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Viewing widescreen tv... |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 32
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Viewing widescreen tv...
Hi
I currently have a 32" Widescreen CRT connected to Sky+, a DVD player, and a PS2. A few years ago when I had a 4:3 tv, if I watched a dvd on it, I would get the letterbox black bars appearing on the top and bottom of the screen (which I expected). However, what I don't understand, is when I watch a dvd on my 32" CRT, why do I still get the letterbox bars?!?! The tv is already widescreen, so there should be no black bars and the picture should fit perfectly on the viewable screen shouldn't it? Is it because I may have wired everything up incorrectly? Whenever I switch the tv on, the picture size is set to auto. I manually change it to widescreen everytime. In the summer, I will be buying a 40"+ tv and probably a ps3 at somepoint as well. Should I expect these letterbox black bars on this as well when watching a dvd? Thanks |
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#2 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,847
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One - has your DVD player been told that it is now connected to a widescreen TV rather than a 4:3 CRT? Because, if it still thinks it is connected to a 4:3 (mode probably set to 4:3L) it will still be outputting whatever is playing in letterbox mode rather than in anamorphic widescreen (16:9) mode. Depending what you tell your DVD player you are connected to will dictate whether the DVD outputs an anamorphic picture, a letterbox picture or a 4:3 pan-and-scan picture.
Even if it has been set to output in 16:9 mode, a lot of DVD movies are wider than 16:9. If it has had a cinema release, there is a fair bet that it will be in 2.35:1 mode rather than 1.78:1 mode (1.78:1 equates to 16:9). This is because cinema screens are wider than 16:9 television sets, so to include the whole width of the movie as it was shown in the cinema, horizontal black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are still required. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: South West
Posts: 10,218
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Check the DVD packaging, if it says widescreen in something other than 16:9, then it may well be that you still get black bars. Widescreen televisions and widescreen movie formats are not the same.
Some films broadcast will also be wider than 16:9, too. What matters is whether or not circular items in the picture are circular, and not elipses. Look for overly fat or thin faces, for instances. I find that I know whether someone's face is not quite right - even if I've never seen them before. So in precis there ae a number of different widescreen dimensions, but widescreen TVs are fixed at 16:9. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 32
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Thanks for the replies
The dvd player was set to 4:3 I've now changed it to 16:9 and the picture looks a lot better I also checked my sky+ settings, and they were also set to 4:3! Changed these to 16:9 as well and the picture is better here as well ![]() ![]()
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