tjr2mental

I was asked by a fellow worker what overscan actually was and I was stumped. I know that it has something to do with widescreen, but nothing beyond that. I did a seach for it, but all I can find is mention of it, and not what it is.

Can anyone please let me know what overscan is?

muggins

Overscan...from what I understand, on televisions, the image displayed actually normally extends beyond the visible edges of the television. The television cuts off the edges to make sure there are no back bars anywhere around the edges, so that the picture takes up the full screen. I think it is common for about 5% of the picture to go beyond the viewable edges.

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.

chipmac

Muggins is correct. Overscan, or the amount that the picture that scans over or past the visible area of the screen, is the part of the image you can't see because that part of the screen is hidden by the bezel of the screen frame. All CRT based TVs have overscan it doesn't matter if it's a widescreen or not and most TVs are shipped from the factory with too much so you an be missing out on up to 15% of the image. An acceptable amount of overscan is about 4% to 5%. This much is needed so that the edges of the CRT trace lines are hidden and on RPTVs it's very hard to keep these edges straight so going to a lower amount would cause a curved picture. Because of the technology behind them I believe DLP, LCD and plasma do not need to have any overscan but I'm not certain on that. A calibration DVD like Avia or Digital Video Essentials will have test screens to tell you the amount of overscan your TV has. If you know how to enter the service menus of your TV there are controls to adjust it to the correct amount.

palebluedot

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~tstronds/nos.../Overscan.html

tjr2mental

Thanks for the info all... And that site was very informitive.