Optimizing Widescreen in DVDA
 

OK, I'm going to preface this by saying I realize this is a super basic question but I just don't totally get it.

Working with video shot 16:9 HDV and downrezed to 720x480 16:9. The video is mixed with animations with a PAR of 1.0 (if that matters).

When authoring in DVDA it defauts to 720x480 at 4:3. Under optimize I have the option to change that to 16:9. At 4:3 the image fills my entire large HD TV screen and at 16:9 it is letterboxed. Otherwise I don't see much difference in the video. I'd like some advice on which setting to burn the DVD at. I suspect there are differences too subtle for my untrained eyes.

Also, I understand when everyone had square TVs and we'd get the widescreen DVD it would be letterboxed, but now that we have rectangular TVs why does it still letterbox the video? Wasnt that the whole point of making rectangular TVs?

Anyway, I apologize in advance for my ignorance and appreciate any input.

In theory, all media should match your project properties (File - Properties) which, in this case (in Vegas), should be "NTSC DV Widescreen (720x480, 29.970 fps)" with a PAR of "1.2121 (NTSC DV Widescreen)".
Did you do a "Match Output Aspect" on your animations?

In DVDA, set your project properties (File - Properties) to "NTSC Widescreen (720x480).

If everything was done right from Vegas (including the bitrate & audio stream), you shouldn't need to optimize anything.