How can I make the 16x9 video I shot in my DVD camcorder look right on a 4:3 screen?

Question

I accidently set my camcorder to record in widescreen 16x9 format. When I converted the video to DVD format, and burned the DVD, the video came out squashed on our 4:3 tv screen.

I've set our camcorder back to the 4:3 aspect ratio, but is there any way I can fix this 16x9 video to look right on our TV?

Answer 1

In editing, use "letterboxing". This will make the finished video appear on the 4:3 TV with black bars on the top and the bottom. Happens all the time when you watch movies on TV and they are in wide-screen format that the 4:3 TV cannot handle...