Goodmans Widescreen

Bill Clinton · 06-01-2001, 00:14

I got hold of a Goodmans GDVD100 for christmas, it's a great bargain player in most respects, in that it handles Video CD and MP3 as well. But there is one problem there appears to be no way whatsoever of watching the majority of DVD without a letterbox on my standard 4:3, I have tried every picture setting to no avail, the letterbox and pan & scan modes seem to behave identically, this is getting very annoying, does anyone have any ideas?

Orbitalzone · 06-01-2001, 18:56

Thats DVD video for you !.. it seems that almost no DVD titles use the Pan and scan feature (as far as I can tell) so you have you have to watch the movie in the format it was made in and many of these are VERY widescreen.... even on a widescreen TV set, you often get black lines top and bottom when watching DVD's.

Orbitalzone · 06-01-2001, 18:58

Oh ok.. Samsung and Thomson DVD players do have a zoom function that enlarges the image, but its not intended to do what you want really, it's a feature to zoom in and see little things onscreen bigger...

steven123 · 06-01-2001, 21:51

i have a toshiba DVD player and a 4:3 tv and when i first got the player i too was disapointed that the image could not be made to fill the screen.
but after i had watched a few movies i got used to this and now actually prefer the widescreen format as it allows you to see details at the side of the screen that you could not see on conventional 4:3 images

Bill Clinton · 15-01-2001, 01:11

Thanks for your help, when I had the player I had assumed it was a fault, because I had thought surely all players could zoom in in a pan and scan format that fills the screen, making the films appear in the same way as they do on say Sky Premier and BBC ONE. But I realise now that this is not necessarily the case and will just have to put up with it. I must admit the DVD system does seem a little inadequate with this problem. You would have thought that pan and scan was an essential feature to use with 4:3, especially on 14 inch screens like the one I use.

Orbitalzone · 15-01-2001, 20:13

I agree, its a shame you cant pan and scan (although it can be done if the DVD film was written to do it)I'd imagine its not too hard to make a DVD player view a cropped 4/3 image either!

06-01-2001, 21:51	#4
steven123 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Teesside, England Posts: 2,901	widescreen i have a toshiba DVD player and a 4:3 tv and when i first got the player i too was disapointed that the image could not be made to fill the screen. but after i had watched a few movies i got used to this and now actually prefer the widescreen format as it allows you to see details at the side of the screen that you could not see on conventional 4:3 images

06-01-2001, 00:14	#1
Bill Clinton Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: SouthWirral 1986-2002 & 2004-? Posts: 7,082	I got hold of a Goodmans GDVD100 for christmas, it's a great bargain player in most respects, in that it handles Video CD and MP3 as well. But there is one problem there appears to be no way whatsoever of watching the majority of DVD without a letterbox on my standard 4:3, I have tried every picture setting to no avail, the letterbox and pan & scan modes seem to behave identically, this is getting very annoying, does anyone have any ideas?

06-01-2001, 18:56	#2
Orbitalzone Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Sussex Posts: 12,173	Thats DVD video for you !.. it seems that almost no DVD titles use the Pan and scan feature (as far as I can tell) so you have you have to watch the movie in the format it was made in and many of these are VERY widescreen.... even on a widescreen TV set, you often get black lines top and bottom when watching DVD's.

06-01-2001, 18:58	#3
Orbitalzone Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Sussex Posts: 12,173	Oh ok.. Samsung and Thomson DVD players do have a zoom function that enlarges the image, but its not intended to do what you want really, it's a feature to zoom in and see little things onscreen bigger...

15-01-2001, 01:11	#5
Bill Clinton Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: SouthWirral 1986-2002 & 2004-? Posts: 7,082	Thanks for your help, when I had the player I had assumed it was a fault, because I had thought surely all players could zoom in in a pan and scan format that fills the screen, making the films appear in the same way as they do on say Sky Premier and BBC ONE. But I realise now that this is not necessarily the case and will just have to put up with it. I must admit the DVD system does seem a little inadequate with this problem. You would have thought that pan and scan was an essential feature to use with 4:3, especially on 14 inch screens like the one I use.

15-01-2001, 20:13	#6
Orbitalzone Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Sussex Posts: 12,173	I agree, its a shame you cant pan and scan (although it can be done if the DVD film was written to do it)I'd imagine its not too hard to make a DVD player view a cropped 4/3 image either!

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Goodmans Widescreen