Anamorphic DVD's? Do they automatically morph to fit wide-screen? (1 Viewer)

[Matt Odegard]

Well this question is for my buddy who wants to get a WS TV. He'll be using an XBOX for a DVD player. He wants to know if their a option for this on the DVD menu, XBOX menu, or does it automatically morph to fill the widescreen TV?

 

[Ray H]

He may have to set his X-Box (if you can) to 16x9 so it won't look squished.

 

[James Bergeron]

Are you asking if a 2.35:1 movie will fitt on the 16x9 display?

No, the movie will still have black bars. This has probably been asked a 100 times here. Do a quick search and check out some of the widescreen information pages.

The ratio of a 16x9 set is about 1.78:1 so NO a widescreen movie will not fit it perfectly.

 

[Clinton McClure]

But because of anamporhic enhancement on a DVD, a widescreen set will have a better picture when viewing that DVD.

 

[Jack Briggs]

The word "anamorphic" is really misleading when it comes to DVD. There is nothing akin to anamorphic cinematography and projection going on here.

A more accurate description would be "16:9-encoded DVD."

And all an "anamorphic" DVD is is one that has been encoded to present all its 480 lines of horizontal resolution in a 16:9 window—nothing more, nothing less.

Set your DVD player to output at 16:9, and have at it (and a dedicated, stand-alone DVD player would be better than an X-Box).

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yeah, I believe he was inquiring about anamorphic enhancment in general and not only about 2.35:1 films. As stated, set the player to 16x9 mode and every dvd or game that is 16x9 enhanced will automatically squeeze. Just tell your friend that he still has to set the screen on the t.v. to the proper setting so as not to distort the image. The setting is labled 'FULL' on my 16x9, it may be different for his though.

 

[Eric S M]

Keep in mind also that the XBOX won't output a progressive scan signal when playing DVD movies. It does so for games but doesn't for movies.

So, someone correct me if I'm wrong, anamorphic or enhanced for 16x9 won't really matter with the XBOX.

Eric

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

This is completely wrong. Progressive scan signal and anamorphic enhancement are two completely different and mutually exclusive concepts. You can playback a non-anamorphic title progressively- and you can also have 16:9 enhanced material played back interlaced.

To answer the question of the original poster:
The xbox device will be set to 16:9, telling the player you have a 16:9 display device. Once it is set as such, any material that has anamorphic enhancement will be passed "stretched" from the player to the display.

The display will have several picture modes. The correct mode for the anamorphic picture will need to be selected- and the picture will be formatted correctly (what the name of the mode is will be idfferent for different manufacturers- but if you post here the display type, someone will tell you).

On a side note- you can leave the xbox set to "16:9" at all times. If the xbox encounters a disc which is not 16:9 enhanced- it will pass it "correctly" and you will again adjust the TV set mode.

For example, if you were to pop in the new South Park DVD- which features TV material intended for 4:3 display- the xbox will pass this and your TV must be set to properly format the 4:3 material (with bars on the side).

So the answer is: No it's not "automatic". The player will supply the "right" signal once you tell it your screen format- but different display modes must manually be selected on the set to format the picture.

Hope that helps.

-vince

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Progressive scan signal and anamorphic enhancement are two completely different and mutually exclusive concepts.

It is true that they are different concepts and have nothing to do with one another, but they are not "mutually exclusive". That would mean that you can have progressive scan or anamorphic enhancement, but not both. This is not the case.

Re: Sets adjusting themselves automatically to a "16:9-enhanced" signal. Some will, some won't. The player has to be told that is connected to a widescreen display, so that it sends the raw DVD image to the screen, and the TV takes over from there, either automatically adjusting or reqiring the viewer to select the correct mode manually. This isn't very hard to do (one or two clicks of the remote) so I'm not sure why your friend considers this an issue. (Oh, and tell him to spend a few bucks and buy a real DVD player.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[Andrew s wells]

I think some people are a little harsh when they speak of the xbox's DVD playing. It may not be top of the line, but it is very good looking. The overall difference in quality may not be enough for someone to go out and spend 130 or so more dollars for a stand alone player to do pretty much the same thing. Just thought i would put in a different perspective.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Speaking personally, I have PS2 and would never use it as my primary dvd player for the simple reason that I bought it to function as a game console first and foremost. Usage of the dvd portion just puts unnecessary wear and tear on the hardware, my brother killed his PS2 because he used it for a dvd player all the time. In fact i've had it for over a year and the only time I ever put a dvd in it was AVIA to calibrate my game channel.

