Hi All, I am new to DVD and Home Theater. I am having these problem on my DVD player:

1) The zoom function does not work when I enable progressive scan on my DVD player.

2) Subtitle will stay until the next line is spoken when you turn on progressive scan on your DVD player. For example, the actor says "How are you?" and stop for 5 mintues until he says the next line. The subtitle will show "how are you" and remain on the screen for 5 minutes.

Are these normal or there is problem with my DVD Player or TV set.

Thanks in advance.

What kind of DVD player do you have?

My Sony doesn't do any of that that you are talking about. I don't have zoom, and can't imagine I'd ever use it... but, the subtitles don't stay on screen forever.

Thanks Wolf Husky. I guess your player does not have progressive scan. When I turned off progressive scan, the subititle problem is gone and the zoom can work.

I need to confirm that zoom and subititle problem I am facing is normal when progressive scan is turned on.

What kind of player is it? Are you doing the zoom with the player then?

Sidenote, why are you using zoom?

I think the subtitle problem is not normal, but the second is. Many sets don't allow zooming or other viewing modes when receiving a progressive signal. Mine is this way, so I have to turn the PS off to use any other viewing mode.
The subtitle problem--I have NO idea. Never heard of or seen that.

Sidenote: He may want to use zoom or another viewing mode to watch, say, a 1.33:1 movie on a 16x9 TV and still see things in proportion. That's what I do.

I don't think I can zoom in progressive either... but wouldn't zooming a 4:3 movie make it out of proportion?

Pure "zooming" might, but my TV, for example, has a mode called "panoramic" that does an excellent job of keeping the proportion of a 1.33:1 movie on a 16x9 TV. (Maybe not 100% perfect, but very close--much better than watching the people stretched out and fat-looking). And I can only use this if it's NOT in PS mode. Works for me.

Yes. And I'm sorry but even the "intelligent" stretch modes do horrible things to a movie image.

Now, a legitimate need for the zoom is to watch a non-anamorphic letterbox disc on a 16:9 television, of course.

This is assuming that the original poster is talking about the zoom in his TV, not the zoom in his DVD player.

Well, I know Josh Z knows a lot about these things, so I'm reluctant to take issue, BUT...

The "intelligent" stretch mode on my WS HDTV does not do "horrible" things to the movie image. I can barely notice at all, IF I try real hard, and then only at the very edges. To me, this does not qualify as "horrible." In fact, I'm very glad I have this feature. ("Horrible," to me, is watching a 1.33:1 movie on a 16x9 TV and having the characters all look 50 lbs. overweight.)
This is really a lot more about personal preferences, not what is or is not "legitimate."
Finally, what about the subtitle issue? Never heard that one...

I have a progressive scan player and don't have that problem with subtitles.

I don't have zoom so I can't comment on that.

Hi all, thanks for the replies. I am fine without zoom but the subtitle is kindda of annoying.

I went to the distributor shortly after I bought the player but they refused to give me a 1 - 1 exchange despite it is a DOA. They tested my unit with composite cable, the zoom and subtitle work. They do not have component cable or progressive TV to test so they claim that the unit is not defective.

Glad to know that the subtitle problem is not normal, I am going back to them and this time, I make sure I assert my consumer's right.

Watch a shot where a camera pans sideways and tell me it isn't like looking through a fisheye lens.

This is what it comes down to. Cinematography is in part the art of composition. It's about creating a sense of balance between the objects in the frame. Cinematographers know what they are doing when they frame a shot. By stretching the sides of the picture you are distorting their intended framing. This is just as disrespectful to the original work as panning and scanning a widescreen movie.

Maybe your eye is just much better than mine, and I know you're not trying to sound elitist, but I do not concern myself in any way about being "disrespectful" to a DVD.

I buy all movies in their OAR that are available as such, but when it comes to watching made-for-TV movie like Gotti on DVD, I am not going to concern myself with being "disrespectful" of the movie when I watch it in a mode where I do not notice a distortion of ANY kind.
Not even a blip on my radar.

Hi all, thanks for the replies. I have exhanged for another unit but the problem still persists. Guess is not just one unit that has problem, is the whole freaking batch.

Just a little piece of advice for everybody: Don't get tempted by the price of China brand, the quality control sucks. The make and model of DVD player I am using is Shinco DVD-8700PS from China.