Please Help with Sony KP65WS500 (1 Viewer)

[DougWright]

I am just under a month into owning my 65" Widescreen Sony HDTV and I still have some questions. Specifically with the wide screen modes... I have configured my DVD player to know my Display is 16:9. I have 4 modes to choose from Normal, Full, Zoom and Wide Zoom. When I am watching a widescreen DVD enhanced for 16:9 TVs what mode should I use? I tought I knew because when we watched Ice Age I am sure I left it on Normal and selected normal, the video was 16:9 and looked amazing (I did select the WS version). When I watched A Bug's Life CE I am sure I had to use one of the zoom modes (I cannot remember which one... the CE is definitely enhanced for 16:9). Lastly when I watched Lilo and Stitch I left it on normal and it stretched to fill the whole screen, even though I knew it was 1.66:1 not 1.78:1 and I expected bars on the left and right, none were to be found... Is this overscan? and how can I stop it. This post is long enough I wont even go into what mode I should be using to view letterboxed TV (no HD in may area yet) and no matter which mode I choose I get stretched images or black bars even though I know that content is 1.78:1.

I would really appreciate any advice on this topic... Thanks!

 

[Gary Mui]

Hi Doug,
I recently got the Sony 65" KP-65WV700. When I watch DVDS in 16:9, I set the TV to FULL mode. Normal mode shows the display in 4:3 on the TV (even though my DVD player is set to 16:9 output), with grey bars to fill in the left/right sides.
Full mode basically takes the video signal and stretches it vertically & horizontally to fill the 16:9 screen. And that's perfect for the 16:9 signal coming from the DVD player.
With titles that are in 1.66:1 to 1.78:1, they will fill in the horizontal, and vertical all the way. I believe the vertical is filled in through overscan.
A Bug's Life is 2.35:1, so you will still get some narrow black bars on the top & bottom. I generally leave it like that, and don't bother to 'zoom in' any further. (Heck, it's a 65" Widescreen TV! it's big enough for me ). Plus I like to watch the movies in their native aspect ratio whenever possible.
When watching some DVDs, their bonus material may not be in 16:9, at which point my DVD player will let me know, and I can then decide whether to go to Normal Mode (4:3), or do a Wide Zoom (which I prefer over Zoom, since it still maintains a decent picture quality, without stretching it out too much, or cutting away too much of the picture).

 

[Steve Schaffer]

For anamorphic dvds, always use Full.

For nonanamorphic widescreen dvds, use Zoom.

For non-widescreen dvds, Normal will give you an unaltered 4/3 picture with gray bars on the side, and is the only way to watch them without either distorting the geometry (this happens in Full, or widezoom) or losing picture off the top and bottom (this happens in Zoom).

Most special features sections on even anamorphic discs are 4/3, so use Normal for them. Exceptions are the Starwars I and II and FOTR extended cut, on which the extras are all in anamorphic widescreen.