Ian11

Do anamorphic transfers benefit only those with HD 16:9 TVs or do us peasants with 4:3 TVs reap benefits also?

X

I'm going out on a limb here, but I know that 4:3 owners can take advantage of anamorphic if their set can do the squeeze trick. Sony Wega and XBRs can do it as can some other brands. Other than with that ability, I'd say no.

Rand

I'd say yes because of future proofing. You
will eventually have a 16x9 set, it's becomming the broadcast standard. It's only
a matter of time.

stevevt

X and Rand both make good points.

I just want to point out that anamorphic transfers have the potential of looking worse than non-anamorphic transfers on a 4:3 set that doesn't do the squeeze trick. This is because the dvd player must downconvert the signal for use on this type of set.

Some players do a better job than others, and various brands take different approaches to downconverting, but information is lost in this process.

Movie_Man

To answer the original question, unless you have a Wega or a HDTV, the anamorphic transfer serves no purpose.

DVD_O_Rama

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Movie_Man:
To answer the original question, unless you have a Wega or a HDTV, the anamorphic transfer serves no purpose.<HR>

Not true. Any set that allows you to get into the service menu and adjust the vertical picture settings can take advantage of the added resolution from an anamorphic DVD using the vertical squeeze trick.



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Ian11

My workhorse DVD player is the tireless Sony DVP-S330 and in its menu, 16:9 is an option other than the 4:3 widescreen.

I played Saving Private Ryan in this setting but the picture comes out full screen on my 4:3, cutting off some of the picture on the sides. Also, the picture looks squeezed. Resolution (IMO) looked better though. I'll stick with standard widescreen.

But, I believe, almost all anamorphic or "enhanced for widescreen TV" DVDs do look better than non-anamorphic discs even on my 4:3.

By the way my TV is the Sony KV-32S42 and I don't think it has any "squeeze trick" option in its menu.

Are there any TVs under $1000 that does this?



[This message has been edited by Ian11 (edited January 26, 2001).]

X

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Ian11:
Are there any TVs under $1000 that does this?<HR>

Sony 27" Wegas. And others. Cost is not the determining factor.

bdshort

The Sony Wega TV's are the only ones that have the 16x9 squeeze mode built into their user menus. Many other TV's can do it though, but you need to go into the service menu to do it, and you can possibly mess things up, so if you do this make sure you know what you are doing.

El Kabong

Ian11, if you had a 16x9 tv, it would take that squished-together 4x3 picture and expand it to the sides, filling the screen. As it stretches out, the picture uncompresses and looks normal again. Wouldn't recommend watching the squished versions on a 4x3 tv though. To fill the screen with a non-anamorphic movie, you have to chop off the top & bottom of the 4x3 letterboxed picture (which most likely is just black bar) to make it 16x9, then it enlarges the chopped 4x3 picture (which is now 16x9) to fill the screen. Since the tv has to "blow up" the picture, instead of just rolling it out or opening it up (however you want to look at it) there is some loss of image quality. Plus it just doesn't have the same resolution. However using a progressive-scan player, even some of the newer low budget non-anamorphic movies look pretty damn good- I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Alice's Restaurant.