to 16:9. I am not sure if you mean that you cropped them to 16:9 which is fine or resized them to 16:9 without cropping which causes the distortion.

Could you supply a screenshot from the win media player of the mp4 file and a screenshot of the dvd showing the same picture for comparison.

studioksr

Newbie Location: Madison, Wisconsin Joined: Jan 01, 2016 17:27 Messages: 26 Offline

Aug 17, 2016 01:04

Hi Tomasc -- it was only one of the earlier versions that had the 4:3 setting. In the final version all is set to 16:9 and all the jpgs were exactly 16:9 also. I used a plugin for Lightroom that more or less adds a border to any jpg that is smaller than the desired dimensions. Its too complex to get into here but I am confident that all the jpgs were 16:9 and that all the mp4 videos were produced as 16:9 and that when I created the DVD I used 16:9 settings.

I don't think I have any more time for screen shots this week and just have to ask for any possible suggestions. I really am past running out of time, I just don't like to give up with a failure!

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Aug 17, 2016 01:25

That HD Samsung TV should have at least 3 settings for the Aspect Ratio. If you mean that people are too wide then you set the AR to 4:3 by togglling say the P-SIZE button on the remote. This would be a temporary fix assuming that the AR is correct on the mp4 file and dvd when viewed on your computer monitor.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Aug 17. 2016 01:29

Longedge

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline

Aug 17, 2016 04:22

This just 'screams' 4:3 project being displayed at 16:9 for whatever reason. I'd suggest double checking your settings first in the "Edit" section at the top of the screen, make sure it's 16:9 and then in the "Create Disc" section where all the default settings should be applied i.e.

Section 1. DVD

Section 2. 4.7GB DVD-video, Widescreen (16:9), MPEG-2, HQ - Best Quality, LPCM, 2 channels.

You say you haven't got time but that is exactly what you need. Be methodical and don't keep changing all the settings at once. Change one thing and then try it out. Use a DVD-RW so you aren't wasting media. Stay calm and carry on

You say you're using PD10 which is out of date. I started a few years back with PD11. This is the PD14 forum and that version is my reference point.

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Aug 17, 2016 06:25

Hi again studioksr -

Quote: I am ready to give up and just send people MP4 files but that seems very unprofessional...

My view would be exactly the opposite. Providing your clients/friends with a 1920x1080 HD MP4 file is far superior than giving them a DVD. You'll simply NEVER get the same sort of image quality on DVD.

That's by-the-by because it doesn't address your issue, which tomasc & Longedge have done. If your slideshow is 16:9 and you burnt to disc using a 16:9 profile, there should be no distortion.

The problem may be in your burn settings or your TV/DVD player settings, as others have suggested.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Aug 17. 2016 06:26

Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!