is there a dvd player that can recognize a 4:3 disc and not stretch the content across a wide screen tv w/o having to change settings? currently, i have to disable progressive scan on the dvd player and then change the aspect on the tv. we tend to play a baby einstein disc at least once a day and would like to fiddle as little as possible with the setup. also, i have an older hdtv that only has component, so i'm holding off on getting a hi def player until i can get a new tv (and budget) that supports it.

~thanks~

It's known as scaling. Either your TV does it or the player does. I have an older player that didn't scale, so I had to adjust the TV. Until you get a newer TV, you'll have to set up your player to display 4:3 properly. There should be two settings - letterbox or full. What DVD player do you have and what TV do you have?

My DVDp is set to 16:9, and it is an older model hooked up with component. When my TV is set to Auto, it automatically picks 16:9 or 4:3 correctly. The only thing that messes it up are non-anamorphic widescreen discs, those I must manually select a different mode if I want it to fill the screen.

Well, there's no sense in getting an upconverting player since they don't upscale over component. You'll just have to wait until you get that new set and player, unless there's a setting in the TV we don't know about.

That's really odd because we play Baby Einstein and Baby Signing Time discs all the time, and our DVD player plays them at 4x3 with black bars on the left and right in progressive. I also have to turn off progressive scan in order to zoom non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs to fit.

Make sure you DVD player is set to 16x9 and see if there's something in the service menu of your TV.

i've had the tv (txm3096) for 5 years, and i just found out that it doesn't even support 720p, but only 1080i i thought there were some upconverts that did support component, but i haven't had the time to search it out.

i can now adjust aspect w/o turning off progressive with this third dvd player i've tried. not sure what the issue was, but at least i only have to push one button now, which makes me happier. a dvd player that does it automatically would be better as the wife doesn't think to change the aspect, meaning the child's going to grow up thinking that an oval is a circle and a rectangle is a square :\

i'm heading toward a projector/htpc setup for the next entertainment center, so this will eventually just be for entertaining the child.

milo, which dvd player are you using?

That example should be used in an anti-stretching educational campaign. Once they see how it could affect their little angels, soccer moms everywhere will insist on having the TV set up properly with no distortion.