WarSong

What is the 16x9 enhanced mode on a Sony Wega supposed to be doing? For me, no matter what type of a movie I watch (pan and scan, widescreen 1.85:1 or 2.35:1) is just squishes the image down and makes everything look fat and distorted... What am I doing wrong? Is it because my TV is one of the smaller sizes?

Thunderball

First, make sure you DVD Player is set on 16x9 mode...

Also, make sure the DVD you are playing is anamorphic, if it's not..the 16x9 mode doesn't work

Thunderball

and you don' tuse this on pan and scan

mtucker

Yes, the 16 x 9 enhanced mode is to display the extra vertical resolution that is contained on anamorphically enhanced DVD's. For you to see the effect, 3 things have to take place.

1. The DVD needs to be anamorphically enhanced.

2. The DVD player needs to be "told" you have a 16 x 9 TV set.

3. The TV's 16 x 9 enhanced mode needs to be on.

At least that is how I understand it.

WarSong

And what benefit would I get from this mode? Compared to not using it? I'll try those steps I didn't realize anything else was involved other than just turning the mode on

Thanks guys

Josh H

You can use the search feature at the top of the forum to find threads that will answer your question. Anyway I posted this in another thread recently.

To elaborate further on the 16x9 mode, you set your dvd player to output to a 16x9 tv. You start the movie and the picture is stretched out, you turn on the 16x9 enhancement and it squeezes each line of the picture to make it the proper ratio. This gives you a much higher resolution than letting you player downconvert the anamorphic transfer. The player does this by deleting lines, every 4th line I believe, which is why the 16x9 mode produces a better resolution. Also if you watch a non anamorphic dvd you do not have to change the setting on your dvd player, you simply don't turn on the 16x9 mode on the TV and it will be fine. If you turn on 16x9 mode on the tv the picture will be squished.

WarSong

I did do a search before I posted... I probably just searched for the wrong thing or something I searched for "16x9 enhanced mode" and a few other variations.

Thanks for your information. I'm going to try it out right away. And thanks for not flaming my newbie self

Thunderball

Ok, I hope you got everything working now..

BAsically as I understand it(I have a WEGA as well), most TVs need to remove lines of resolution in order to display DVDs, instead of removing them,the WEGA just sort of squishes them a little givin you a much better resolution. At least thats the "layman" way to think of it(the way I Think of it )

It's not really that involved, but once you get it working, I guarantee you don't go back.

HepDude

I just got a Sony Wega, and the 16x9 enhanced mode is one of the best aspects of this set.

The difference between anamorphic DVDs and non-anamorphic DVDs is quite significant, in fact, I'm going to now make a point paying extra for the anamorphic version if both exist for a film.

Very simply, it increases your resolution by 33%.

But, in addition to this, it makes your scan lines 33% closer together.

In most cases, the combination of these two effects makes it look much more film-like.

I just finished watching Crouching Tiger, which is anamorphic, and - as other people have suggested - it is better than many of the prints that were shown in small US theaters.

BTW, if you set your DVD player to "16x9", then if the DVD is non-anamorphic, you don't have to do anything, and if it is anamorphic, then you have to turn on the 16x9 enhanced more.

Another Wega trick is that if your DVD player has an "enhanced black" option, then you can engage that IF your DVD player is connected to the Component Inputs on the Wega. Then, you have to use one of the "picture modes" only for DVD (the obvious choice is the "movie mode") - because everything else (cable, satellite, VCR) will have a different brightness level setting.

jairocon

So how do I know if the DVD I am buying is anamorphic. Is there some logo, or does it say so on the DVD?

What about my Matrix DVD made in '99. It only says Widescreen version. Would that be anamorphic?

Sorry - seems like a stupid question - but I keep hearing all these things and it's just not clear to me.

BubbaX

Anamorphic DVD's will usually be labled as:

Anamorhpic Widescreen
Enhanced for 16X9 TV's
Enhanced for Widescreen TV's

ghett0punk

if i am using my playstation 2 as a dvd player on my 27" wega, can i get this mode to work? I dont know if there is a way to get 16x9 output from a ps2

WarSong

Okay, i set my player to 16x9 and played an "enhanced for 16x9 television" dvd. When the menu comes up it is full screen, when the movie actually plays, it is wide-screen. So for the movie I have to turn on enhanced mode and for the menu i have to turn it off (to make it look correct)? Kind of a hastle... I didn't watch the whole movie, I think I might have to so that I can appreciate this mode properly.

I also noticed that there is like a 1 inch grey bar just above the movie but below the black letterbox when I do this... but I think its because I haven't calibrated the colors and brightness yet.

Thanks for your information. I think I got some playing to do

Josh H

Yep you have to turn off the enhancement for most menus, and almost all extras as they are usually in full screen or non-anamorphic wide screen. The grey bars are a result of the brightness/contrast being up too high. I had them too when I first got my Wega and hadn't calibrated it yet.

WarSong

Is there a button or something on the remote to toggle 16x9 mode on and off? Or is there anyway to make my remote do it? Going through the menus to turn in on and off for the menus is irritating

But I do appreciate the better image quality this mode provides.

Josh H

Get a remote that does macros and you can program it to be done in one button push. I reccomend the Radio Shack 15-1994, they have it on sale for 29.99 fairly often and it is normally 39.99. It is back lit, and I use it for my DVD Player, Wega TV, VCR, Receiver, CD Player, and Cable Box.

Lethal Nemesis

I have a 27" Sony Trinitron in my room and a PS2 to play my DVDs (I'll be buying a stand alone player soon). I set my PS2 to 16x9 mode, as if I had a 16x9 TV. I just wanted to see what would happen and I popped in Gladiator. When it played, it was in normal letterbox and nothing was squished. I switched the PS2 back to 4:3 mode and to me, the 16x9 mode made the picture look better -- crisper and a little sharper. Obviously, my Trinitron doesn't have the 16x9 enhance mode. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this and if there truly is a difference when I watch anamorphic DVDs on my TV using this method. I could just be fooling myself here, but I'm just wondering.