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Am I the only one who converts to native resolution?

O

ohsnap

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 5, 2004
210
29
I like to convert all my videos that I watch on my iPad (and I watch a lot) to the native screen resolution of the iPad. I hate seeing those black bars and it looks much more impressive when viewed in full screen. I also don't notice any squeezing when viewed on the iPad, so what are your reasons for keeping videos at its original resolution?

Native resolution (640x368):
355nc.png


iPad Resolution (512x384):
qTpQT.png
 
I prefer the first image as the image appears squeezed in the second one. I honestly don't convert/download any movies for my iPad. Netflix and Crackle suit me just fine.

(I have 3 movies from iTunes but they were purchased before I got an iPad.)
 
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HazyCloud said:
I prefer the first image as the image appears squeezed in the second one. I honestly don't convert/download any movies for my iPad. Netflix and Crackle suit me just fine.

(I have 3 movies from iTunes but they were purchased before I got an iPad.)
Click to expand...

To each his own, but when i see squeezing like that, I would rather not watch the movie.
 
brucku said:
To each his own, but when i see squeezing like that, I would rather not watch the movie.
Click to expand...

Agreed. A friend of mine converted a lot of his movies and they look like utter crap on the iPad. It's better to just leave them the way the came, IMO.
 
I guess if you hold the ipad at an extreme angle, it offsets the 'squeeze'. Can't imagine trying to use that over HDMI or AirPlay to a TV set.

I don't convert anything for the 'ipad', I convert to 720p (Apple 2 present in Handbrake) for more 'universal' one-size-fits-all use.
 
355nc.png


qTpQT.png



YUCK!!!

How can you not see the "Squeeze"?

I guess you're still living in Standard Def.
 
dejo said:
But the native resolution on the iPad is 1024x768, which neither of your examples are.
Click to expand...

Half native resolution then. Saves space a lot of space without sacraficing video quality.

xraytech said:
Image

Image


YUCK!!!

How can you not see the "Squeeze"?

I guess you're still living in Standard Def.
Click to expand...

This is what it looks like when viewed on my iPad:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
ohsnap said:
Half native resolution then. Saves space a lot of space without sacraficing video quality.
Click to expand...

Well this settles it. You obviously don't care much about video quality nor do you notice it, and thats fine. But for me, I would never watch a stretched movie, let alone watching a stretched movie with "half native resolution". Thats very off putting.
 
If you just don't like the letterbox bars, leave your movies the correct aspect ratio and double tap the screen to zoom in and lose the bars.

Best of both worlds.
 
I'm trying to see the OP's point but...

Original Aspect Ratio
5860192309_977a6da561_z.jpg


Stretched to fit iPad Aspect Ratio
5860736794_9db37a9f08_o.png



Original Aspect Ratio
5860220765_b7a94230e0_z.jpg


Stretched to fit iPad Aspect Ratio
5860220817_f6981239a8_o.png



Original Aspect Ratio
5860270359_92c864ffd9_z.jpg


Stretched to fit iPad Aspect Ratio
5860822686_6898898fd0_o.png

Still Yuck
 
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For TV Content, maybe, but I still think it looks terrible.

Original Aspect Ratio
5860298919_da1f472de4_z.jpg


Stretched to fit iPad Aspect Ratio
5860851442_65065dea69_o.png



Original Aspect Ratio
5860326927_eaef39c873_z.jpg


Stretched to fit iPad Aspect Ratio
5860880084_bb0022cccd_o.png



Original Aspect Ratio
5860903110_f9f1af4cfc_z.jpg


Stretched to fit iPad Aspect Ratio
5860903168_c26ffa5d86_o.png
 
Last edited:
ohsnap said:
It looks more natural when actually watching it on the iPad.
Click to expand...

If it works for you, that's great. But I don't think you are going to convince anybody else that this is a better way, especially since it takes an extra step to convert it to the iPad aspect ratio. Even if people aren't bothered by the "squeeze," most of them aren't going to bother converting just so they can get rid of the black bars.
 
Night Spring said:
If it works for you, that's great. But I don't think you are going to convince anybody else that this is a better way, especially since it takes an extra step to convert it to the iPad aspect ratio. Even if people aren't bothered by the "squeeze," most of them aren't going to bother converting just so they can get rid of the black bars.
Click to expand...

This thread reminds me of a conversation that I over heard at my local Target. It was way back when they were still selling Movies on VHS & DVDs. Basically the customer service guy was trying to explain "Why the Black Bars" to an older gentleman. I think the movie was Titanic.

Anyways, Agreed. If the OP likes it that way, fine by me.

Also the title of the thread should be changed to, "Am I the only one who converts to iPad Aspect Ratio? Cuz' native iPad resolution is not 640x368.
 
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The irony is that Babylon 5 was originally broadcast in 4:3, so theoretically you can get a version without black bars where it's not horribly squeezed like that. (It was filmed in widescreen, but the effects are all 4:3, so no matter which version you watch, something is cropped.)

--Eric
 
Night Spring said:
If it works for you, that's great. But I don't think you are going to convince anybody else that this is a better way, especially since it takes an extra step to convert it to the iPad aspect ratio. Even if people aren't bothered by the "squeeze," most of them aren't going to bother converting just so they can get rid of the black bars.
Click to expand...

Agreed. What ever works for the OP so be it but it's not going to convince anyone else that it is acceptable because it's not. I still get baffled why black bars bother people and why they insist on getting rid of them at the expense of ruining the image. Everything should be watched in it's original aspect ratio despite the existence and size of the black bars.

The only exception to this is when I'm watching old TV shows on my LCD TV originally filmed in 4:3 I rather watch them stretched on the SD channel rather then with black bars on either side on the HD channel equivalent.
 
Mr.C said:
... Everything should be watched in it's original aspect ratio despite the existence and size of the black bars...
Click to expand...

I so agree!!!

Who in their right mind would view the Original Star Wars Trilogy cropped or squeezed to fill the screen. Sacrilege I tell yah, SACRILEGE!!!
 
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