Apple Compressor 3 - Manual (Page 199)

Video Format Tab
You use the Video Format tab to make settings related to video formats, frame rates,
aspect ratio, field dominance, and timecode. All of these, except the timecode setting,
can be set to automatically configure themselves based on the video being encoded.
The Video Format tab contains the following controls.
• Video Format pop-up menu: Choose your output video file format as NTSC, PAL, 720p,
HD 1440x1080, HD 1920x1080, or a variety of versions of 640 width formats. The Stream
Usage setting determines which of these formats are actually available. When you
choose a Video Format setting, the other settings in this tab will be filled in with default
values, or they will be dimmed, indicating that there are no options for that setting.
The NTSC and PAL items refer to standard definition settings for the NTSC and PAL TV
standards. Of the major-market DVD regions, NTSC is used in North America and Japan,
and PAL is used throughout Europe.
Generally, the output video format should match the source video format. For interlaced
video originating from traditional NTSC or PAL camcorders, choose NTSC or PAL from
this pop-up menu. If you are unsure of what your source media file’s video format is,
you can choose Automatic. This setting analyzes your source media clip’s frame rate
to determine the correct video format.
If you click the video format Automatic button, the GOP size is limited to 12 or 15 (based
on whether the video is PAL or NTSC), with a closed IBBP pattern. With Automatic
selected, you cannot change the frame rate setting in this tab, or the GOP settings in
the GOP tab. See
Understanding GOPs and Frame Types for more information about
GOPs.
Video Format Automatic
button
199 Chapter 18 Creating MPEG-2 Output Files