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PS3 DVD upscaler cropping off left and right edges of picture

post #1 of 11
6/12/08 at 5:04pm
Thread Starter 
When I use the PS3's upscaler on 4:3 DVDs, it crops off part of the left and right edges of the image, replacing them with more black space. The aspect ratio becomes almost square, making it very annoying to watch with upscaling turned on. I'm watching all 4:3 material with upscaling off right now because of this. This happens for both double scale and normal. When using full upscale to stretch the image to cover an entire 16:9 screen, the cropping does not occur.

See the below images for an example. Notice that the wire on the left and the nail on the right go missing with double and normal upscaling.







Widescreen anamorphic DVDs are fine at normal and full, but still have edges cropped when double upscaling is used.






Is there something wrong with my configuration or is this behavior common to all PS3s? I'm using a 1366x768 TV and I've tried both 1080i and 720p and both crop 4:3 video with normal upscaling.
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post #2 of 11
6/12/08 at 8:47pm
I hope I don't sound like an ass, but...

LOL

Nothing's wrong. 4:3 means exactly what you're seeing. The edges aren't cropped. They were never there to begin with.
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post #3 of 11
6/12/08 at 9:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by confidenceman View Post

I hope I don't sound like an ass, but...

LOL

Nothing's wrong. 4:3 means exactly what you're seeing. The edges aren't cropped. They were never there to begin with.

Um, have you looked at the pictures? The wire and the window that I'm seeing in the 480p pictures are just illusions? When I place my finger at the left edge of the picture and switch to upscaling, I'm unconsciously shifting my finger another inch left and the edge stays at the same place?
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post #4 of 11
6/12/08 at 9:09pm
I wonder what would happen if you turned of 1080i and pushed 720p to your tv instead. I wonder if there is some sort of odd de-interlacing or if the ps3 is outputting oddly. Not sure, but 720p may be an easier solution than trying to force 1080i.

-Splints
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post #5 of 11
6/12/08 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by splinters View Post

I wonder what would happen if you turned of 1080i and pushed 720p to your tv instead. I wonder if there is some sort of odd de-interlacing or if the ps3 is outputting oddly. Not sure, but 720p may be an easier solution than trying to force 1080i.

-Splints

Like I said in my post, I tried both 1080i and 720p. They both look the same. Afterwards, I hooked it up to another TV that's 1080p, and I get the exact same results. And I'm sure the PS3 is not displaying in 4:3 when upscaled, because the left and right edges of the screen are definitely almost an inch closer to the center than the edges when the TV is displaying SD channels from the TV tuner. When upscaling is off, and I set the TV to expand while maintaining aspect ratio, I get the same edge positions in that mode as I do for SD channels.

What would really be helpful to me is if someone can post pictures of what unscaled and normal scale looks like on their PS3s.
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post #6 of 11
6/12/08 at 9:42pm
If I had to guess what this is, I'd say that it's intentional, and that they have determined that they get better results if a little of the image is cropped. Maybe their scaling algorithm works better if they cut it to, say, 700x480 instead of 720x480 before scaling.

I notice that in one of the 4:3 images (double scale 1080i), there is a little cut off the top and bottom as well.
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post #7 of 11
6/13/08 at 12:39am
I would disagree that this is intentional. It isn't the ps3's job to crop on a "normal" DVD upscale, maybe for the alternate upscaling views.

I tested on another DVD and I didn't have the cropping issue you showed. Do you see this with all your DVD's or just some of them?

-Splints
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post #8 of 11
6/13/08 at 12:53am
Is PS3 setup to display 4:3 material on Pan & Scan or on Widescreen? Also, 'double scale' (by now you should see the evidence) doesn't do anything on your TV / PS3 since it only outputs in 1080i. The PS3 needs to ouput in 1080p in order for 'double scale' to work. Now, it lets you select it but it doesn't do a thing (as we all see).
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post #9 of 11
6/13/08 at 2:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by confidenceman View Post

I hope I don't sound like an ass, but...

Wouldn't you know it... I do sound like an ass.

Didn't look closely enough at your pics. Sorry.

Here's the results on my 768p Aquos display (sorry, no pics):

Upscaling on widescreen anamorphic DVD-

Double-scale: actually gives me more of the image. Just by a few horizontal lines. But this is just because of overscan on the normal image (which is partly why I prefer watching SD DVDs in double scale on my display).

Normal, off, and full: all show the same amount of the picture.

Upscaling on 4:3 DVD-

Off and full screen: as with anamorphic DVDs, I end up losing some image on the sides because of overscan.

Normal and double scale: both look fine (but double-scale, of course, looks a bit crisper).

I tried this forcing both 720p and 1080i output and ended up with my same results.

What you're getting isn't normal, and shouldn't be happening. If it's happening on multiple TVs, something may be happening with the hardware somewhere along the line (PS3, AVR, etc.). I'm assuming you've updated your firmware? Have you checked other 4:3 DVDs (I used Southpark in my tests)? Tried other HDMI cables? Are you using an AVR or other device mediating between your PS3 and display?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trat View Post

The PS3 needs to ouput in 1080p in order for 'double scale' to work. Now, it lets you select it but it doesn't do a thing (as we all see).

Not true.
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post #10 of 11
6/25/08 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trat View Post

Also, 'double scale' (by now you should see the evidence) doesn't do anything on your TV / PS3 since it only outputs in 1080i. The PS3 needs to ouput in 1080p in order for 'double scale' to work. Now, it lets you select it but it doesn't do a thing (as we all see).

Ummm ... double scale works with 1080i and 1080p ... and I'm not sure what you're looking at, but we can all see it is infact working in those pics
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post #11 of 11
6/26/08 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 
I put in a tech support email today. We'll see if Sony has anything to say about it. I don't think it's possible for this to be a signal problem with the hdmi cable or the TV, since the edges of the 4:3 image are not the edges of the full picture when upscaling is on. The ps3 menu graphics all occupy the same space at any of the upscaler settings. I should add that my PS3 model is the CECHH01.
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