I'm using DivX Converter to convert various videos for playback on my DivX enabled DVD player. It seems like the video is either stretched too much or ends up windowboxed with bars around it. I have a 36" NTSC standard definiton CRT (tube type) TV. What resolution should I set my videos at when I convert them? 700x465 got it pretty close, but not quite. The height seemed okay at that resolution but it was still a bit too wide. Anyone know the EXACT resolution I should use? Obviously I can tell if the video is too small for the screen because of the window boxing, but the way I can tell it's too big for the screen is because the little DivX watermark that pops up at the beginning of my videos will be halfway or nearly off of the screen. So to sum it all up, with the type of TV I described above, what's the EXACT resolution I should be using when I convert my videos?
Normally, the DVD player (which is set for the TV type, i.e 4:3 or 16:9), will output the video to suit the display. A 4:3 source to a 4:3 TV would be passed unchanged;a 16:9 source would be output in letterbox. The only time you would try to change the frame size of the source is if the player was not able to be set for the TV type or the letterbox format was unacceptable.
I use 640x480 for all my conversions that I will output to a normal Tv, this setting will fill up the screen on my 19 inch crt, it even looks ok on my 27 inch lcd flatscreen.
