KillerQ

Hey Guys....

Tonight i noticed something extremely interesting. I was watching "What Lies Beneath" (widscreen) on my Toshiba 4700.

Now, i was playing around with the zoom feature when i noticed this. I noticed that when i zoomed out once, that the screen got a bit smaller as expected, but at the same time, new area of frame showed up on the left and right sides of the screen - and then i zoomed out again, and a bit more showed up -- until a third time, when there was just black, and i could see the screen as a box getting smaller and smaller. Now, why was this part of the frame "hidden" while in normal view? I thought that the TV showed everything that the dvd told it too - just compressed... Anyone know anything about this? Very intriguing....

Do you understand what i am asking? it's as if the picture is horizontally longer (in normal setting) than the tv, and the edges of the frame are not seen, unless i zoom out a few times.... weird...I would think that all of the frame would be on the TV at one - by default...Hmm... Anyone else notice this with their player ?? Try it real quick...


Thanks,


Matt

stevevt

This is a normal thing.

All tvs have some degree of overscan; some more than others. Having a player that zooms out will allow you to see the entire picture. Pretty cool stuff.

Mr. Salty

How much picture did you gain? Were you using the zoom feature to eliminate the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen? If that's the case, no, the zoom feature does not allow you to view the entire picture compressed. You are indeed randomly cutting off a significant portion of the image.

If you've been using the zoom feature to eliminate the black bars, you've been losing 25% of the picture with 1.85:1 movies (like "What Lies Beneath") and 45% with 2.35:1 movies.

See, this is the part that worries me. Movies that are presented in widescreen on DVD are horizontally wider that the TV. When you view such a disc correctly, you should be seeing black bands at the top and bottom of the screen.

This might also help explain the "jaggies" you were complaining about in another thread. You've been zooming in on the picture, which would magnify any picture anomalies. Recheck your Toshiba owner's manual and find out how to set the default so that you are not zooming in on the picture.

stevevt

If I'm not mistaken, he's talking about zooming out from the default setting. In other words, he has the typical black bars at the top and bottom; his player allows him to zoom out from there, at which point he realizes he's been missing some of the picture. This is why I suggested that what he's experiencing is tv overscan.

KillerQ

You said:

"If I'm not mistaken, he's talking about zooming out from the default setting. In other words, he has the typical black bars at the top and bottom; his player allows him to zoom out from there, at which point he realizes he's been missing some of the picture. This is why I suggested that what he's experiencing is tv overscan."


Exactly!!! I just found this weird.... It's normal i take it -- right?


Thanks,

Matt

stevevt

At the risk of repeating myself...

Yes, this is perfectly normal.

Mr. Salty

I'd still like to know how much picture your TV is cutting off. If it's just a small amount, then it's overscan. If it's a lot, then it could ba another problem.

Do you have any DVDs that have the THX Optimizer feature on them? This can be found on a lot of recent THX-mastered Fox and Disney DVDs. There is a test pattern in the video set-up portion of THX Optimizer that will show you what percentage of overscan your TV is exhibiting.

KillerQ

Hello...

I have the THX test -- i will try it...

Thanks,

Matt