Choose Correct Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio describes the dimensions of video screens and video picture elements.
When an aspect ratio is wrong in a video file, typically you will see stretched figures or fattened faces.
The screen aspect ratio of a traditional television screen is 4:3, or 1.33:1.
High definition televisions use an aspect ratio of 16:9, or about 1.78:1.
The aspect ratio of a full 35 mm film frame with soundtrack (also known as "Academy standard") is around 1.37:1
The first thing to say about the iPod and its video display, is that it is not a Widescreen display, which means that widescreen DVD's will have to 'black bar' the video output at the top and bottom, so to maintain the correct aspect ratio. You can of course choose to NOT have the correct aspect ratio and stretch the movie so it fills more of the iPod video screen. The choice is yours.
You can easily work out what the aspect ratio for a particular video resolution is by dividing the Height into the Width.
ie.
320 / 240 = 1.3333333 (This is a native 4:3 aspect ratio)
368 / 208 = 1.769 (This is near enough to 1:78, so this is a native 16:9 aspect)
640 / 480 = 1.3333333 (This is a native 4:3 aspect ratio)
640 / 360 = 1.77777777 (This is a 16:9 aspect ratio)
Below is an example of what the resolutions in DVD to iPod will output
If you want DVD to iPod to create the correct aspect ratio for your video file, then choose the option Maintain Aspect Ratio Based on Video Size.
| Resolution |
Aspect Ratio |
Video Output |
| 320x240 |
16:9 |
 |
| 320x240 |
4:3 |
 |
| 368x208 |
16:9 |
 |
| 640x360 |
16:9 |
 |
| 640x480 |
4:3 |
 |
|
