Vertical compression by TV vs DVD player

Alvin.G. · 07-14-2004, 05:45 PM

When watching anamorphic DVD's on a 4:3 TV, which is better at doing the vertical compression, the setting on the TV vs that one on the DVD player?

If I use the TV setting (ie, set the DVD player to display for a 16:9 display and then set the TV to view anamorphic material), I have to switch to view nonanamorphic material on the DVD, namely the menus and special features. If I set the player to display for a 4:3 TV, it automatically compresses the 16:9 material and leaves the 4:3 stuff unaffected (ie, this is more convenient for me). But, convenience aside, which is going to give me the better picture. Thanks

acg

StephenHa · 07-14-2004, 05:48 PM

all depends on the tv and player some players are better than some tv's and vice versa, which one looks better

ChrisWiggles · 07-14-2004, 06:28 PM

Depends what your TV is doing. What kind of TV do you have? If you're talking about a TV doing a raster squeeze, do that preferably.

It is important that you keep your DVD player in 16:9 mode if possible, as this will maintain the full benefit of anamorphic transfers.

Jeff Gatie · 07-15-2004, 07:32 AM

Quote:

all depends on the tv and player some players are better than some tv's and vice versa, which one looks better

Actually, raster squeeze (16:9 mode) on the TV is always preferable to downconversion in the DVD player. The reason is raster sqeeze preserves the resolution of an anamorphic DVD; downconversion essentially "throws away" every 4th line. Some players are more sophisticated in their downconversion algorithms than others, but all are inferior to displaying the full 480 lines of vertical resolution.

Alvin.G. · 07-15-2004, 08:29 AM

I have a 27" Toshiba, and it does have a 16:9 mode. Do all dvd players use downconversion to modify a 16:9 image? I have a sony player.

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Jeff Gatie · 07-15-2004, 09:03 AM

Quote:

I have a 27" Toshiba, and it does have a 16:9 mode. Do all dvd players use downconversion to modify a 16:9 image? I have a sony player.

When set to 4:3 mode, all DVD players use downconversion to convert an anamorphic DVD. They have to because if they did not, the image would not be displayed correctly; it would be stretched vertically. If you have a 16:9 mode on your TV, set your DVD player to 16:9 and use you tv's 16:9 mode for all anamorphic ("enhanced for 16:9") DVD's.

Jack Briggs · 07-15-2004, 11:27 AM

Simply set your DVD player's picture-setup menu to 16:9 and be done with it. If your Toshiba auto-detects a 16:9 signal and compresses the raster, fine. Or if you have to adjust the Toshiba's raster manually in the user menu, fine. Just leave the DVD player at 16:9 output and you're good to go.

Alvin.G. · 07-15-2004, 11:59 AM

Sounds great. I have to set the 16:9 mode manually, but its more of just a minor annoyance than anything else that I have to switch it back to view 4:3 material on the DVD.

Thanks for the help.

acg



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