Cinemaster doesn't do true 16x9??

Actually, this has pretty much nothing to do with the TV, or the resolution I'm running, but seems to be a fault in the way Cinemaster handles 16x9, by automatically assuming that the screen resolution is 4x3, and decoding a 16x9 format to a letterboxed 4x3 output. Like I said, PowerDVD can be told not to decode it as 4x3, and just leave the picture alone, but I can't figure out how to do it in Cinemaster, so there must be a reg hack or something. If anyone knows how, please reply, thanks.

It may be that the Cinemaster player isn't outputting an anamorphic image because you're not running at a 16:9 resolution. Unless there's an option somewhere in the settings to disable 'keep aspect ratio', your best bet would probably be to try a 16:9 resolution such as 848x480. Alternately, if you TV supports 1080i you could try 960x540p.

I've got a Radeon and an XBR400, and have noticed that the ATI dvd player (similar to Cinemaster?) is a little strange when it comes to aspect ratio selection. It shows various options, but not all of them work in a given resolution/desktop ratio.


I have always followed the advice of others here and kept to 'square' 4x3 and 16x9 ratios. I have had success with the 848x480 desktop within 540p timings in Powerstrip; this seems to line up perfectly with the side edges of the screen, and (theoretically) keeps the standard 480 lines for DVD. The 540p timing automatically kicks the TV into widescreen mode.


The only problem I've found is that sometimes when I reboot in this mode, the radeon reverts to a true 848x480 mode, which the TV then interprets as 4x3, leading to a stretched look. Reasserting the resolution with Powerstrip fixes it. I think this would be solved just by having Powerstrip activate at boot-up, but I prefer to keep my boot sequence as short as possible.

Thanks a lot to the last 2 replies, the 848x480 seems to work perfectly! Dcheesi-I'd be interested in knowing exactly what settings you have for pixel clock, refresh, etc. The pic looks great, but it flickers just a tiny bit, so maybe you've figured out the "sweet spot" on the 400. Once again, thanks to everyone that replied, it looks like it'll work nicely. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get Cinemaster 2000 to output DD from my SBLive! card's digital output...


Thanks!