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2 Questions from New Panasonic Owner

918 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by halo0, Feb 22, 2005

BradTinBC

Discussion Starter · Feb 20, 2005

I've just set up my new Panasonic TH-37PA20.

1. My first (probably dumb) question is this: What aspect ratio should be used to view widescreen dvd's? I'm playing a dvd that claims to be 1.78:1 (16/9). On "Full" there are black bars top & bottom and the image appears to be squashed vertically, on "Zoom" the screen is filled, but there's a small band of the image missing top & bottom. I assume that "Zoom" is the correct aspect ratio, and what I'm seeing is overscan. Is that correct? There doesn't appear to be any of the image missing horizontally.

2. If it is overscan, how do I correct it?

Thanks,

Brad

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patnalli

· #2 · Feb 20, 2005

You want to set it to FULL. You might want to check the letterboxing setting on your DVD player, and make sure that the DVD you are watching is "Anamorphic" aka "Enhanced for Widescreen"

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BradTinBC

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 20, 2005

Thanks patnalli,

I switched the "TV Aspect" setting on my DVD player (Panasonic DVD-RP56) to 16/9, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. The DVD I'm playing appears to have only one aspect ratio, which is indicated as "Widescreen 1.78/1".

Any other ideas?

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patnalli

· #4 · Feb 20, 2005

Try and locate a 1.78:1 DVD that says Enhanced for widescreen and see what that looks like. This will be most widescreen titles. There are a few titles that are letterboxed widescreen (like Armageddon I believe) and will have black bars even if they are 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It sounds like either the DVD you are playing is not anamorphic and/or your player is trying to expand a 4:3 letterboxed widescreen.

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BradTinBC

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 20, 2005

Thanks again Patnalli.

Thanks for the further suggestions.

Of the grand total of 6 DVD's in my collection, 3 appear to be "true" widescreen which fill the screen properly in "Full" mode, while the "widescreen" version on the other 3 seem to have been formatted for a 16:9 letterbox format within 4:3. On those ones I think I will have to use "Zoom" to see them full-screen, and how well they will fit the screen will depend on the dimensions of the letterbox. Does that sound right to you.

Thanks again for your help.

Brad

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Joxer

· #6 · Feb 20, 2005

What is the DVD title? The 16:9 enhanced doesn't mean the movie has an aspect ratio of 16:9, its probably 2.35:1 like many movies are and has black bars as part of the 16:9 frame. Full mode is the correct mode for 16:9 enhanced (anamorphic) DVD titles - if your DVD player is setup properly for a 16:9 display and not the default 4:3.

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halo0

· #7 · Feb 22, 2005

You are correct. If you are watching a non-anamorphic DVD (should be rare these days) then you need to set the Panny to "Zoom" mode.

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Cholerabob

· #8 · Feb 22, 2005

It's normal to get black bars at the top and bottom of your screen. It's a common misconception that 16:9 means no black bars. I am providing a link to a site that JuiceRocket referred in another thread, it gives excellent explanations on the aspect ratios.

16:9 aspects ratio explained

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gungadin25

· #9 · Feb 22, 2005

I know what your problem is, as I just went through the same thing with my 42".

When viewing DVDs your mode should always be full. Don't use Zoom! Your problem is your DVD player is not outputting a 16:9 output. It is still stuck on 4:3. So go into the settings for your DVD player and change it. Then view a nice full-screen image on your plasma in full mode.

Pls. let me know if this works for you.

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halo0

· #10 · Feb 22, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by gungadin25
I know what your problem is, as I just went through the same thing with my 42".

When viewing DVDs your mode should always be full. Don't use Zoom! Your problem is your DVD player is not outputting a 16:9 output. It is still stuck on 4:3. So go into the settings for your DVD player and change it. Then view a nice full-screen image on your plasma in full mode.

Pls. let me know if this works for you.

This is just plain wrong. I have the 42" version (Panasonic TH-42PD25U) of the plasma that the OP has. My DVD player is set to 16:9 output. If you are viewing a NON-ANAMORPHIC DVD and you leave the plasma set on Full, you will be seeing a stretched image. Perhaps your plasma is different, but that's the way the panasonic works.

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