Joe Schmoe

I had my JVC XV-D723 hooked up to a widescreen TV for awhile, but now I have it hooked up to a regular 4:3 TV. When I tried to change the aspect ratio on the DVD set-up menu from 16:9 to 4:3, I couldn't. I found the option, but it simply won't change when I press left or right on the remote. I should be able to cycle through Pan&Scan, Letterbox, and Widescreen, but it just doesn't change. (I recall doing this when I first set it up for the widescreen TV.) Is there something else I need to do to get the machine to change settings? It's NOT hooked up with component cables, so I don't know why it thinks it's still connected to a widescreen TV. I don't enjoy watching anamorphic DVDs on this TV because everything is stretched vertically due to the wrong setting.

dvdmovie1

Even when you put it on 4:3 letterbox it won't change? As far as I know, that's the only thing you would need to do.

Joe Schmoe

I can't put it on 4:3 Letterbox. I'm sure if I could it would solve the problem. When I put the cursor on the TV shape field and try to change it by pressing left or right on the remote, nothing happens. When the DVD player was connected to my widescreen and I did this, pressing left or right would cycle through the TV shape names and I could leave it on the one I wanted. Now I have it hooked up to a 4:3 TV, and it's stuck on "16:9 Multi."

dvdmovie1

Ahhh....I think I've found the problem - check that your remote is set on DVD, not TV (the little switch at the top). If it's on TV, then the < and > buttons don't work... let me know if that's the thing that's causing it.

Otherwise, it's a pretty solid player, don't you think?

Joe Schmoe

Thanks for the suggestion about the switch, but that's not the problem. Even with the remote set to DVD, the cursor won't respond to my commands after I move it to the aspect ratio field. I have to move the cursor right and down to get it there, so I know the remote is set correctly and works just fine. It's still a mystery to me why I can't cycle through the choices once I get to this field.

As far as it being a solid player, it's got some nice pros:

-- You can zoom in and out while it's playing and leave it that way if you want. Other players make you pause the disc before you can zoom in or out, then unzoom in or out before resuming play.

-- It's completely compatible with the DVD+Rs and DVD+RWs I record on my Philips DVDR 985, so that's great. I've had trouble playing them back on other players.

But it's a got a few cons:

-- It won't play MP3 files.

-- It won't play CD-Rs or CD-RWs.

-- It won't play "Back to the Future Part II" at all (just the menu).

-- It won't play the alien subtitles on "The Phantom Menace" correctly (it won't show them at all unless you turn on closed captioning to see them).

-- It will play "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (Vista Series) but only after repeated attempts (especially disc 2).

-- It's an ugly gold color.

Thanks for trying to help!

chipmac

How quickly did you unplug it from the widescreen TV and plug it back into t he 4:3 TV? Did you even unplug the power cord? Most of these components will default back to the factory settings if you unplug the power for a while. Try unplugging it from the wall for 30 minutes and see if it switches back.

Joe Schmoe

Chipmac,

I considered the memory idea, so I left the unit unplugged for several days. When I plugged it back in, it was still set to 16:9 Multi. I don't see how that's possible, but there it is stuck on widescreen.

It was hooked up to my widescreen TV in the living room, but when it wouldn't play "Back t the Future Part II" I decided to hook up my Philips DVDR 985 to the widescreen. I've got the JVC in the bedroom now. Fortunately, I don't watch many movies in there, but when I do it's annoying to see everything stretched vertically.

danol

I am fortunate that this has not happened to me as I am running 3 Proggressive and 1 Int-Laced) into my 1 component Y-Pb-Pr jack in back of my RCA F38310.


I do hope you get to see the format of your choice, maybe the fact that all of my players and TV have hardly been changed. I am on a 16 X 9 HDTV on full 'not' fill and *never* on 4:3! Player that is manualy changed, is for region free viewing.