Zenn wrote:
In that case it might be useful to know that you are accessing Usenet
newsgroups (such as this one) through Google Groups, but this is not a
Google service. Usenet is a much older and more wide-spread service than
Google. You can read more about it here:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet>
There are many other servers for accessing Usenet groups (including this
group) than just "groups.google.com".
Usenet servers (and newsgroups) are not usually accessed with a web
browser at all (they don't usually even offer that kind of option -
Google is an exception), but with a specific "newsreader" program that
speaks NNTP protocol. For example, Outlook Express or Mozilla
Thunderbird can be used as newsreaders - for reading the discussions and
posting to newsgroups in a more convenient way than with a web browser.
* * *
The 16:9 aspect ratio can be used in both HD and SD resolutions. Since
you mention HD in this context, I assume you must be from North America
where 16:9 is commonly associated with HD.
In Europe, full frame ("anamorphic") 16:9 (the "16F16" format) is
commonly used in SD environments, for (digital) SD broadcasts, and for
viewing DVDs. Many people here have an SD resolution 16:9 tv set. HD
broadcasts are not yet really established.
Are you talking about the full frame ("anamorphic") 16:9 format (the
"16F16" format) or an 16:9 image "letterboxed" (padded with black
borders) into a 4:3 frame (the "16L12" format)? The latter format wastes
a considerable amount of resolution on black bars.
And in what way poor? How are you viewing the pictures? Do you have a
16:9 tv set? Is it an HD set or an SD set?
The HD version(s) of the 16:9 image format have a vastly better
resolution, of course.
What is this "everything else"? A video DVD can hold pictures in three
different formats: 12F12 (full frame 4:3), 16F16 (full frame 16:9), and
16L12 (16:9 image letterboxed into a 4:3 frame). Videos in all these
formats can be stored on the same DVD. (Some simple DVD authoring
programs only allow single format per disc, though.),
If you only need to store the 16:9 video on the DVD, that can be done
without changing its aspect ratio in any way.
By "anamorphic 4:3" you probably mean "anamorphic 16:9" (16F16).
The choice of formats depends on what you intend to do. Are you going to
edit together a single video program from several sources, some of them
4:3 and some of them 16:9, which you will cut and paste and interleave
between each other? Or are you going to store several separate video
clips on the DVD (for example, by making them selectable from a menu) -
some of them in the 4:3 format and some of them in the 16:9 format?
Whether aspect ratio conversions will work automatically or not really
depends on the editing program you are planning to use.
--
znark
