Canadian Memento Aspect Ratio Problem? (1 Viewer)

[Mark McLeod]

I rented this one the other night and watched it on my primary system (Panasonic A320). It was late I was tired having had to deal with some stuff during the day. So I popped the disc in and watched it. So today when I go to look at the box and get ready to return it to the store after I note down all the technical specs so I can review the disc. I see that it's 2.35:1 scope but I don't recall the movie being scope when I watched it. So I look at the disc again and my Panasonic player is playing it back as 1.85:1. I think ok it's the disc Alliance has screwed up another release so I go upstairs and try it in my parents player (Pioneer DV-333) and low and behold it displays properly there. Well not entirely correct the subtitles are automatically turned on.
This is the first problem disc I've encountered with my Panasonic A320. I thought it might be a player problem but I tested it with numerous other discs and all was fine.
Could there be an encoding error on this disc?
Anyone else have any problems with it.
Mark

 

[Elliott Willschick]

I have a panasonic A310 so I can't directly comment but I have had no problem witht he Canadian Memento. I am using it on a 16x9 tv and it is in the correct aspect ratio. If all of your other discs are fine then I would exchange it for another one.

 

[Kami]

The Canadian version is the correct aspect ratio with my player...Panasonic RV31.
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-Adam
(a.k.a. kami)
My budding DVD collection

 

[Mark McLeod]

Well I tested the disc on my friend's A310 and he had a problem so I rented another one and the problems were still present.
There is something up with that disc.

 

[Mark McLeod]

Does anyone have a cover scan or can tell me if the back of the box says it's enhanced for 16x9 displays because I'm certain that these two copies I've tested aren't. Also I forgot to mention that when I popped the disc in the Pioneer it defaulted to English subtitles. Same thing with my DVD-rom drive
Overall I'm very disappointed in this release from Alliance and will try and get the US Tristar one.
The transfer isn't very good on this disc either compared to what I've read about the US disc.

 

[Jeff]

I'm pretty sure it was 1.85:1 when I saw it on my Wega (with 16x9 mode) and Panasonic RV80. I don't recall it being 2.35:1. It must have been enhanced, though, because I definitely would have noticed a problem with my TV's 16x9 mode on.
I'll also be comparing the video of the US and Canadian releases next week so I'll report back. I'm betting the US version will win since it's dual layer and the Alliance version is NOT!
Jeff

 

[Kwang Suh]

The Canadian version of this movie is 16:9 enhanced, with a 2.35:1 ratio.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Could there possibly be an issue with the built in P&S in the players so that it zooms in on it to look like 1.85:1?
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[Mark McLeod]

I'm not aware of any built in P&S mode on the Panasonic players (A310, A320) I used to test the disc. I tried two different copies of the disc and still had problems. I've never had problems with a disc before on the Panasonic. It played fine on the Pioneer I have though. Well not fine it the subtitles turned on my default. I'm pretty sure there's something wacky about the encoding on the disc.
M.
[Edited last by Mark McLeod on September 09, 2001 at 04:59 AM]

 

[Ken Seeber]

All DVD players have a built-in pan and scan mode for discs that are so encoded.
Under your player's set-up menu, you need to choose either 4:3 widescreen (or letterbox), 4:3 pan and scan, or 16:9, depending on what type of TV you have. If the disc is encoded for on-the-fly pan and scan, and your player is set to 4:3 pan and scan, this could explain what you're seeing. Make sure your DVD player is set to 4:3 letterbox if you have a non-widescreen TV.
"Memento" was 2.35:1 in theaters. If your player is zooming the picture it would appear to be 1.85:1, because the in-player pan and scan won't zoom a 2.35:1 picture to completely fill the screen.
The only other thing I can think of is that your player is set to 16:9, which (if you're watching on a 4:3 TV) would make the picture appear to be 1.85:1, but vertically stretched.
I doubt that's what's happening, though, because you certainly would have noticed this with other anamorphically enhanced DVDs.

