Need super-basic advice on aspect ratio

[johnneumann]

I'm not technically literate with video. I barely know my own camcorder - a Sony PD150 from the 90's which I shoot on auto settings almost all of the time.

To this day, I still don't own an HDTV and I don't watch television. That means I only have a tube TV for watching old home movies that I've edited in my Kron. I'm obviously completely illiterate with new standards of shooting video.

I made one commercial video about eight years ago - standard def, standard TV aspect ratio.

Now I need to shoot some video again on my PD150 that's going to become a commercial DVD. At the same time, footage from the DVD will be on YouTube. I'll be editing on my old standard def Kron.

I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what aspect ratio to set my camcorder to. I imagine 98% of the DVD buyers will be watching the video on new TVs. (All new TV are widescreen, correct?)

My PD150 has a setting "turn on 16:9". Is that what I need to shoot video these days? Should I keep that turned on permanently now?

Also, will I need to make any significant setting changes to edit 16:9 on my old Kron? Or will the Kron just automatically adapt to the new format of video ... ie, input, edit, render, and burn all in 16:9?

Any other considerations in making my first switch to widescreen?

-JOHN

[Jeanton]

Hi John

Yes set your camcorder to 16:9 ratio and shoot from now on in that ratio.
When loading your footage into your Kron make sure you set the project to 16:9 as well.
Editing will be just as normal no different to what you have been doing.
In arabesk set your project also to 16:9 and all is done.
Good luck with it.

[ChrisStone]

Just keep in mind that the PD-150's CCD chips are native 4:3, so when your shooting 16:9 your really just electronically lopping off the top and bottom portions of your image to simulate a 16:9 image. Also, I have read that the resolution suffers somewhat in 16:9.

[johnneumann]

Thank you for advice, Jeanton and ChrisStone.

When you say, "keep in mind that the PD150's 16:9 is simulated" ... is there a reason I need to be consciously aware of that?

Any practical difference between simulated 16:9 and the real thing - which I assume you mean is found on new camcorders?

-JOHN

[ChrisStone]

John
A simple analogy would be; imaging you have a square (4:3) photograph in your hand. You really wish it was a widescreen (16:9) picture, so you take a pair of scissors and you cut off about an inch off the top and bottom of your photograph. Now your picture is in fact much wider than it is tall. But what happened? You lost a significant part of your picture (data). You didn't shoot the picture in widescreen, you just simulated it, and lost information in the process.

Understanding this concept helps you frame/compose your shots properly.

[johnneumann]

Thank you, Chris.

If I understand correctly, those black bars will not show up on a wide screen TV like they would on a 4:3 TV or the flip-out monitor on my camcorder. So while I have lost a little resolution, once the footage is edited, rendered, and burned on my Kron, the image framing shows up the same on an HDTV whether it was shot on a new HD cam or or my 1990's PD150.

Do I have that right?

-JOHN

[LouBruno]

Chris brings up the technical reason in an excellent way.

Visually, the 16:9 ratio when utilizing a 4:3 chip is equal to VHS in the four hour mode from years back. And it gets worse with modern HDTV's that have LCD/LED/Plasma large screens.

If you want to stay in the tape realm, try to find a good used Canon XL-2. The XL-2 has NATIVE 16:9 chips. My new camera allows 16:9 SD AVI files via firewire in addition to HD bit rates. So, you are future proof (for awhile) with the ability to firewire true SD @ 16:9 into your KRON for now and when you upgrade, will have HD capability.

GOOGLE: Panasonic AG AC-130.

[johnneumann]

Thank you, Lou.

Yeah, sub VHS quality is not acceptable. Thanks for the heads up.

Hey, if I'm not abusing the informational generosity here ... I need to ask this since I don't own an HDTV and haven't been around them much...

I assume that my 4:3 DVDs are being seen in a distorted aspect ratio when viewed on widescreen TVs. Can I create a widescreen DVD on my Kron without losing all that image quality that the PD150 sacrifices if I use the built-in 16:9 feature? Can something be done during editing in my first generation Kron? Or is it the same thing as just shooting in that fake 16:9 that the PD150 has...?

-JOHN

[CKNewman]

John,

I think you should test using your camera in the 16:9 mode to see what it looks like. Shoot some video, load it into your editor, burn a DVD, and then watch it on a fair sized flat screen tv.

[yennyb]

John, you stated "I assume that my 4:3 DVDs are being seen in a distorted aspect ratio when viewed on widescreen TVs".
The answer is, not if the widescreen TV is set properly for viewing 4:3.
If the widescreen TV is set properly, the 4:3 footage will appear normal, with black on each side.
If the widescreen TV is NOT set properly, the 4:3 picture will appear horizontally stretched, with everyone looking fat.