Handbrake DVD Rip Picture Size question?

[DaGrandMastah]

This may be a completely dumb and total newbie question (I never rip DVD's) but I'm currently trying to digitize some of the older DVD releases I have at home in hopes of clearing space. I've been using Handbrake with the Apple TV 2 setting on whatever defaults and one thing I'm noticing is that, after ripping the DVD, the picture size is small (let's say less than a 1/4 of the screen size on my 21 iMac). Is there a reason why that happens? When you stretch out the picture to fill the whole screen won't it get very "pixely" that way?

Is there a way to make the actual picture size bigger or is this a normal part of DVD ripping?

I'd like to keep my files iTunes/idevice compatible so I can transfer them around if need be.

The reason I ask is cause I've seen DVD rips of movies in the past that had a much bigger picture....am I doing something wrong with my actual ripping process for these dvd's or is this all normal?

 

[rpenzinger]

The resolution of your iMac screen is way higher than the 480 lines the DVD has. For example my iMac is 1080. Viewing the digital movie at 100% resolution would make it about 1/4 of the screen.

It will view correctly on your ATV.

 

[Sedulous]

This may be a completely dumb and total newbie question (I never rip DVD's) but I'm currently trying to digitize some of the older DVD releases I have at home in hopes of clearing space. I've been using Handbrake with the Apple TV 2 setting on whatever defaults and one thing I'm noticing is that, after ripping the DVD, the picture size is small (let's say less than a 1/4 of the screen size on my 21 iMac). Is there a reason why that happens? When you stretch out the picture to fill the whole screen won't it get very "pixely" that way?

Is there a way to make the actual picture size bigger or is this a normal part of DVD ripping?

I'd like to keep my files iTunes/idevice compatible so I can transfer them around if need be.

The reason I ask is cause I've seen DVD rips of movies in the past that had a much bigger picture....am I doing something wrong with my actual ripping process for these dvd's or is this all normal?

DVD is standard definition. So usually they are not more than 480 (tall) x 700 pixels. So yes, if you scale it past that size, it will reveal lack of detail. In order to get a larger image that is sharp, the source material must be higher resolution. For example, many people convert bluray to an intermediate size (720 pixels tall) or full HD (1080 pixels tall). Few mainstream media sources exceed 1080p.