KillerQ

Hey all,

Given the fact that most of my DVD's are anamorphic/16:9 enhanced, I am assumming that if i leave my widescreen TV on stretch mode, and my dvd plaer set to a 16:9 tv, then i will get the "proper" and best picture fitting, correct? I am still a bit fuzzy on all the combos of settings.... Is this the optimal setting to leave the tv on. I don't mind if some bars show on the smaller aspect ratios, I just want to make sure I won't be cropping any of the screen..

Thanks,

Matt

jsudduth

First off there are many different settings that vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. If you can comment on what type of TV you have that will help to get more appropriate feedback.

In most cases, stretch mode is used to get a 4:3 image to fill the entire screen on a 16:9 TV. So most likely you will want to be in another mode that doesn't modify the picture. Anamorphic discs will automatically fill the screen on 16:9 TVs.

Another consideration is how you connect the DVD player to the television. If you use component video, most TVs will switch to the appropriate mode automatically.

Johnny Zhivago

^ What jsudduth said...

And, you do need to list your make and model for a specific answer from someone who might own the same...

sracer

jsudduth is correct.

On my Toshiba 34" widescreen, I have to set the mode to "FULL" when playing anamorphic DVDs. I have my progressive scan DVD player attached to my TV via component cables and I have to manually switch modes... hmmm, makes me wonder if I should re-examine my DVD Player settings.

johnglad

The above posters are correct. If the dvd is anamorphic and your TV is correctly hooked-up and widescreen then FULL is usually the correct display mode (could be another name on some TVs).

Shannon Nutt

My TV (Mitsubishi) has to be in the "standard" mode - the picture automatically fills up the screen if the DVD is anamorphic. Putting it in stretch mode just zooms in more on the already anamorphic picture. I only have to use stretch when watching a non-anamorphic disc (assuming I want to fill my whole screen).

But I've learned that overscan crops a good 5% of your right and left screen anyway...which happens on all widescreen TVs, unless you have them professionally calibrated (about a $400 to $500 option for most service calls).

sracer

I could be wrong, but I think that only effects rear projection widescreen TVs...not tube TVs.

whotony

nope tubes have plenty of overscan too.


i wonder , did you look in the manual that came with the tv?

they always have a section that tells you what mode you should use for dvd's.

Mike Lowrey

So what does the calibration actually do? And why isn't this done from the factory? Seems silly that you have to have your TV calibrated.

bunkaroo

I had a Home Theater Spot endorsed technician calibrate my 57" Toshiba last year. He literally spent over 5 hours with my set, and afterwards the colors and detail were FAR better than they were before.

My understanding is that when it comes to RPTV's, two sets off the same factory line can look very different out of the box. Now I don't think my set looked bad at all when I got it, but once I saw what it looked like after the calibration, I knew the $400 was worth it.

This kind of calibration can't be done at the factory for several reasons. First, any RPTV needs at least 100 hours to "break in", so paying $ for a pro calibration when it's brand new is pointless. Second, the kind of calibration I witnessed was more than just arbitrary tweaks. It takes someone with an eye for it as well as a lot of experience. Third, let's say they did employ someone that good to spend 3-4 hours with a set at the factory (after presumably breaking the set in). They would just pass that cost along to the consumer anyway. Plus, even if the set did look awesome at the factory, environmental conditions related to shipping could easily null certain effects of the calibration.

Even for those who don't want to pay for an expensive pro calibration (i.e., not some guy from Best Buy, Tweeter, etc.), getting the Avia or DVE calibrations disc and doing a 56-point convergence can help your picture significantly.

TeeJay13

I have a Mitsubishi widescreen and a Sony progressive scan DVD player and when I play anamorphic dvds there are still black bars at the top and bottom, now is something hooked up wrong or what, any help?

Thanks

Max Bottomtime

http://www.rexer.com/cine/oar.htm

TeeJay13

Thanks for the link, but I'm still a bit confused on what one poster above said "Anamorphic discs will automatically fill the screen on 16:9 TVs." Does this mean dvds that are enhanced for 16x9 TVs should have no black bars? Maybe I should just be asking what does "Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions" mean?

Thanks

TeeJay13

Nevermind...I decided to browse through my DVD player manual and I found out I never set up my DVD player to the widescreen TV, everythings fine now lol.

chipmac

On an anamorphicly enhanced DVD that has an AR greater than 1.78:1 you will still have black bars on top and bottom that are part of the DVD image. Since it's part of the image on the disc the full screen is being used by the movie and the bars when the player is set to output a 16:9 signal.

whotony

companion info to that link here.

http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...hreadid=332900

Mike Lowrey

Yep, it'd help to set your DVD player to 16:9 mode.

Also as stated above, 16:9 in decimals is 1.78:1.

Most widescreen TV shows and some movies are in 1.78. So they will fill the entire 16:9 widescreen TV. Movies that are in 1.85:1 will have very, very thin bars...almost unnoticeable. (In fact, on my 4:3 Flatscreen with 16:9 squeeze, it actually automatically squeezes to 1.85:1, so any 1.78 images are a bit over squeezed, but you can hardly tell the difference.)

Cinemascape movies, or 2.35:1 and 2.40:1 movies will have noticeable black bars on a 16:9 screen. About the same you'd see on a 4:3 TV displaying a 1.78 image.

However, if you'd have Fullscreen, or what we like to call, "Foolscreen" DVDs, then you'd have "gray bars" on the SIDES of your TV screen.

Dammit

I had one of mine done. The guy spent about 7 hours on it. Geometry, convergence, grayscale, manual and electro-static focus, red push fix, contrast and brightness nailed, lenses cleaned and more. How much of a difference you'd see depends on how good/bad your set was out of the box and how good your eyes are. I would say mine netted a 40% improvement which was just huge. That particular set (a Hitachi) was not very good out of the box. I now have a different Hitachi (top of the line model) that was MUCH better out of the box than the other one and have not yet had the calibration done on this one. I plan to eventually though. I can tell the focus needs to be done.

RPTV's are a strange beast. You'd be amazed at how many things you can do to improve their image quality. They have a rep as being the bottom performing type of set but that rep is not deserved. A quality CRT RPTV is actually very capable of out performing any currently available DLP or LCD set in terms of color accuracy and black levels. The reputation comes from how horribly out of calibration they are from the factory in most cases. The only advantages the digital sets have is no burn-in concerns (also a non-issue for a properly calibrated and cared for CRT by the way), convergence and possibly a slight bit more definition (mainly due to the more accurate convergence). The digital sets are gaining ground though. I'll probably sell my CRT and pick up a digital set once they have comparable color accuracy and black levels. I get sick of messing with the convergence on my CRT.

hoyalawya

You forgot viewing angle (both horizontal and vertical) and brightness.

Qui Gon Jim

Good post, but I wanted to add that some good pro-scan players generate black bars on the 4:3 content which is a little easier on the eye. I have a Panasonic player that does this.