widescreen dvds and 4x3 TV settings (1 Viewer)

[arun kumar]

Hi,

This forum is really great and I was hoping for some help. I am new to home theatre and I did not realize it could be so complicated

I have read up on widescreen DVDs and anamorphic widescreen DVDs. But I still would like some clarifications on how to setup my system.

I have a 4x3 regular TV which has 16:9 enhanced mode (Sony 32FS200) and a Panasonic DVD player (CP72). The DVD player has 4x3, 4x4PanandScan, and 16:9 settings.

I have the DVD connected to the Sony through component video.

Questions:
1. For anamorphic widescreen DVD content, should I set the DVD player to 16:9 and set the squeeze mode on the Sony. The picture definitely gets reduced vertically, which gives me the right aspect ratio.

2. For just widescreen DVD content, set DVD player to 16:9.

3. I also have satellite (dish network), and was wondering what setting I should have the Sony TV at. Setting the squeeze mode on the TV does vertically downsize the picture, so that I see bars on top and bottom. I am a bit confused about the TV setting for satellite content, because sometimes the squeeze mode compresses the content too much ??

Thanks,
-Arun

 

[Cees Alons]

Arun,

Welcome to this forum!

You're right: you can set your DVD-player to 16x9 (or widescreen, or whatever the name of that mode is on the DVD menue). Don't have to change it ever.
That way it will always output the proper signal (enhanced for widescreen DVDs or not) for a TV that's set to 16x9 too (e.g. a widescreen TV or a 4x3 set in squeezed mode, as in your case).

If you're watching programs from other sources than the DVD player, you have to set your TV to match the image it will be receiving. So, if you receive 4x3 cable content, set it back to 4x3 (if you want to watch it in a proper ratio).

Hope this helps,

Cees