I am transfering home movies from my Sony TRV19E Mini DV tape camera to DVD-R.
I want to archive and "future proof" my video files as much as possible and have some questions regarding aspect ratio. I am using Windows Movie maker to capture files to my PC as the CyberLink software (Power Producer 2 Gold) that came with my LG GSA4163B constantly implodes.

To avoid image distortion I take it I must capture to the PC from the camera in the same aspect ratio that was selected in the camera when the tape was shot. Is this true? For example if I shoot with the camera set to 4:3 and capture to the PC at 16:9, will I get a distorted image on any DVD created from the resulting PC file?

Which ratio should I be shooting and capturing in? Will all TV sets in the near future be 16:9, or will 4:3 sets remain? What if I create a DVD from footage shot and captured at 16:9 and play it on a 4:3 TV, will it work without distortion? What about the reverse situation (shot and captured in 4:3 and played on a 16:9 TV)?

Do I get less picture area when I shoot in 16:9 than in 4:3?
I am in Australia (PAL TV system).
Can I count on DVDs I burn now being of use 100 years from now? (if we haven't destroyed ourselves by then)
Any advice or references to other info sources appreciated.

Well I am sure the disk will last 100 years but I don't know about the data.
I have heard of movies fading and having problems of skipping and freezing after only being burned two years earlier. It happens with even well known makers.

As to the life of DVDs, these guys are doing a long term study that should run 2 years or so. They are hoping to develop a guide to useful life based on media code. In the mean time, you will get your best chance at long lifespan with TY or MCC media burned at 8X or less.

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/isis/....html#writable

Generally is the slower the burn, the better the burn?
(I returned my LG and got a BenQ. The LG's software gave me problems.)

Generally, burning at the rated speed is better. Some +R will do better at slower speeds (R03 for example) and some -R is worse at slower speeds (G05). For some media, the opposite is true.

In general the people at the NIST consider media burned at slower speeds to have a longer useful life and that is what I was referring to. Just how much longer and how much slower is yet to be determined.

It Would be Very Nice if Some Clude up Person, Who know all about "RATIOs" would answer carpark's Question....Then I would get to know the Answer at long last..So will Hundreds of others too...

I keep doing mine in the 4:3 ratio because it still looks ok in some 16:9 TVs...
But would the other way round also work..If so then i'll switch to the 16:9..
Mines PAL-uk..

Any time you change aspect ratio you WILL have some distortion. Sometimes it is marginal. Kind of like watching a wide screen movie on a full screen tv. You can find a lot of guides, tutorials, and information about this at www.dvdrhelp.com .

Nah, you can change the aspect ratio by cropping either the top and bottom (4:3>16:9) or the sides (16:9>4:3). If you dont have anything important around the edges then this is the best way to convert the aspect ratio.

I cant see much future left for 4:3 TVs, so I encode all my video at 16:9 (even if it means cropping).