Resolution question

[Golichnik]

Matrox G400 TV, MGI Videowave III

I am in the process of creating my first desktop video. It is going to be a slide show of several hundred old photos with music. I would like to know two things:

1) At what resolution should these photos be saved for viewing on standard NTSC 4:3 format. I was told by MGI to use 720x480 or 704x480. When I tested this, saving to mjpeg and outputing to video tape, I ended up with everything being sqeezed to fit the 4:3 format. Resulting in the photos being out of proportion (tall and skinny).

2) I can't find any guidlines for production specifications. If I want my output to be of Hi8 or S-VHS quality should I render the video at 704x480 or is 352x240 enough. Please note that file size or transfer rates should not an issue on my computer (10,000 rpm, 18 gb drive dedicated to video files)

Thanks for helping a newcomer!

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Joe Golichnik
joe@gologic.com

[fluggo99]

Here's the skinny on resolutions: What you've noticed is true; when you create a video at 704x480, it will be shrunk to fit back onto a 4:3 screen. What you have to do then is either create 640x480 files and then stretch them to 704x480 so they look right when scrunched back, or find some way to save the files in 704x480 and achieve the same effect-- something I've never heard of anybody actually doing, but if you or anyone else manages a way, I'd love to hear about it.

As to your second question, by all means go for the higher resolution for more detail (especially with still pictures!). If you ever need to look for a middle ground, there's also a 352x480 resolution. Although it's sometimes been written off as VHS quality, it's still pretty good. All the same rules as above apply-- each format will be stretched or shrunk to fit your screen.