I am trying to break your heart problem? (1 Viewer)

[John Mansor]

I have the new Wilco movie and it is the widescreen version. Watching it on a 4:3 TV the sides are cut off on the film itself. The trailer and extras which I assume are also anamorphic are working fine on my TV. Anyone else seeing this behavior?

 

[Pat Ford]

Film is anamorphic. Trailer and extras are not. Sounds like your player or television settings could be off.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

If I understand your description of the problem correctly, I'd say your player settings are off. You need to set the output to 4:3 letterbox unless your set has an anamorphic mode or you do the "squeeze trick" manually. If your player is set to "16:9" and you have a 4:3 set an anamorphic film will not be cut off on the sides, but it will fill the screen without letterboxing bars because the picture will be distorted. Look again and see if everything doesn't look unnaturally tall and thin.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Brian W.]

John, Wilco could be "pan and scan on the fly," which will crop the picture within the player if you have it set on the "Pan and scan" television setting. Make sure it is set to play "4:3 letterboxed" and not "4:3 pan and scan" in the Setup mode on your player. It's quite possible the trailer and extras are not "pan and scan on the fly" or not anamorphic.

That happened to me on an import of one of the newer Star Trek series. "It says 16X9 widescreen on the box. Why is it full frame? Where are the black bars?" I adjusted the settings and it played the way it was supposed to.

 

[John Mansor]

Thanks for the help. That was the problem my DVD was set to 4:3 pan and scan. I never had that problem before with other anamorphic DVDs so I was stumped. Thanks again.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

This happened to me also. I have never had this problem before and watched 100's of widescreen films. As soon as I put in the Wilco DVD, it was fullframe. My player was set to 4x3 Pan and Scan. This never posed a problem before.

Thanks for reaffirming that I am not insane.

found this on the website:

Problems playing widescreen DVDs?

In order to play anamorphic widescreen DVDs, like our new release of I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART, your DVD player needs to be set to the 4:3 letterbox screen shape. Use the setup button on your DVD remote to change this, or consult your DVD player manual for more info. Most new DVD players come with this option already set, but on some players you need to set it yourself. Once this is done, your player will automatically decode anamorphic widescreen DVDs and standard full-screen DVDs.

But this doesn't make sense. I've watched hundreds of anamorphic widescreen DVDs.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I can't get the Commentary to play either on my home DVD player (Panasonic DVD-A120U). it plays on my Powerbook tho.

Anyone else?

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

But this doesn't make sense. I've watched hundreds of anamorphic widescreen DVDs.

It means that the disc is coded (either by mistake or design) to make your player play it in 4x3 pan-and-scan mode if your player's setup menu is set to "4x3 Pan-and-Scan". If your player is set to the "4x3 Letterbox" setting, the disc plays correctly. If you had the first pressing of Last Temptation of Christ, you would have had the same problem. The proper setup on your player, which should never be changed unless you get a 16x9-capable television, should be "4x3 Letterbox" at all times.

 

[John Mansor]

I had the same problem with the commentary with my Panasonic RV33. I was able to get it by using the audio button on my remote. I believe it was the second option.