Why would my HD-DVD player do this?

argh923 · 11-17-07, 06:04 PM

Went to watch Mission Impossible (from the standard DVD set with 1 & 2) and when I select widescreen, the movie shows up in a TINY box in the center of the screen. There's more black than there is picture...no exaggeration. What am I doing wrong?

ScissorPuppy · 11-17-07, 06:30 PM

It's because the original MI disc is non-anamorphic widescreen. Basiclly old school letterboxing. There is no problem with your tv or player. Your only option to "Fill the screen" is to zoom in. But it won't look that great.

argh923 · 11-17-07, 06:33 PM

In other words, I need a newer edition of the MI DVD.

I don't mind if the screen isn't filled and all that, but this is on the absurd level.

GizmoDVD · 11-17-07, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abrg923

In other words, I need a newer edition of the MI DVD.

I don't mind if the screen isn't filled and all that, but this is on the absurd level.

All MI are available on HD DVD.

Drexl · 11-17-07, 07:28 PM

It's not absurd at all. The player doesn't know the difference between non-anamorphic letterbox and 4:3, because non-anamorphic actually is 4:3 with bars as part of the picture. If the player was set to zoom such content, it would also zoom 4:3 material. I will gladly accept the occasional need to zoom non-anamorphic material over having 4:3 material chopped up.

xfilekr · 11-17-07, 07:29 PM

I popped 'The Rock' into my PS3 the other day and it looked like that- blah!

TallGuyMe · 11-17-07, 09:09 PM

Are you sitting really really really far away??

I kid.

I got nothin'.

GizmoDVD · 11-17-07, 09:14 PM

I was wondering why my A3 did this to one of my older DVDs. Makes sense. I hate using that Zoom feature...ugh.

Commander Dan · 11-18-07, 10:58 AM

You know, if discs are tagged properly, and your player is “smart” enough, you wouldn’t need to manually zoom non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs. I have a Malata DVP-520 that does this.

Depending on if the authoring manufacturer did their job correctly, there is a difference between a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD tagged as containing a widescreen film, and a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD improperly tagged as containing 4X3 material. My Malata automatically frames most of my non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs correctly (such as The Abyss). It also automatically pillar-boxes 4X3 material.

But, if the DVD was improperly tagged as containing 4X3 material, when the picture actually contains a widescreen image (such as the Star Wars Original Trilogy “Bonus” discs), then the Malata pillar-boxes the image, and I am then forced to manually zoom-in to frame the picture properly.

It’s a shame that more DVD players aren’t pre-programmed to do this, especially more advanced players such as the Toshiba HD-DVD players. As I understand it, it’s simply a matter of recognizing the tagged information on the DVD, and then displaying the picture accordingly.

argh923 · 11-18-07, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drexl

It's not absurd at all. The player doesn't know the difference between non-anamorphic letterbox and 4:3, because non-anamorphic actually is 4:3 with bars as part of the picture. If the player was set to zoom such content, it would also zoom 4:3 material. I will gladly accept the occasional need to zoom non-anamorphic material over having 4:3 material chopped up.

I didn't mean it's absurd that the player was doing that...I meant that it was absurd that it was that small. Zooming didn't even help...it made the picture a bit larger, but there was still mostly black on all four sides.

ScissorPuppy · 11-18-07, 12:19 PM

For some reason my samsung LCD TV won't allow me to zoom into anything that is oover 480i. Strange, is there a zoom function on the a3? I know certain HD DVD titles let you zoom with the a button. It just sucks that i have to output at 480i to get the widescreen image to fill the screen.

11-17-07, 06:04 PM	#1
argh923 DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Muncie, IN [Member formerly known as abrg923] Posts: 5,826	Why would my HD-DVD player do this? Went to watch Mission Impossible (from the standard DVD set with 1 & 2) and when I select widescreen, the movie shows up in a TINY box in the center of the screen. There's more black than there is picture...no exaggeration. What am I doing wrong? __________________ My Wrestling Retro Journal XBL Gamertag: Chibul My Blu-Ray/DVD Collection Currently Reading: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5: A Dance with Dragons

11-17-07, 06:30 PM	#2
ScissorPuppy DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 1,183	It's because the original MI disc is non-anamorphic widescreen. Basiclly old school letterboxing. There is no problem with your tv or player. Your only option to "Fill the screen" is to zoom in. But it won't look that great. __________________ " We all go alittle mad sometimes" Norman Bates 1960

11-17-07, 06:33 PM	#3
argh923 DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Muncie, IN [Member formerly known as abrg923] Posts: 5,826	In other words, I need a newer edition of the MI DVD. I don't mind if the screen isn't filled and all that, but this is on the absurd level. __________________ My Wrestling Retro Journal XBL Gamertag: Chibul My Blu-Ray/DVD Collection Currently Reading: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5: A Dance with Dragons

11-18-07, 10:58 AM	#9
Commander Dan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Texas Posts: 841	You know, if discs are tagged properly, and your player is “smart” enough, you wouldn’t need to manually zoom non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs. I have a Malata DVP-520 that does this. Depending on if the authoring manufacturer did their job correctly, there is a difference between a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD tagged as containing a widescreen film, and a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD improperly tagged as containing 4X3 material. My Malata automatically frames most of my non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs correctly (such as The Abyss). It also automatically pillar-boxes 4X3 material. But, if the DVD was improperly tagged as containing 4X3 material, when the picture actually contains a widescreen image (such as the Star Wars Original Trilogy “Bonus” discs), then the Malata pillar-boxes the image, and I am then forced to manually zoom-in to frame the picture properly. It’s a shame that more DVD players aren’t pre-programmed to do this, especially more advanced players such as the Toshiba HD-DVD players. As I understand it, it’s simply a matter of recognizing the tagged information on the DVD, and then displaying the picture accordingly. __________________ “I don't think I'm alone in the world in imagining this flick may be the worst idea since Greedo shooting first.” - Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Last edited by Commander Dan; 11-18-07 at 02:19 PM.

11-18-07, 12:19 PM	#11
ScissorPuppy DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 1,183	For some reason my samsung LCD TV won't allow me to zoom into anything that is oover 480i. Strange, is there a zoom function on the a3? I know certain HD DVD titles let you zoom with the a button. It just sucks that i have to output at 480i to get the widescreen image to fill the screen. __________________ " We all go alittle mad sometimes" Norman Bates 1960

11-17-07, 07:28 PM	#5
Drexl DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 14,542	It's not absurd at all. The player doesn't know the difference between non-anamorphic letterbox and 4:3, because non-anamorphic actually is 4:3 with bars as part of the picture. If the player was set to zoom such content, it would also zoom 4:3 material. I will gladly accept the occasional need to zoom non-anamorphic material over having 4:3 material chopped up.

11-17-07, 07:29 PM	#6
xfilekr DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Johnstown, PA Posts: 1,791	I popped 'The Rock' into my PS3 the other day and it looked like that- blah!

11-17-07, 09:09 PM	#7
TallGuyMe DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 10,346	Are you sitting really really really far away?? I kid. I got nothin'.

11-17-07, 09:14 PM	#8
GizmoDVD DVD Talk Hero Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Southern CA Posts: 28,243	I was wondering why my A3 did this to one of my older DVDs. Makes sense. I hate using that Zoom feature...ugh.