anamorphic dvd on 4:3 tv - how to tell?
 

Hi all,

I did a quick search for this but wasn't able to find the info I need. I recently got Creator (Region 2) and much to my delight (and surprise) it is OAR (1.85:1) unlike the Region 1 version. My question is how do I tell if it is anamorphic as well on a 4:3 tv? If it helps, I have a Malata N996 (like most people on this forum it seems) and I tried setting the tv type to 16:9 but all it seemed to to do was make the picture smaller horizontally. Will recheck again, but any help/guidance would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for replies.

...I assume you are referring to the UK version on the low-priced Hollywood DVD label ? ! ... trust me - this is a letterbox transfer (of a very enjoyable movie, btw!)...

...how to check?... very simple: go into the SET-UP menu of your player and change the setting to "Widescreen" or "16:9" - put in the disc: you will (still) see a 'widescreen' image (the 'black bars' are included in the image that's recorded on the disc)...

...try this with a DVD that does have an anamorphic transfer and you will see that the image is stretched vertically, (almost) filling the screen (the 'black bars' are generated by the player...

(...don't forget to go back into the player's SET-UP menu and change the setting back to 4:3, unless you prefer seeing your favorite actors/actresses looking exceptionally tall and slender...)

. . . :o . . .

If it's an anamorphic image:
set the Malata TV Type to 16:9
the image should be vertically stretched, and fills the screen


if it's not an anamorphic image:
set the Malata TV Type to 16:9
the image will either stay the same, with black bars
OR
it gets boxed into a square in the center of the TV, kinda like it's horizontally squished, with black bars on all four sides.


J.T.

To Hendrik,

Yes, I am indeed referring to the UK Hollywood DVD Region 2 edition of Creator. It's been one of my sentimental favorites (even if it does get syrupy at times) for quite a while.

To jktv,

I get the last effect you describe: the image horizontally squished with black bars on all four sides. So I'm guess it is not anamorphic. Ah well, am happy enough with widescreen.

Thanks for the replies

Setting the DVD player to 16x9 doesn't work if you have a HD 4:3 tv that has a 3-2 pulldown feature. That's the setting I have on my DVD Player with my TV and the image is stunning. Best way to tell would be to run the DVD in your computer.

Another, simpler way to check is use Zoom if the player has that function. If you can zoom it to full screen and the resolution drops, it's not anamorphic. If you zoom it and the picture zooms in the 1:85 ratio (meaning, you can zoom the pic but it zooms within the black bars) it's going to be anamorphic.