I need to settle this once and for all.
The proper PAR and SAR for PAL SD material.
The 720x576 SAR is the standard for both 16:9 and 4:3 material.
But the problem starts when PAR and nominal analogue blanking come into place.
VLC displays content in 1,067 PAR, which is correct for 720x576 DV video (720*1,067=768), however VEGAS uses 1,094 PAR, that is correct for 702x576 which is the ITU standard (702*1,094=768) and when 702 active pixels are inside 720x576 raster with 18 pixels of nominal analogue blanking on both sides, however then it looks like this 720*1,094=788 with proper 702->768 inside with blanking on both sides.
When transfering VHS tape into DV codec the resulting 720x576 has blanking on sides and the active video is 702x576 that should use 1,094 PAR, however VLC will play it with 1,067 wrong PAR (custom aspect ratio does not fix the screenshot however), Vegas will use correct 1,094 PAR.
Now the opposite situation happens with DV 720x576, VLC plays it correctly at 1,067 PAR, but Vegas will stretch it with 1,094 PAR.
The problem I have, is that I have no idea which PAR to use to master an SD project for VHS transfer, should I use full 720x576 resolution with 1,067 PAR, or should I use ITU resolution of 702x576 active image inside 720x576 container with blanking 18 pixels and PAR of 1,094.
It would be very helpful, if wikipedia articles about D1 and D2 tapes would specify which PAR they used, as they were primary masters for VHS tapes back in the day.
Not to mention that some sources say PAL was 704x576 with totally different PAR, (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standa...ion_television)...
Or is DV 720x576 in 1,094 PAR and the additional 18 pixels are simply the overscan, that should not be visible on TV, but is visible on PC and should be exported as 788x576 square pixels?