DVD 16x9 Question (1 Viewer)

[Chris Huber]

Well, I've got a JVC XV-N44 player and Panasonic 53 HDTV.

I've only noticed this on older movies, ie: Star Trek: Generations.

When you place my DVD player on 16x9 Auto, some older DVD movies are still stretched(movies reaches both sides, but has concerderable space left on top and bottom, almost like a regular TV viewing a 16x9 movie).

When you place the player on 16x9 Normal, the movie becomes the correct 16x9 proportion, but the whole thing shrinks down and doesn't fill the screen(space on top/bottom and both sides).

What is the deal with this?

 

[Michael Reuben]

The current disc of Star Trek: Generations is not enhanced for 16:9 display. To display it in it's proper proportions, you need to use a zoom mode, probably on the TV. I'm not familiar with your particular equipment; so I can't tell you what it would be called.

(BTW, a new edition of Generations is expected, which will be 16:9-enhanced.)

M.

 

[Chris Huber]

It said 16x9 on the box, what's up with that?

 

[Michael Reuben]

Not on the R1 disc sold in the U.S. I'm looking at it right now.

BTW, this belongs in HT Software.

M.

 

[Chris Huber]

I'll have to look at it more closely, on the 2 movies that it has happened, it said widescreen or 16x9 on the box.

The other movie was Event Horizon.

 

[Mike Williams]

Michael Rueben is correct in his responses to you. If you're getting that look on your TV then the discs are NOT anamorphic. Some DVDs say widescreen, but do not say anamorphic widescreen or enhanced for 16x9. That is what you need to look for.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Like the current disc of Generations, that disc is not enhanced for 16:9. And as has already been noted, "widescreen" does not automatically mean that a disc has been 16:9-enhanced.

M.

 

[Rolando]

Well my friend, in R1 both of those paramount titles are not enhanced for 16X 9 TVs. trust me.

I am sure they say widescreen on the front and in the features section but that is because they are presented in their Original Aspect Ratio , not fullscreen with the sides chopped off. But widescreen doe not mean enhanced for widescreen TVs.

As Michael mentioned you should look for a Zoom or widezoom or natural wide setting on the TV. Another option would be if your DVD player has the possibility to "scale". some players can "stretch out" or "pull out" the picture so it is no longer "squished" when you set your TV to "16x9 Auto".

Hope that helps, especially with all those "technical terms" used in the last paragraph

 

[Allan Jayne]

DVD programs that are not enhanced for 16:9 (are not anamorphic) have enough top and bottom black bar material pre-recorded on the disk so the picture plays correctly on a 4:3 TV. All of this top and bottom black material will show up on 16:9 TV's also, unless either the player or the TV has a zoom (vertical stretch; vertical upscaling) feature. Simply selecting Full or 16:9 on a 16:9 TV will make the picture wider but not make the black top and bottom bars narrower.

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

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Welcome to the joy of non-anamorphic DVD's on a 16:9 display! :b

I got my 16:9 set last September, and I've probably watched about a dozen or so non-anamorphic titles, which have ranged from horrendous to pretty decent looking. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, but DVD's like the Extended Lord Of The Rings don't make the non-anamorphic titles look any better!