iPod touch Handbrake settings

[haoqfu]

I'm sorry if this topic has been discussed before, I did some search on this board, and couldn't get a clear answer. So here is my situation. I'm building up my digital movie library by ripping of all the DVDs I own, just as lots of people did as soon as they got their iPhone & Ipod Touch.

However, there are different kinds of dvds in terms of aspects, such as FULL screen, widescreen, enchanced for 16:9 etc. Regardless of the confusing terminology, I found for most region 1 DVDs (north american)can be broken down to 3 different aspect ratios, which is 4:3, 1.85:1 and 2.35:1.

I'm trying to convert the DVDs with the best quality settings, cuz I'm going to watch it on both my macbook pro and future iphone (coming soon). File size isn't really an issue for me, since in most cases I will only have 1 or 2 movies in my iphone.

I know that the best resolution of movies you can put on iPhone is 640*480@30fps and 2.5Mbps. I guess this is the best I can get out of a regular non-widescreen movie that has a ratio of 4:3.

My question is for those movies of ratio 1.85:1 and 2.35:1, what is the best resolution I can get to make it playable on iPhone, the following is the suggestion i came across on this board.
480x272 (16:9 aspect) or 480x204 (2.35 aspect)

Thanks for your reply and sorry for the long read...

 

[clevin]

i can see you really care about the quality. either aspect is playable on iPT or iPhone. you want to preserve whatever the original aspect of the DVD.

 

[haoqfu]

i can see you really care about the quality. either aspect is playable on iPT or iPhone. you want to preserve whatever the original aspect of the DVD.

Thanks, shall I just check "keep ratio" box in handbrake? What size shall I choose?

 

[clevin]

Thanks, shall I just check "keep ratio" box in handbrake? What size shall I choose?

yes,

size? you mean resolution? if so, just put in width as 640, it will calculate height for you automatically.

 

[plinden]

I know that the best resolution of movies you can put on iPhone is 640*480@30fps and 2.5Mbps. I guess this is the best I can get out of a regular non-widescreen movie that has a ratio of 4:3.

Well, the resolution limit isn't quite true - it's based on the number of macroblocks. There must be less than or equal to 1200 16x16 macroblocks.

640x480 will work, as will 720x416 (1.75:1 or approx 16:9) or 800x384 (2.1:1 close to 2.35:1)

It'll be higher resolution than you need for the iPhone though.

 

[haoqfu]

Well, the resolution limit isn't quite true - it's based on the number of macroblocks. There must be less than or equal to 1200 16x16 macroblocks.

640x480 will work, as will 720x416 (1.75:1 or approx 16:9) or 800x384 (2.1:1 close to 2.35:1)

It'll be higher resolution than you need for the iPhone though.

What is macroblocks? Is there anyway I can know the number of the macroblocks based on the setting? 16x16, is this the size of each macroblock?

 

[haoqfu]

yes,

size? you mean resolution? if so, just put in width as 640, it will calculate height for you automatically.

i c.. thanks a lot

 

[plinden]

What is macroblocks? Is there anyway I can know the number of the macroblocks based on the setting? 16x16, is this the size of each macroblock?

"Macroblock" is just what each 16x16 block of pixels is called. I'm not sure where it comes from. If you google "+macroblock +ipod" you get lots of information on this.

Each macroblock is 16x16 pixels. To find the number of macroblocks, multiply the horizontal and vertical resolutions and divide by 16x16 (ie. 256). So 640x480 has 1,200. 720x416 has 1170. 800x384 has 1200.

And the max resolution that's closest to 2.35:1 is 848x352 (1166 macroblocks)

The closest to 1.85:1 is 752x400 (1175 macroblocks)

 

[haoqfu]

"Macroblock" is just what each 16x16 block of pixels is called. I'm not sure where it comes from. If you google "+macroblock +ipod" you get lots of information on this.

Each macroblock is 16x16 pixels. To find the number of macroblocks, multiply the horizontal and vertical resolutions and divide by 16x16 (ie. 256). So 640x480 has 1,200. 720x416 has 1170. 800x384 has 1200.

And the max resolution that's closest to 2.35:1 is 848x352 (1166 macroblocks)

The closest to 1.85:1 is 752x400 (1175 macroblocks)

You are right. That's very helpful!