Hello all. I'm new to plasmas and processors and have researched this site for weeks without finding the answer on whether a vp will actually size sd (480i) so it will be full screen picture on a 42ph9uk. Is this 720p? 1080i? Or are these just better resolutions still displayed 4:3? All I want is to not have to stretch or zoom the sd to fit the screen. I know I've read hundreds of pages of posts here and have learned more from from everyone here than anywhere else. I hate to even ask this but I've searched, read and stayed up all night on this forum for much too long. I really enjoy it though. I think it's kind of addictive. Please spare a moment to help and save me more sleepless nights.

Thanks,
Joe

I don't think there are any video processors that will automatically reshape the picture for the right amount of zoom or upconversion whenever you change channels. At least some let you save zoom or upconversion settings so everything on that input (DVD player, cable box, etc.) receives the same amount of zoom or upconversion. (A second and sometimes more choices of upconversion available with a button push can usually be configured by you for each input.) At any rate it is a lot of money spent for the privilege of not having to push so many buttons on your remote, unless the built in upconversion in the TV is markedly inferior.

Normally when you tune in or plug in a regular 4:3 SDTV show on your wide screen HDTV, the picture will fill the screen top to bottom. The TV does the needed upconverting for you. Except if the show is letterboxed (black top and bottom pre-recorded with the show) you will need to use zoom to more nearly fill the screen with useful material. In addition there is usually a choice (usually called Normal) that squeezes in the sides to make a 4:3 picture.

Normally anything coming in as 720p or 1080i is expected to be 16:9 and any 4:3 material would have pre-recorded black side bars. Some TV's will not allow the 720p or 1080i input to be reshaped or zoomed but you should not buy a TV that disallows reshaping or zooming a 480i or 480p picture.

Video hints:
http://www.cockam.com/video.htm

Thank you Allan Jayne. This has been frustrating me for a while now. It would be nice if someone did make a processor to add or duplicate extra details horizontally for an sd signal to fill these 16X9 screens without having to zoom, stretch or justify the picture and cropping part of it in the process. My sd signal is suprisingly good so I really don't need a vp. I was just hoping they performed this function.

Thanks again,
Joe

By the way, duplicating extra details horizontally is the same thing as stretching horizontally.

It is absolutely positively impossible to either manually or automatically put a 4:3 picture in a wider (for example 16:9) space without doing at least one of: cropping the top and bottom, leaving space on the sides unused, or stretching the picture unnaturally.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking for here. Are you wanting extra stuff to be added on at the sides, or do you want the sort of panoramic stretch most VPs do, which stretches the edges of the 4:3 material more than the centre?

I've got it now. Choddo- what I was hoping for was a special processing unit to make a 4:3 magically 16:9 with no distortion or cropping. Apparently my faith in computers was ill advised. Maybe someday but for now I'll have to live with sidebars. It could be worse.

Thanks all,
Joe

among plasma panels, NEC and Pioneer are often said to have the best stretching algorithms, which provide the least offensive looking SD screen fills. The Panasonic one you own is said to have a decent one in "Just" mode, but not quite as good as those other two brands (and probably very high end brands too, such as Fujitsu & Runco).

Then on top of that, you've got a panel, any Panasonic industrial/commercial actually, which doesn't allow SD content being broadcast on HD channels to be stretched/zoomed. However, my understanding is that if you have a cable box or a Tivo 3, for example, which may have their own built-in stretching capabilities, these can override your panels inability to manipulate the SD content on HD stations, for zooming/stretching. Whether they would do a better job than the Pansonic, it's hard to say without seeing for yourself. At the very least, it would provide an option for SD on HD stretching.

ok i know that aXXo has good movies but there 16:9 is there any one out there that has good 4:3 movies that way we dont have to try to convert them?

I've got it now. Choddo- what I was hoping for was a special processing unit to make a 4:3 magically 16:9 with no distortion or cropping. Apparently my faith in computers was ill advised. Maybe someday but for now I'll have to live with sidebars. It could be worse.

4:3 is (almost) a square. 16x9 is a rectange.

You cant fit one inside the other without enlarging and cropping, or scaling in one direction disproportionally. This isn't a an issue with "computers". It's basic geometry: square -> rectange.