Exported HD not showing in full screen on widescreen TV.

[DavidNorman]

My issue: Before I bought PE8 I had spent many weekends editing video clips from a 4-week trip to Peru down to 7hrs 21 mins in Nero9 Vision. Had added many text and voice-overs though out the timeline. I could not split/cut into 4.7Gb size segments to burn in Nero as text/voice-over clips would not stay with intended clips once the beginning clips were trimmed out and be out of sync (stayed at timeline point not at the appropriate clip point). The original clips (.m2ts) were imported to Nero from Canon Legria HFS10 at full HD 1920x1080. To keep my Nero project I exported result to PC H/drive as a 32Gb (AVC) MP4 file, 1920x1080, 30f/sec, 48kHz, data rate 1.2Mb/sec, pix aspect ratio 0.75. Now I have imported the MP4 into PE8 using many project settings (incl all AVCHD and HD import settings). It doesn't show full-screen in PE8's edit preview screen. I have trimmed the 7+hr clip into < 4.7 Gb DVD size segments and exported to DVD. It seems no matter what file import method or export 'disc' settings I use to burn, the resulting DVD shows on TV in wide-screen format though much smaller than my PAL 50" Panasonic plasma HDTV screen. The player I have is a Panasonic BluRay/DVD one connected by HDMI. Both the player and TV are set to show full screen 16:9. As mentioned above I spent MANY hours importing and editing the original Canon video in Nero and am not keen to do that all again in PE8. Can you pls suggest a way I can use the MP4 (with test and voice-overs now hard-coded) to show in wide-screen HD and full-screen once trimmed and burnt on several DVD discs? (Note: The original HD DVD I was able to trim from the front of the Nero project and burn using that application shows great in HD and full-screen on my TV.) The only other export options from Nero are (AVI, AVI-DV, WMV, Mpeg-1, Mpeg-2, Nero digital, Nero digital AVC & AVC [which I used to get the mp4].) Mpeg-2 doesn't seem to export properly?? Sorry this is a bit long-winded but wanted to give you as much info as possible, as I am at my wits end.

[Bob]

I exported result to PC H/drive as a 32Gb (AVC) MP4 file, 1920x1080, 30f/sec, 48kHz, data rate 1.2Mb/sec, pix aspect ratio 0.75.

Welcome to Muvipix, David!

That pixel aspect ratio of 0.75 is very suspicious. For AVCHD, which you have, the normal pixel aspect ratio is 1.0 for full HD 1920x1080 or 1.33 for 1440x1080. If you really did export that as 0.75 and imported it into a full HD AVCHD project, you would get a 25% narrower image not filling the frame as you describe. Please confirm that by locating the clip in the project media panel, right click on it there and select properties. If it says it is 1920x1080 with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.75, right click on the clip again and select interpret footage. In the Pixel aspect ratio section set it to conform to square pixels (1.0).

[DavidNorman]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't purposely set Nero Vision to export as 0.75 aspect it must have been a part of the default 'AVCHD Compatable' export setting?? The PE8 properties do show the source clip as 0.75. When conformed to 1.0 it does get bigger but still doesn't fill the preview screen. I will go back and look at Nero again and review the export options.

[Bob]

When conformed to 1.0 it does get bigger but still doesn't fill the preview screen.

Right click on the monitor (preview) window and select "Magnification". Click on "Fit". Is there a dark gray border on the either the horizontal or vertical sides? If there is, your monitor window does not match the frame aspect ratio of the project. The video that will be created from your project does not include the dark gray area. If the footage does not fill the area which is not dark gray, there is an issue with the footage you exported from Nero.

The monitor window can be resized. If you want, you can eliminate the dark gray area. Move the cursor over the edge of the window and at one point, the cursor will change to a double headed arrow. When that appears, you can click and drag the side to resize the window. Adjust the window so the dark gray area is just eliminated. Your monitor now reflects the frame aspect ratio of the project.

[DavidNorman]

Thanks again Bob, this is good advice. However I am thinking the real issue is now the exported MP4 that Nero Vision created. I have attached to this post a screen shot of the interface showing the preview screen when 'fit' magnification is selected. Gray and black borders are showing. If I reduce the screen to show no gray the black remains. It is part of the MP4 screen. I guess I am stuck with it as this is where the embedded text is positioned at bottom throughout movie. I appreciate your help.