tech speak
No more stretched or squeezed videos
All videos have prescribed dimensions - width and height. These dimensions are primarily defined by the number of pixels (picture dots) horizontally and vertically.
A video with a dimension of 400 by 300 is 400 pixels wide, by 300 pixels high.
Where things get messed up
In the process of putting a video on the Web, the ratio (or proportion) between the width and height dimensions may be altered in a way that causes an unsightly stretch or squeeze of the picture. People look too fat or skinny.
You can reliably change the dimensions of a video as long as the ratio between the width and height remains the same. If the ratio changes, then the picture won't look right.
A 400 by 300 video presented as 320 by 240 looks normal, because the ratio between width and height have not been altered - both are a ratio of 1.33:1
Conversely, if you take that 400 by 300 video and make it 240 by 240, then the width is too narrow in relation to the height. The ratio has changed, and so the picture looks wrong.
You may get a stretched or squeezed video if:
- You convert a desktop movie to a Web video and don't keep the proper aspect ratio. Most conversion programs automatically keep the right aspect ratio when you change the height or width, but you can over-ride the setting. Exercise care.
- You convert a movie from your camcorder that was recorded in wide screen (i.e. 16:9) format. You'll want to pre-convert these videos using software that came with your camcorder, or a quality video editing program such as Sony Vegas. You'll still get a wide screen video, but the pixels that make up the picture will be formatted for use with Flash video.
- You use a Web video that lacks proper metadata. Metadata is used by the Adobe Flash Player to store, among other things, the width and height dimensions of the video. If this metadata is missing, the video may not display properly.
- You view the video in fullscreen mode on a monitor that is set to "fill out" the video to the entire screen. This is a user setting, and does not mean others will view the video the same way.
The importance of metadata
Most Flash video players, like Playola World of Color, are designed to show videos using the dimensions stored in the metadata of the video file.
This is why, even if you define a player that does not use the same width/height ratio of the video, the picture does not stretch out or squeeze. Instead, the video is shown letterboxed (black or colored bands on the top or bottom) or pillarboxed (black or colored bands on the sides).
See our quick review of the top commercial Flash video converts for more information on metadata.
