Sorry if already discussed, but I've never seen it mentioned in the many OAR threads.

Just wondering what the consensus is on this... I expand the picture on my 65" Mitsubishi HDTV. Even though the top & bottom are cropped, I prefer this to watching the image with grey bars to the left & right & black bars on the top & bottom. Also prefer the cropping from expanding to stretching the picture horizontally.

As for anamorphic 1.66:1 DVDs shown on a WS TV: correct me if I'm wrong, but this is not OAR... yet I never read any OAR gurus complaining about this, quite the opposite, the improved resolution is desirable.

Alright, opinions.

I have a Panny player that has decent scaling that I use for non-anamorphic WS titles on my WS...

That said, if it's 1.66:1, I'll usually just watch those on my 4X3 Sony... I have two "home theater rooms" and one of them has the 4X3 in it. Mainly watch older non WS films and music video stuff on that set.

But yeah... Consensus...

I know it is tantamount to blasphamy but when watching a 1.66:1 movie I sometimes use the wide zoom setting when I don't want to hear comments about how the widescreen movie isn't filling up the widescreen tv from the peanut gallery. It does cause a distortion but it is a fairly small one. It is much more noticeable and with movies in other aspect ratios.

I have 14:9 zoom on my TV so I use that. Fits almost perfectly.

When I used to have a Panny DVD player, I used to use the zoom on that instead as it had very fine granularity and allowed me to zoom it perfectly.


If 1.66:1 is the OAR, then whether it's non-anamoprhic 1.66:1 or anamorphic 1.66:1, they are both 1.66:1 so it is the OAR. It's just that if you are using the CRT, the overscan makes it look the same as 1.78:1 and 1.85:1. But the same is true of anything you watch on a CRT. The important thing is what's on the DVD. You can always change your display.

If you watch any subtitled movies in 1.66:1, you are very grateful for it being 16x9 enhanced as otherwise you run the risk of the subtitles being chopped off by the zoom (unless you use your DVD player's zoom).

But when you watch an anamorphic 1.66:1 DVD on a 16x9 WS HDTV, the image displayed is 1.78:1, not 1.66:1 and NOT OAR....correct?

No, not correct.

When viewing anamorphic 1.66:1 on a 16:9 set, you will likely not see any bars, but there should be slight vertical bars. You won't see them because of overscan, much like true 1.85:1 material won't show black bars on a 1.78:1 screen...again overscan.

OK... it just seems to me that going from 1.66:1 to 1.78:1 is a bigger jump than dropping down from 1.85:1 to 1:78:1 and that more picture would be lost as a result.

why dont you just leave the tv setting on normal or whatever the regualr viewing setting is and watch it that way?

why do you change it and why do you worry about a very small bar on the side which usually isnt seen anyway?

Never said I changed anamorphic 1.66:1, but I sure as hell expand non-anamorphic 1.66:1 for the reasons in post 1.

i read your first post.

you said

"Even though the top & bottom are cropped, I prefer this to watching the image with grey bars to the left & right & black bars on the top & bottom."

again i ask why dont you just leave it and watch it the way it's is supposed to be.
as i mentioned a couple of small bars on the side, so what!

Because I'd rather crop the top & bottom of the picture... I also expand non-anamorphic 1.85:1. I guess the effect is similar to the overscan on anamorphic discs, except more picture is lost.

Okay, let me add to the discussion...

I own the 2-disc edition of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which was shot in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Now, Fox presented the film in an enhanced for widescreen televisions version of the film. They did this by having two extremely thin bits of black on the left and right sides of the screen, so that no picture is lost. I like this, and I would prefer that all studios do the same with films shot in this aspect ratio.

the two bars on the side of 1.66.1 are there for the same reason the bars are on top and bottom of 2.35.1.
the image is not the shape of the tv.

1.66 is not as wide as a standard size wide screen set.

I don't see what the issue here is if you have to choose between 1.66:1-anamorphic and 1.66:1-non-anamorphic. Are you concerned with black bars or having the proper ratio in an enhanced form?

I replaced more than 30 discs in my library precisely due to the fact that there is big difference between the two. Always opt for 1.66:1/anamorphic!

Ciao,
Pro-B

My Malta has x/y scaling which allows you to expand the picture without distorting the image. If I use the zoom, the picture looks blurry and loses detail.

Yeah, I'm with Johnny here. I do the same, most of the time. At least if I feel like going downstairs to do it, which requires energy... My workhorse Toshiba 36" is great for the 4x3 stuff. The one thing I can't stand is scan lines and now that I'm an HD pro...going back to a non-HD set takes strength and a little mind numbing potion.

The rest of the time I just watch it with the black barskies on the sides. I mean, it's not like they bother me during the film. Your HDTV just shrinks for a few hours, thats all. I do need a screen bigger than 42", though.