Is there a fix for watching non-anamorphic movies on a 16x9 tv?

[Jack Hammer]

I'm watching The Killer on dvd and and I have black bars on the top and sides of the movie, even though it is a widesrceen movie. Is there anyway to watch it in widescreen without the picture being stretched sideways?

Also, on anamorphic dvd's I've noticed that the special features and trailers all have to watched in 4:3 mode on my tv or they are all stretched too wide to. Is there something in my dvd player that can adjust for this? or do I have to keep changing the aspect ratio on my tv constantly?

Thanks

Jack

Oh, its a Denon 2910 dvd player and a Vizio GV42L lcd tv.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I'm watching The Killer on dvd and and I have black bars on the top and sides of the movie, even though it is a widesrceen movie. Is there anyway to watch it in widescreen without the picture being stretched sideways?

Also, on anamorphic dvd's I've noticed that the special features and trailers all have to watched in 4:3 mode on my tv or they are all stretched too wide to. Is there something in my dvd player that can adjust for this? or do I have to keep changing the aspect ratio on my tv constantly? Thanks
Jack
Oh, its a Denon 2910 dvd player and a Vizio GV42L lcd tv.

Well, from what I have seen on DVDs, much of the extra, non-movie stuff is not in w/s and/or anamorphic.
You may have to get into the DVD player menu to play standard WS in full width. I have similar issues on a screen but then the picture is too grainy when stretched.

 

[Nick250]

I'm watching The Killer on dvd and and I have black bars on the top and sides of the movie, even though it is a widesrceen movie. Is there anyway to watch it in widescreen without the picture being stretched sideways?

Also, on anamorphic dvd's I've noticed that the special features and trailers all have to watched in 4:3 mode on my tv or they are all stretched too wide to. Is there something in my dvd player that can adjust for this? or do I have to keep changing the aspect ratio on my tv constantly?

Thanks

Jack

Oh, its a Denon 2910 dvd player and a Vizio GV42L lcd tv.

Most wide screen movies are fine. Some, like Killer (have not see it so I am going by your post) mentioned above I would use "zoom" (not "stretch"). It's still not perfect because it zooms a bit too much, but it's the least bad solution for my setup.

Nick

 

[abboudc]

As Nick mentioned, Zoom should do what you're trying to do. You'll lose a bit of the picture, but it won't be stretched.

Most 16:9 tv's have two zoom modes, Zoom and Wide Zoom. If it's a widescreen letterbox, try Wide Zoom.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I'd rather switch to 4:3 mode than zoom, but I'm an OAR kind of guy. I do have a few non-anamorphic DVDs, and they always tick me off.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Actually, I did watch it in zoomed mode. The amount of video lost was minimal and completely tolerable. I'm just getting irritated with constantly changing the display mode. My dvd player offers an option called something like "squeeze mode" where the picture is pushed in sideways. That's even more of a pain to toggle through than just using the button on the tv remote.

What gets me is with my old 4:3 tv, there was no mode to change. If the material was widescreen I got bars on top automatically. If it was fullscreen, the image filled the screen on its own. I didn't have to deal with constantly toggling through wide, normal, stretch, & zoom modes.

I was wondering if there is something like this for widescreen tv's. When a 4:3 image is displayed the tv or dvd player would automatically put black bars on the side (similar to how my 4:3 did with letterbox). When a 16:9 image is played it would automatically display as 16:9. That way I don't have to constantly change the display mode when flipping channels or watching special features on dvd's (or watching non-anamorphic movies).

Jack

 

[Rob Babcock]

I hear you. It's a pain. The problem is that we stand on the cusp of a sea change in how video material will be presented. LCDs & Plasmas are flying off the shelves, and they're nearly all 16:9. But we have an enormous amount of legacy material set up for display on 4:3 TVs. So we'll have that issue for awhile.

Changing it constantly is a pain, but I still prefer to watch the original aspect ratio. I'm glad you've found a satisfactory workaround.