New Toshibas can also scale non-anamorphic widescreen material like RP91 (1 Viewer)

[PaulKH]

There's been a lot of praise for the Panasonic RP91's ability to scale non-anamorphic widescreen DVD material to fit a 16:9 screen. Well tonight I confirmed my 4700 can do the exact same thing, beautifully.

You just put it in the 'pillar' (4:3) display mode for 4:3 material (which is what non-anamorphic widescreen material is) and then zoom up one notch using the Toshiba's great variable zoom and it fills the screen exactly.

Looks great.

Just thought I'd point this out for those who think only the RP91 can do this.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

And, might one assume that this scaling is done digitally, and so is therefore superior to what the TV would do?

 

[PaulKH]

Yes.

 

[Steve Blair]

It's true, I discovered this also yesterday. You can also use this for 4:3 material if you don't want bars on the sides to prevent burn-in. You just hit zoom once and 4:3 material will fill the screen perfectly and "resemble" a film shot in 1.85:1. This is handy for watching dvds such as Stephen King's The Stand, Full Metal Jacket, etc...
I also tried some 2.35:1 nonanamorphic dvds and it scaled them perfectly after hitting zoom once! This makes the new Toshiba's even better and I'm glad I sold my 3109 now more than ever!

 

[PatrickM]

If I'm hearing you right then the Toshiba's zoom isn't a preset magnification but rather a smart zoom that checks to see what the AR is before zooming? Did I get that right?

Patrick

 

[PaulKH]

Patrick - the zoom is symmetrical, but since the player can also display non-anamorphic material in a 4:3 ratio 'space' centered on a 16:9 display with black pillars either side, the symmetrical zoom makes a non-anamorphic widescreen displayed in the centered 4:3 area fill the screen CORRECTLY.