 

[GerardoHP]

This totally sounds like an on-the-fly-pan-and-scan issue. The reason why you're seeing other movies in 2.35:1 is probably because they're not encoded for on-the-fly pan and scan. Re-set your DVD player and the problem should be over, and you should be able to see MEMENTO in its correct scope aspect ratio.
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Gerardo

 

[Mark McLeod]

Gerardo,
Reset what on the DVD player I went through all the setup menus and there wasn't nothing regarding on the fly pan and scan. Infact, I find it quite hard to believe that none of my other 200 discs would be encoded this way. I do believe there is an encoding problem on the disc.
M.

 

[cafink]

Reset what on the DVD player I went through all the setup menus and there wasn't nothing regarding on the fly pan and scan. Infact, I find it quite hard to believe that none of my other 200 discs would be encoded this way. I do believe there is an encoding problem on the disc.

Off the top of my head, I can think of less than a half dozen discs to ever use the feature, so don't be so surprised.

 

[Mark McLeod]

Carl.
Could you share a list of the ones you can remember so If I have any of them I can test those disc.
M.

 

[MichaelPe]

Reset what on the DVD player I went through all the setup menus and there wasn't nothing regarding on the fly pan and scan

I find it very hard to believe that your DVD player does not have a menu in the setup that lets you choose the shape of your TV (e.g. 16x9, 4x3LBX, 4x3P&S).

 

[Mark McLeod]

It does and there are two options. 4x3 and 16x9 and it's on 4:3. There is nothing about on the fly pan and scan that I can find.
I tried both.. It plays back exactly the same in both modes.
M.

 

[GerardoHP]

Now, I just tried with my MEMENTO DVD and it doesn't seem to have on-the-fly P&S, but it sounds to me like that's what you're dealing with here.
I don't know how the display set-up works on your DVD player, but basically you would go to SET-UP (there may be a button called "set-up" or "aspect ratio" on your remote) and then to the VIDEO display options, where you would normally find three options:
4X3 (pan and scan)
4X3 (letterbox)
16X9 (wide)
Make sure that you choose and save 16x9, otherwise a DVD encoded with on-the-fly P&S could play in 1.85:1. I recently discovered this when, not realizing that I had changed the settings on my player, I ran one of the trailers for HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE from the DVD of the same name and just about flipped when it played in 1.85:1 (I had watched it before in scope).
I'm curious to hear how your experimentation turns out.
Good luck.
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Gerardo

 

[Ken Seeber]

Make sure that you choose and save 16x9, otherwise a DVD encoded with on-the-fly P&S could play in 1.85:1.

Gerardo,
Mark would only want to choose 16:9 if he owns a widescreen TV. If he owns a standard TV he would want 4:3 letterbox.

 

[Damin J Toell]

It does and there are two options. 4x3 and 16x9 and it's on 4:3. There is nothing about on the fly pan and scan that I can find.
I tried both.. It plays back exactly the same in both modes.

if you've got a 4:3 TV, the video should look different when your DVD player is set to 4:3 than when it's set to 16:9. try comparing other anamorphic discs you have; in 16:9 mode, everything should looked vertically stretched out.
DJ

 

[Mark McLeod]

Ok..
I just found a setting under "Other Settings" that allows me to switch from 4:3 LB to 4:3 PS. It seems to have been set at 4:3 PS which may or may not cause this problem. I no longer have the disc so I can't be sure. I might rent the disc again later this morning to see if setting it to 4:3 LB makes a difference. Again I haven't had a problem with this before and I shouldn't have to switch modes.
So my question here is should the player be set to 4:3 PS or 4:3 LB. I don't want anything pan and scanned so it appears that I have the player set incorrectly. I could have sworn the thing was 4:3 LB and maybe some one in my family was messing with the thing though they know that's a punishable offence. I may only be the 19 year old but the parents and little sister know not to touch the system. One time my sister tried to get the subwoofer to work and thrashed all my settings so maybe she lapsed in judgement again.
Now I want to rent the disc to see if the 4:3LB thing was the culprit. ARGH..