DVD NDN

I've been setting up my new home theater with a Sony 1031 CRT Projector and DVDO line-doubler.
I've been playing my disks out of a new Samsung DVD/VHS player and it has a feature called EZ VIEW. They market this feature to eliminate the black bars for the Joe six-packs but when the player is set to output in widescreen it turns non-anamorphic disks into anamorphic disks by zomming on the 16x9 image then horizontally squezing the image.
The result is pretty damn good. My non-anamorphic disks look great projected in widescreen.
The only comparision I could do from an anamorphic and a non-anamorphic transfer was from CHARADE. They both looked great, although Universal's transfer is better in terms colors and vibrancy.
So my point is, don't pass up a movie you want if its non-anamorphic, there are other options.

Groucho

It's a good compromise, but it's still a signifcant loss in resolution.

boston george

This is true. If a movie is non-animorphic only with no chance of a new version anytime soon I will still buy it but I don't like to. I can scale a NA movie to fit my 16x9 65"tv but it doesn't look as good as a real animorphic movie.

Off topic- With such a nice projector I would suggest investing in a nicer dvd player. Those Samsung DVD/VCR combos are garbage IMHO and won't do justice to what your projector is really capable of.

Easy

It used to be that only fairly high end equipment (like the Panny RP-91 for example) could scale a NA movie. When did this change? Of course, if they called it EZ VIEW I wouldn't recognize it for what it was anyway. Damn marketing.

Dammit

My JVC S500 has that feature. Does it automatically in most cases. I actually didn't realize a few of my DVD's were non-anamorphic for a while. I just thought they were sub par transfers.

DVDude!

Just to clarify, it doesn't magically make non-anamorphic images into anamorphic. You could say it makes non-anamorphic images appear anamorphic. An image is either anamorphic or it's not.

DVD NDN

DVDude!, I would agree with your clarification.

boston george, I don't know how much the player factors into the image I'm projecting as the DVDO Iscan does all the work on the image like 3:2 pulldown and line-doubling.

BTW, I'll post some screen shots in a week or so

AndyA

I have a DLP Projector (108") screen. In 4x3 mode non-animorphic (2:35:1) is big and not stretched and looks decent. (Non-animorphic 1:85:1 I have to use native mode and shows bars on either side) however when I am in 16x9 mode with animorphic video the actual resolution becomes better. It is hard to decribe. beyond fitting 16x9 screen without appearing stretched, anamorphic video is a great deal better than non-anamorphic in terms of resolution (all in progressive scan of course)

Tscott

The only problem you've got now is if you watch a film with subtitles you won't be able to see them since on an non-anamorphic DVD they're placed on the black bars automatically.

milo bloom

On my Samsung 16x9 I just click the screen to Zoom 1, and it cuts the top and bottom to the proper aspect ratio. I can even watch Angel and Enterprise fullscreen like this. Doesn't look too hot, but it works.

DVDude!

Thanks for pointing that out. I remember reading something somewhere (vague, aren't I?) about subtitles on widescreen sets, but couldn't recall the details.

I plan on buying a LOT of foreign films soon. I probably won't get a widescreen set in the near future, but I'll have to factor the subtitles into my decisions. I was looking for anamorphic titles as a general rule, but some Hong Kong cheapies aren't anamorphic. In the future, when I have a widescreen set, these discs will be almost be pointless to own, I guess. In addition to losing resolution by zooming, the subtitles will vanish. Ick.

DivxGuy

The only time I had problems with subtitles was on Tombs of the Blind Dead (non-enhanced 1.66:1), because the RP-91 crops off portions from the top and bottom when it scales them. I don't have this problem with the HTPC.

FYI I've found that with many transfers of catalog titles, enhancement doesn't make much difference, because the detail simply isn't there.

I found this subject interesting enough to have written a couple of articles on it (one on scaling in general and one spedific to 1.66:1).

RD

Frank S

Believe me the "true" scaling feature on the Pany RP91 is signifigantly better then these "EZ View" or suedo scaling done by players like JVC's! The RP91 uses mathmatical calculations (like all true scalers do) to re-image the video at the proper aspect ratio but these others simply zoom to achieve the aspect ratio but lose a lot of resolution in doing so.

The Bus

My TV does this and yes you get used to watching a blotchy version of Vertigo, but help you if you need subtitles...

boston george

When I scale my non-animorphic HK flicks the subtitles will not move unless they are burned in, then you have a problem.

DVD NDN

I noticed the sub-title problem when I was watching Star Wars and Jabba's subtitles were cut off...

Perhaps the thread's title should be changed to read:
Not Anamorphic = Couple Problems

Thanks for all the discussion

TheHistorian

I like the controllable X:Y scaling on my Malata DVD player. I adjust one axis until it just about reaches the borders of my 16:9 screen, and the other axis has been proportionally scaled. I think that's about as good as one can do with NA discs.

Easy

That explains it - thanks. It appeared to me that scaling had become a common feature on less expensive players and I was starting to think about replacing my RP-62. I think I'll stay with what I have for now.

DivxGuy

I found the RP-91 to have a less-than-stellar image, actually. You can do a lot better.

Tarantino

Resolution Loss = Argh.

Frank S

You are in the extreme majority since even today the RP91 is a highly regarded DVD player. And when it comes to scaling non-Anamorphic DVD's I would like to know a better DVD player out there under $1000. The one Denon that does it is about the equal and unless you move into the $5000 seperate scaler area you will not get better non-Anamorphic video out of a DVD player. Now maybe you have seen the RP91 on a 4x3 TV but on a 16x9 HDTV the RP91 is outstanding for scaled non-Anamorphic DVD's as well as Anamorphic DVD's!