Video conversion help

[jaysus]

I'm in the process of building an HTPC and in preparation for the last of the bits arriving I'm in the process of making a lot of video files I have viewable on there. The plan is to be able to watch them comfortably on a 42" TV using XBMC. That's the aim. I'm struggling to get a full size, full quality output though.

I've been using Handbrake to convert video files from their source (VIDEO_TS) to MP4 files to make them easier to transfer to the HTPC HDD later on, and as XBMC seems to prefer a single file. Using the preset Regular/Normal in Handbrake I've burned a few files which come out well enough although smaller than I expected - about 1GB each, rather than the full 7GB that their source folder contains. I plugged the PC into my TV using a the VGA port on the TV, and whilst the quality was good it was only taking up around half of the screen running at 16:9. I tried adjusting the resolution on the PC but it wouldn't go up (GPU is a GTX 470) so I couldn't get it to go full screen.

So now I'm wondering if I need to do something with the original conversion to MP4 process to make it full screen. Has anyone got any ideas?

 

[Rainmaker]

Well if you're ripping DVD, they're only 720x480 and Handbrake will be ripping them to a standardised size (it's aimed primarily at Apple/portable devices). Try using Freemake (which will also enable you to use your gfx card via CUDA for faster encode times) and set the output to either MKV or AVI. It will automagically set the target bitrate and file size, but you can easily amend these to suit your taste by clicking on the little cog icon under the profile setting to customise it.

Your TV should be upscaling the output files I'd have thought, but Freemake allows you to set the output target (TV, etc) anyway. Have a play around, it's much more intuitive - and has a better GUI - than Handbrake.

 

[jaysus]

I'll give that a go - cheers!