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Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to be)
a standard dimension TV screen.
Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't perform
as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3 things
happens.

1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This is
what I want.

2. Plays as a full screen movie.

3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been "squished"
in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller and
skinnier than they should be.

On some double-sided DVD's I have, I'd rather watch the full-screen version
(#2) than the squished widescreen version (#3) which looks really unnatural.


Thank you in advance for any help!
HR

Heather4 wrote:
> Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to be)
> a standard dimension TV screen.
> Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't perform
> as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3 things
> happens.
>
> 1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This is
> what I want.
>
> 2. Plays as a full screen movie.
>

One of two things are happening, either you've accidentally selected the
4:3 version of the movie (sometimes both versions are on the same side
of the disc), or your player is trying to downconvert a widescreen
picture by just zooming into the picture, kind of an automatic pan and
scan (without the panning, of course).

> 3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been "squished"
> in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller and
> skinnier than they should be.
>

You are seeing a squished picture because you are watching an anamorphic
DVD, but your player is not set up to down-convert the picture to 4:3.
All players are different, consult your instructions to see how to set
your player properly. Here's a handy page to explain all of this stuff:

> http://www.cs.tut.fi/~leopold/Ld/FilmToVideo/



--
"Get rid of the Range Rover. You are not responsible for patrolling
Australia's Dingo Barrier Fence, nor do you work the Savannah, capturing
and tagging wildebeests."
--Michael J. Nelson

Grand Inquisitor
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Oost

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:35:37 -0500, Heather4 wrote:

>Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to be)
>a standard dimension TV screen.
>Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't perform
>as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3 things
>happens.
>
>1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This is
>what I want.
>
>2. Plays as a full screen movie.
>
>3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been "squished"
>in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller and
>skinnier than they should be.

Sounds like you have your player in 16:9 mode. Go into its setup
menu and tell it it's connected to a 4:3 TV.

--
Don't let your children watch television.

Very informative site. Thanks for the info.



"Grand Inquisitor" <> wrote in message
news:%G%Hb.37640$...
> Heather4 wrote:
> > Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to
be)
> > a standard dimension TV screen.
> > Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't
perform
> > as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3
things
> > happens.
> >
> > 1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This
is
> > what I want.
> >
> > 2. Plays as a full screen movie.
> >
>
> One of two things are happening, either you've accidentally selected the
> 4:3 version of the movie (sometimes both versions are on the same side
> of the disc), or your player is trying to downconvert a widescreen
> picture by just zooming into the picture, kind of an automatic pan and
> scan (without the panning, of course).
>
> > 3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been
"squished"
> > in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller
and
> > skinnier than they should be.
> >
>
> You are seeing a squished picture because you are watching an anamorphic
> DVD, but your player is not set up to down-convert the picture to 4:3.
> All players are different, consult your instructions to see how to set
> your player properly. Here's a handy page to explain all of this stuff:
>
> > http://www.cs.tut.fi/~leopold/Ld/FilmToVideo/
>
>
>
> --
> "Get rid of the Range Rover. You are not responsible for patrolling
> Australia's Dingo Barrier Fence, nor do you work the Savannah, capturing
> and tagging wildebeests."
> --Michael J. Nelson
>
> Grand Inquisitor
> http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Oost
>

Thanks, I figured out how to change it to 4:3 Letterbox and that did the
trick, except for the anamorphic widescreen DVD's.


"Doonie" <> wrote in message
news...
> On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:35:37 -0500, Heather4 wrote:
>
> >Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to
be)
> >a standard dimension TV screen.
> >Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't
perform
> >as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3
things
> >happens.
> >
> >1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This
is
> >what I want.
> >
> >2. Plays as a full screen movie.
> >
> >3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been
"squished"
> >in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller and
> >skinnier than they should be.
>
> Sounds like you have your player in 16:9 mode. Go into its setup
> menu and tell it it's connected to a 4:3 TV.
>

> --
> Don't let your children watch television.

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 01:29:52 -0500, Heather4 wrote:

>Thanks, I figured out how to change it to 4:3 Letterbox and that did the
>trick, except for the anamorphic widescreen DVD's.

Set at 4:3, your player *should* be downconverting the anamorphic
image to fit onto your 4:3 TV.. Only with your player set to 16:9
mode would the image look tall and skinny/stretched.

--
Don't let your children watch television.

"Heather4" <> wrote in message
news:ScidnbDMYqqTH22iRVn-...
: Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to be)
: a standard dimension TV screen.
: Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't perform
: as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3 things
: happens.
:
: 1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This is
: what I want.
:
: 2. Plays as a full screen movie.
:
: 3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been "squished"
: in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller and
: skinnier than they should be.
:
: On some double-sided DVD's I have, I'd rather watch the full-screen version
: (#2) than the squished widescreen version (#3) which looks really unnatural.
:
:
========================
You must go into your DVD set-up and select 4:3 letterboxed in the screen portion.
It sounds like your player thinks you have a 16:9 set.

"Heather4" <> wrote in message
news:476dnYl3MLn4hmyiRVn-...
: Thanks, I figured out how to change it to 4:3 Letterbox and that did the
: trick, except for the anamorphic widescreen DVD's.

============
Even they should display properly.
==================
:
:
: "Doonie" <> wrote in message
: news...
: > On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:35:37 -0500, Heather4 wrote:
: >
: > >Ok, I really like the widescreen format even though I have (what used to
: be)
: > >a standard dimension TV screen.
: > >Problem is, many (but not all) of the "Widescreen" DVD's I get don't
: perform
: > >as I would expect, with the black bars on top and bottom. One of 3
: things
: > >happens.
: > >
: > >1. Plays as a widescreen movie with black bars on top and bottom. This
: is
: > >what I want.
: > >
: > >2. Plays as a full screen movie.
: > >
: > >3. Plays as a full screen movie but it appears that it has been
: "squished"
: > >in at the sides, essentially making objects on the screen seem taller and
: > >skinnier than they should be.
: >
: > Sounds like you have your player in 16:9 mode. Go into its setup
: > menu and tell it it's connected to a 4:3 TV.
: >
:
: > --
: > Don't let your children watch television.
:
:

Actually, the anamorphic widescreen DVD I just checked (Miller's Crossing)
appears as a full-screen image with no stretching or skewing. This is with
the DVD player set to 4:3 or 4:3 Letterbox.

H4

Note to self: Don't set the player to progressive scan if you're not using
component video jacks - yiiiikes where'd the picture go? Got it back after
much fiddling.

"Doonie" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 01:29:52 -0500, Heather4 wrote:
>
> >Thanks, I figured out how to change it to 4:3 Letterbox and that did the
> >trick, except for the anamorphic widescreen DVD's.
>
> Set at 4:3, your player *should* be downconverting the anamorphic
> image to fit onto your 4:3 TV.. Only with your player set to 16:9
> mode would the image look tall and skinny/stretched.
>
> --
> Don't let your children watch television.

Heather4 wrote on [Tue, 30 Dec 2003 12:17:08 -0500]:
> Actually, the anamorphic widescreen DVD I just checked (Miller's Crossing)
> appears as a full-screen image with no stretching or skewing. This is with
> the DVD player set to 4:3 or 4:3 Letterbox.

Is there a zoom function that's turned on?