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HDTV and DVD aspect ratios

balamw

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Aug 16, 2005
19,365
980
New England
Grrrr....

I thought I had this figured out...

I've got a Sony DVD player hooked up to my Samsung LN-S4051D via component cables. When I watch a 4:3 DVD the picture is now stretched to fill the screen. Why?

The DVD player and TV are both set to 16:9 and there is a setting on the DVD player for 4:3 mode (normal or full). I have it set to normal. I have to set the TV to 4:3 to make it work without stretching or cropping. Previously it had been working OK side letterboxed for 4:3 full screen for 16:9 top and bottom letterbox for wider movies.

Any thoughts?

I'm saving my other HDMI port for an iTV, so I'm not considering an upscailng DVD player at this time...

B
 
balamw said:
Grrrr....

I thought I had this figured out...

I've got a Sony DVD player hooked up to my Samsung LN-S4051D via component cables. When I watch a 4:3 DVD the picture is now stretched to fill the screen. Why?

The DVD player and TV are both set to 16:9 and there is a setting on the DVD player for 4:3 mode (normal or full). I have it set to normal. I have to set the TV to 4:3 to make it work without stretching or cropping. Previously it had been working OK side letterboxed for 4:3 full screen for 16:9 top and bottom letterbox for wider movies.

Any thoughts?

I'm saving my other HDMI port for an iTV, so I'm not considering an upscailng DVD player at this time...

B
Click to expand...

-balamw

Sounds to me you are forcing the resolution. Most DVD's these days aren't "Letterbox" per se, but "Anamorphic Widescreen", meaning the DVD is smart enough to size itself. Have you considered relaxing your settings a bit? For example - set only the DVD player to 16:9?
 
patrick0brien said:
-balamw

Sounds to me you are forcing the resolution. Most DVD's these days aren't "Letterbox" per se, but "Anamorphic Widescreen", meaning the DVD is smart enough to size itself. Have you considered relaxing your settings a bit? For example - set only the DVD player to 16:9?
Click to expand...

The TVs settings only picture size settings are 4:3, 16:9 Zoom 1 and Zoom 2. The two zoom settings crop 4:3, so they're out. Setting 4:3 on the TV squeezes anamorphic content. My kids probably pushed some button since it was working the way it's supposed.

My DirecTiVos work fine, but I can't get either TV to deal with DVDs right consistently. Including the Toshiba and it's built-in DVD player. :(

EDIT: Seems like my hunch may be right. I reread the manual for the DVD player and it says the 4:3 padding for 16:9 TVs is only active when progressive mode is selected. I guess the kids pushed the button.

B
 
MacNut said:
Are the DVD's widescreen or fullscreen format.
Click to expand...

Both, that's the nub of it.

I found the problem as I suspected one of the kids must have pushed the progressive button on the front of the DVD player, thus disabling the 16:9 padding of 4:3 DVDs.

B
 
mkrishnan said:
:D

I've gotten used to it, to be honest. I watch SDTV in widescreen on mine.... I got used to it fairly quickly. And I'm not that bothered by the switch when I watch DVD...
Click to expand...

You know what this means, don't you? End-times are surely upon us!

I refuse to have my standards corrupted. ;)
 
MacNut said:
Thats why every dvd I buy is in widescreen.
Click to expand...

I wish every show/program that I like was available in widescreen. :p

FWIW I've enjoyed catching some elder shows that were shot on film and transferred to HD like the X-Files on TNTHD or UHD, but the DVD releases are straight SD 4:3.

B
 
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