What attributes can be changed when encoding?

[Kermit]

My old 55" fullscreen TV just croaked and I am replacing it with a widescreen. Several of my DVDs are the fullscreen version, so I was wondering if they can be re-encoded with CCE using the 16:9 format and display correctly. Also, can other attributes be changed for better display on the new digital HD TVs (such as progressive scan)?
If the original attributes can be changed from the settings on the original DVD and work properly on the re-encoded version, what would be the best setting in CCE for the various attributes (progressive, Zig Zag, linear, etc.) to provide the best picture?

Thanks to all for sharing your expertise!

[Taz69]

I know that some DVDs will show correctly on both a 16:9 and a 4:3 TV because they include additional pan & scan information because the film is encoded in 16:9 ratio with additional information which tells the DVD Player which part of the film to show when played at 4:3

If your films are actually encoded at 4:3 I woldn't bother re-encoding them as I expect your new TV will have plenty of options for showing 4:3 programs such as stretching the picture or showing it with black borders at both sides.

As far as what will look best on your new TV I suggest that you just re-encode a few short clips whilst playing around with CCE's options until you find the settings which you are happiest with.

You might want to check out Doom9.org's forum & guides as it is a site which spe******es in DVD/SVCD/VCD and other forms of digital video.

[Kermit]

Taz69,

Thanks for the reply. Seems like the forum doesn't get much participation lately and I was beginning to think that no one was going to respond.
Yes, I do have several DVDs that are 4:3 only and was would like to have them in 16:9 format. My new set is a Hitachi, and while the DVD picture quality in 16:9 is simply outstanding, the stretch mode used by the Hitachi leaves something to be desired (only stretches the left and right side of the picture, so there's some distortion).
I'll try doing the encoding with different options in CCE to see if it works, I was just hoping someone's experinece would save me a lot time and a batch of wasted DVDs!
Thanks for the advice on Doom9.org, I'll check them out to see if they have any simple guides to help with this. Biggest problem I have is that I'm fairly new to all of this and a lot of the discussion gets over my head pretty quickly.
Again, thanks for the reply.

[Taz69]

I presume that your TV will have the option to watch the film in 4:3 mode with black bars at both side of the screen.

I think that you will find that however you encode your films this is likely to be the best mode for viewing your 4:3 DVDs.

Good luck with your encoding I hope you find some settings that you are happy with.