There's something that's been irking me ever since I got my HD-A1 player: Why is it that some widescreen SD DVDs only show up in 4:3 letterbox when upscaled to 720 or 1080? Mortal Kombat and The Princess Blade are two prime examples.

I used to have a Samsung upscaling DVD player, and when it upscaled these films to 720 or 1080, it never pulled this stunt.

Right now, watching The Princess Blade, it's in a 4:3 window(pillar boxed as they say) which is also letterboxed. It's killing me, so I dropped the HD-A1's resolution to 480p, but that just stretches it horizontally. My old upscaling SD DVD player did *not* do this. What's the deal?

The first release of The Princess Bride on DVD was not anamorphic. It was later release as anamorphic (Special Edition), and then again with the Buttercup Edition and Dread Pirate Edition--both were NOT anamorphic.

If you have the first release, that explains why it's letterboxed in a pillarbox.


edit to add: Amazon doesn't list Mortal Kombat as anamorphic, so it's likely the same issue as the first release of The Princess bride.

As to why you get different results based on the resolution? That's due to how your TV is formating the different signals. At 480p, it's stretching it, but since the black bars are part of the encoding, it looks "squished". At 720p and 1080i, your TV can't stretch the image, so you see it in 4:3 pillarboxed with the letterbox bars (again, those are part of the encode).


If you aren't aware of anamorphic movies, basically early DVDs (and some poorly mastered newer ones) are created for 4:3 TVs. Instead of letting the DVD player add the letterbox bars, they are part of the encode. It's highly annoying and the reason I double-dipped on several DVDs--The Princess Bride is one of them.

Anamorphic DVDs are also known as "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" or "Enhanced for 16x9 TVs".


Updated post: Apparently the Buttercup and Dread Pirate Editions are NOT anamorphic. Stay away!

Ah, I see. Though I am embarrassed to admit it, I was always sort of fuzzy as to what "anamorphic" was all about, but I feel I thoroughly understand it now, owning two examples of something that simply are not.

I really appreciate the info. :)

I am going to watch through Princess Blade(which, oddly enough is labeled "2 Disc Special Edition) and see if I like it enough to go out and get the anamorphic version. As for MK, I'd re-buy it in a millisecond if I could find one!

yeah I can't stand this now after switching from a 4:3 tube to a 16:9 plasma.

I put it on Zoom to fill the screen, but it softens the picture a little.

Now I want to get rid of all my non anamorphic discs.

Ah, I see. Though I am embarrassed to admit it, I was always sort of fuzzy as to what "anamorphic" was all about, but I feel I thoroughly understand it now, owning two examples of something that simply are not.

I really appreciate the info. :)

I am going to watch through Princess Blade(which, oddly enough is labeled "2 Disc Special Edition) and see if I like it enough to go out and get the anamorphic version. As for MK, I'd re-buy it in a millisecond if I could find one!

I believe there is an anamorphic copy of Princess Blade floating out there. Not sure of the exact edition. However there is no version in Existence of Mortal Kombat that is anamorphic :(. Believe me I would replace my non-anamorphic copy in a second if there was one.

I know it, it's so good! I wish New Line would reconsider a new version of MK. Maybe if/when this new/rumored MK movie hits? An HD DVD version is too unfathomable, but I'd settle for an anamorphic version of MK. I don't know if MK:A is or not, I only really own it because A) I got it dirt cheap($3) B) the chick who plays Sonya is hot and C) she also has some of the best fight choreography in the entire move. ;)

yeah I can't stand this now after switching from a 4:3 tube to a 16:9 plasma.

I put it on Zoom to fill the screen, but it softens the picture a little.

Now I want to get rid of all my non anamorphic discs.

I will try the Zoom thing. I haven't seen much of a use of it in the past, but this may just be one of those times. :)

I updated my post to reflect this info: The Buttercup and Dread Pirate Editions of The Princess Bride are NOT anamorphic according to reviews on Amazon.

Don't buy these editions.

I updated my post to reflect this info: The Buttercup and Dread Pirate Editions of The Princess Bride are NOT anamorphic according to reviews on Amazon.

Don't buy these editions.

I didn't see any mention of that in the most recent reviews. Note that Amazon has the tendency to mix the reviews from different releases together. The DVD Talk review and DVD Empire list those editions as Anamorphic. Also, there appears to be a 20th Anniversary Edition coming out Nov. 13th anyway.

I didn't see any mention of that in the most recent reviews. Note that Amazon has the tendency to mix the reviews from different releases together. The DVD Talk review and DVD Empire list those editions as Anamorphic. Also, there appears to be a 20th Anniversary Edition coming out Nov. 13th anyway.


Ok, perhaps they are. Now I'm interested in seeing the actual package. These editions were released just last summer--they really should be anamorphic.

But yet another edition in November? This is quite ridiculous.

I updated my post to reflect this info: The Buttercup and Dread Pirate Editions of The Princess Bride are NOT anamorphic according to reviews on Amazon.

Don't buy these editions.

Those reviews would be wrong. I have this edition -- it's definitely anamorphic.

I forget about these DVDs from time to time then go to play one and think oh great the players set to 4:3 display again. And the tvs set to 4:3 as well. Who's been messing with the remote.. As I have a few friends who can't stand I put everything in OAR meaning a good chunk of the 4:3 shows I watch leavebars on they left and right. Why don't you just strech it out they say. Becase it looks horible then. And its not right.

I forget about these DVDs from time to time then go to play one and think oh great the players set to 4:3 display again. And the tvs set to 4:3 as well. Who's been messing with the remote.. As I have a few friends who can't stand I put everything in OAR meaning a good chunk of the 4:3 shows I watch leavebars on they left and right. Why don't you just strech it out they say. Becase it looks horible then. And its not right.

If only everyone was a member of the OAR-purists group.

According to dvdcompare.net, the Buttercut and Dread Pirate editions ARE anamorphic.

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=835

I have the Buttercup Edition. It is anamorphic, and looks pretty good.

I have a copy of Mortal Kombat, it is a two sided disk. it says one side is full screen, and the other side is 16x9 anamorphic. But it doesn't get recognized as anamorphic on either side. bunch of BS..