HDMI/DVI and 4:3 aspect ratio questions (1 Viewer)

[Dave>h]

Hi,

I just purchased a Toshiba sd6890 (upconverting DVD to 1080i), and have connected it to my Samsung DLP via HDMI/dvi. When I try to watch a TV DVD scaled in OAR of 4:3, the TV does not allow me to change the aspect ratio to 4:3, instead the picture is scaled to 16:9 and there is no opportunity to adjust it. The TV will not allow any change in aspect ratio while DVI is the input source.

My question is: Is HDMI/DVI only 16:9 output or have I done something wrong? I would like to be able to watch my TV dvd's in their OAR but maybe i will not be able to watch them on the upconverting DVD through DVI?

Thanks very much for any and all enlightenment on this issue.

Dave

 

[John Whittle]

Do you have the option in the SD6890 to set the screen size to 16:9 or is it set to 3:4? I'm not surprised the set won't change, but the DVD player should output a pillar boxed picture--but I don't have that player.

John

 

[Dave>h]

I have the DVD player set to widescreen as the TV type (and my TV is widescreen). I am using the 1080i setting as the output through the HDMI/DVI.

One thing I did notice is that now when I scroll through the HDMI output options, 480p produces an image much smaller than the screen size. The image gets progressively bigger as I scroll through the HDMI option (480p takes up about half the screen, 760P gets larger, 768p gets larger still and 1080I fills the screen). That is kind of strange isn't it? I would have thought that the output option would not effect the size of the image produced as the image produced from a size perspective should not be effected by the type of output?

That makes me think it is the TV doing something funny with the output signal. Not sure why that would be the case but that is what it seems like to me.

Thanks again for any help on this.

Does anyone else use an upconvert DVD player combined with a Samsung DLP. I would really like to hear from you.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Allan Jayne]

THe HDTV formats 1080i and 720p are normally 16:9 only. The source is responsible for side squeezing 4:3 pictures and inserting side black/gray pillars.

Should the TV also refuse to do all of its aspect ratio selections for 480p (DVD playuer in progressive scan but not upconverting) consider returning the TV. 480p is not an inherently 16:9 format.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[John Whittle]

Is there an option in the tv HDMI setup for "native" display (which should take the source the way it's sent).

It seems like the tv and the dvd player are fighting each other over the scaling. Bottom line, you should see if you can see any improvement in picture between component cables at 480P and HDMI. If not, then just use the 480P output and adjust the tv for aspect ratio. It's changing the picture to match the screen anyway so it might not be worth the effort to feed it an SD 480P source thru an upconverting dvd player.

The real test will come with a true HD DVD player with HDMI and what it and the set do with 3:4 material either from a SD disc or a HD disc.

John

 

[John S]

Hmmm, I have run into this same thing. For TV/4:3/non-anamorphic you would have to go back to svideo. Not as bad as it seems since those sources just typically are not of enough qulaity to really make much if any difference.

But that is what you need to do.

 

[Don Solosan]

When I want to watch 4:3 material that fills my screen, I have to set my projector to "full screen" and my DVD player to "4:3."

I'm running a V D2 Bravo to a Plus Piano projector via DVI cable.

If I don't make these adjustments, the image appears much smaller in the center of the screen. It's not squeezed, just smaller.

 

[Tom C]

I have the Panny S-77 with the Sony 36XS955. If I watch a 4x3 disc with the Panny set to 1080i, then I get a 1080i 4x3 picture which is squashed down to 16x9. When I set the Panny to 480p, the picture displays properly at 4x3. I would guess that my Sony sees the 1080i and figures it's 16x9 or something and squashes the picture. Yours is probably doing basically the same thing.

 

[Ronn.W]

My Oppo has a setting where it automatically pillar boxes 4:3 material. It's where you set the screen type. Along with the familiar Wide/FS Letterbox/FS Pan&Scan options is Wide/Squeeze. I know other upconverting players have a similar option, but not all. Doesn't hurt to doublecheck on yours.

 

[Dave>h]

Thanks for all your help!

The problem appeared to be with the DVD player and TV not speaking the same language (or something equal to that).

Once I changed the ouput to 480P, the TV would let me do 4:3. Using the other output options on the DVD player caused the TV to process the image into 16X9.

Given the source material - all my 4:3 ratio stuff is old TV shows on DVD - I am not too fussed about the "lesser" picture because the source material wasn't that great to begin with.

I will just use my upconverting DVD player for 16:9 material and will use the old 5 disc dvd for tv shows and the like.

Thanks again for all your comments, they were very helpful!

Dave