If the guy is going to go out and get an HDTV, he shouldn't skimp on the player. A stand alone dvd player with good progressive circuitry is miles better than what the XBOX could do.

 

[Andrew s wells]

So john.. even taking into consideration 3:2 pulldown, a standalone progressive player would be THAT much different?I am curious, as i have never seen a progressive player on an HDTV. But isnt 3:2 pulldown essentially progressive mode supplied by the tv? I have a toshiba 50h81 by the way

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Well Andrew, I won't pretend to know all about 3.2 pulldown, however I have seen true progressive on an HDTV both on mine and a friends. I just don't believe that Microsoft intended that sort of extranious use for the XBOX's dvd portion. You have all this hardware that is crammed into one housing, quality may be getting lost somewhere as opposed to a stand alone DEDICATED piece of hardware that was designed for that very purpose.

Besides, as stated, I don't think that XBOX even does progressive with dvd as it does with games.

Its just something to think about, JVC makes a progressive player that can be had for $160 and change.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

There is nothing akin to anamorphic cinematography and projection going on here.

The same general idea is at work, horizontally "squeezing" an image until it fits in the frame without cropping.

RD

 

[Matt Odegard]

Yes, I totally agree that a stand alone DVD player would be best. Especially on a HDTV. When I switch to non-progressive it looks terrible on my HD, a 51" 4:3 Panny. By the way it will be a 47-53" wide-screen Panny for my friend. XBOX for DVD playback is fine on a basic 27" TV but when you get to a big screen, the larger the TV the less forgiving the picture quality is. And everything in a terrible DVD player really shines.

I asked the question because I told him about anamorphic DVD's that fill 16:9 screens and he asked if its a feature on the DVD's or the player. I have no idea about this, as this feature doesn't affect me and my TV.

 

[Robert Dunnill]

A 16x9-enhanced image is "squeezed" horizontally when it is on the disc, and when it is played back, it is "stretched" by the scaler in the TV. Some widescreen TVs do this to any progressive image they receive, thus causing material in 4:3 AR to lose resolution. I don't know if the newer Panasonics are in this group, but at least one of the older ones (a 56-inch 2000 model) was.

RD

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Since I've never owned (or played with) a product that would do this- does anyone have any information on how this works? I cannot think of how the TV would differentiate between a 16:9 signal and a fullscreen 4:3-- since both would be 720x480 pixels and would appear in the analog realm as absolutely identical in terms of video signal.

I've heard people claim this exists but I've always been curious about how a TV set would be able to tell the difference between the two without a direct communication from the DVD player- since as far as I can tell they'd be identical.

-Vince

 

[Robert Dunnill]

I've never heard of it, either. Players can detect it, but displays?

RD

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Well, I don't have a digital set, just an analog widescreen, but I keep reading about HD sets the display anamorphic DVDs correctly without a manual adjustment, so I just assumed such things existed. Never gave much thought to how'd they'd work, since I don't have one.

Some widescreen TVs do this to any progressive image they receive, thus causing material in 4:3 AR to lose resolution.

Er, wouldn't this be a case where an anamorphic disc would be displayed correctly without the viewer having to switch display modes? Presumably this is what folks had in mind in the posts I've seen where people claim not to have to adjust their screens for anamorphic discs.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Robert Dunnill]

With that kind of TV, anamorphic discs will be displayed correctly (providing you have set the output in the player properly), but non-anamorphic widescreen and 4:3 will be distorted.

RD