Playing NonWidescreen DVD's on Widescreeen HD TV

[hershon]

I'm a little confused on something here concerning mp playback of DVD's that are not widescreen on my widescreen HD TV. Specifically, if the DVD is not widescreen it will not occupy my full HD TV widescreen, correct? How do you recommend watching it then:
I've been using HD480i expand picture format on my big screen and "Zoom Out" on my 30" HDTV. What do you recommend? As far as I know the TV's either broadcast a 1081i or 480i picture not a 720 one. I think the picture looks great as is but wonder what these upconverters do. Any info would be appreciated.

[spuppy517]

I don't know what kind of tv you own but my toshiba has a section to select different "theater wide" modes and if I'm watching tv or anything else that is a 4:3 aspect ratio I go to that area and select "full". That makes it fill the screen. It does lend itself to slight distrortion of the picture but not enough that I care. Does your tv have a place where you can select something like this?

[hershon]

Yeah, my TV has the same & I use the mode I described above. The problem is the "distortion" is noticeable for me, good for you if it doesn't bother you.

I don't know what kind of tv you own but my toshiba has a section to select different "theater wide" modes and if I'm watching tv or anything else that is a 4:3 aspect ratio I go to that area and select "full". That makes it fill the screen. It does lend itself to slight distrortion of the picture but not enough that I care. Does your tv have a place where you can select something like this?

[spuppy517]

Sometimes it is definitely more noticable sometimes but it doesn't happen too often for me. Now I think I am just used to seeing anything on tv that way. Other than selecting full like that - I'm not sure how to go about making something widescreen that isn't. Sorry.

[Wireworm5]

Ok, I have the new Sony DVP-NS975V which plays on my new Panasonic 30" widescreen HDTV. My experience is limited, but when using the upscaler with my tv I can't change the aspect ratio. The tv goes into the HD mode. For Full screen movies,( I only have a couple ) I have the setting on the DVD player to full. Some of these movies fill the full screen and others are in letter box. So it depends on the movie. Widescreen works the best, but with these as well some are letter box but the black bars are narrower. The quality of the picture also varies depending on the movie. Worst case quality is comparable to 400 asa film photos. But I sit fairly close to my tv, farther back the graininess would be less noticable. So its really a trade off, you get rid of the stretched picture for what could be a small amount of graininess.

[hershon]

Hi,

Question for you concerning your Panasonic 30" widescreen HDTV, assuming you also have a larger rear projection widescreen HD TV as well. I have a Mitsubishi 48" widescreen HDTV & because the picture on that was so awesome, like you, got a 30" Samsung HDTV which is in my bedroom. The picture is excellent on the 30" but to me it doesn't have the richness and depth of my 48" HDTV. According to a TV guy I came to check on this, he basically said all HDTV's under 36" are going to have the same front type tube and therefore my rear projector TV's picture is going to be alot better. Plasma and LCD TV's were excluded from this. Do you find the same, that there is a big difference between your larger, assuming you have a larger, HDTV & your 30". Originally I was going to get a 26 or 27" HDTV but the picture was way to small.

Ok, I have the new Sony DVP-NS975V which plays on my new Panasonic 30" widescreen HDTV. My experience is limited, but when using the upscaler with my tv I can't change the aspect ratio. The tv goes into the HD mode. For Full screen movies,( I only have a couple ) I have the setting on the DVD player to full. Some of these movies fill the full screen and others are in letter box. So it depends on the movie. Widescreen works the best, but with these as well some are letter box but the black bars are narrower. The quality of the picture also varies depending on the movie. Worst case quality is comparable to 400 asa film photos. But I sit fairly close to my tv, farther back the graininess would be less noticable. So its really a trade off, you get rid of the stretched picture for what could be a small amount of graininess.

[Wireworm5]

No, I only have the one HDTV. As I mentioned in another post, its my understanding that the upscaler works for this tv because my tv has the HDCP (copy protection) and an HDMI cable is necessary to get an enhanced resolution, without the cable the tv works the same as a conventional 480i picture. As to another thread on this forum Composite vs HVI cable. A HDTV without HDCP will upscale the picture automatically an should work with any DVD player or device that does not have the HDCP.
I bought the 30" because the price was right and I couldn't get a bigger tv in my room. The biggest LCD I could find are 27" and more expensive. Browsing the stores in the last year, I thought the Pansonic tube tv has the best picture except for plasma and so I had my eye on getting one. If I had waited I could have got a 30" Toshiba for less money. But I'm happy with my choice.

[recoveryone]

Back to the first question, The Mits will play the DVD's just fine in full screen mode and will automaticlly adjust the conversion all you need to do is sit back abd watch.