Newbie here,
again. As I said in my previous message, I use avidemux (the x64 2.6 betas now, on Win7), in order to edit quickly my TV recordings from a Dreambox 7020.
Recordings are reported in Avidemux by File, Information as:
image size 544x576, aspect ratio unknown (24:17) or
image size 704x576, aspect ratio unknown (16:11)
Both look quite strange, almost square the first, on Avidemux, while they look fine (4:3, 16:9) on VLC.
If I use Video Output: Copy, Audio Output: Copy, Output Format: AVI Muxer, I get the clip I want, having edited out commercials, etc. Such a video plays in nice proportions (4:3, or 16:9) with VLC, and if I upload it on Youtube, it shows up fine.
But if I want to reencode my clips, to make them smaller in filesize, in x264/mp4, the output clip I get always looks ugly (exactly as the original inside Avidemux) in VLC, not in 4:3 or 16:9 as expected (and the same happens if I upload such a clip in Youtube). Now, if I go to VLC and change under Video, the Aspect Ratio, from Default to 4:3 or 16:9, the one I know that is right, the video will play fine.
It seems like reencoding doesn't "save" that Aspect Ratio information somewhere --or that I don't know how to force it to do so. I don't want to change the actual size of the video.
What am I missing there? I've read about SAR and PAR and DAR but it has not really helped. I would like to save my compressed AVI or MP4 files, and be sure that they will play in their expected sizes, no matter if it is on a software or hardware media player, or if I upload them on Youtube.
Excuse me if this topic has been covered here comprehensively before, yet I haven't found it.
