[dannocron]

Recently I purchased a Pioneer PRO-141 plasma (60"). Much of what I watch on this Blu Ray or HD DVD movies output through an HTPC. The picture is great, but I would really like to watch these movies in "full screen". (I realize I am cutting off the right and left edges.)


On my older Pioneer plasma, you could set the aspect ratio to 2:35:1 and most, if not all of the black bars at top and bottom would be gone.


On the PRO-141, it does not have the 2:35:1 option. (It does have a vertical stretch, but that looks ridiculous!) It never occurred to me that it would NOT have the 2:35:1 aspect ratio available on the PRO-141.


So the simple question is, what is the best way to fill the screen without losing any video quality? Will it take a DVDO Edge or something similar?


Appreciate any ideas!


Thanks!

 

[HDgaming42]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dannocron /forum/post/16825612


Recently I purchased a Pioneer PRO-141 plasma (60"). Much of what I watch on this Blu Ray or HD DVD movies output through an HTPC. The picture is great, but I would really like to watch these movies in "full screen". (I realize I am cutting off the right and left edges.)


On my older Pioneer plasma, you could set the aspect ratio to 2:35:1 and most, if not all of the black bars at top and bottom would be gone.


On the PRO-141, it does not have the 2:35:1 option. (It does have a vertical stretch, but that looks ridiculous!) It never occurred to me that it would NOT have the 2:35:1 aspect ratio available on the PRO-141.


So the simple question is, what is the best way to fill the screen without losing any video quality? Will it take a DVDO Edge or something similar?


Appreciate any ideas!


Thanks!

I've given up trying to convince people not to do this...

The EDGE will do what you ask. You will lose video quality. I doubt you will notice.

 

[dannocron]

Why do you try convincing people not to do this? I like having the screen filled. What do I lose by filling the screen besides cutting off the right and left side of the movie?


You state "You will lose video quality. I doubt you will notice." What will I not notice...the loss of video quality? And if so, what qualities will be lost?


I am not trying to make fun of your answer as I appreciate any input I can get!


Thanks!

 

[HDgaming42]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dannocron /forum/post/16826269


Why do you try convincing people not to do this? I like having the screen filled. What do I lose by filling the screen besides cutting off the right and left side of the movie?

The right and left side of the movie--that's what you lose. Movies are shot with framing in mind. It is not accidental. Placement of imagery within a scene can denote an idea, a feeling, an atmosphere. If a movie was shot in 2.35:1 odds are the director had a pretty good reason.


Basically it boils down to this - it depends on if you view film as surface-level entertainment, or if you view it as something deeper. For people who really enjoy film, chopping off the sides of a film just to fill you tv is akin to lopping off parts of a painting to make it fit your frame.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dannocron /forum/post/16826269


You state "You will lose video quality. I doubt you will notice." What will I not notice...the loss of video quality? And if so, what qualities will be lost?

Yes, video quality. If you didn't have a problem with your TV blowing the image up to fit your screen, you won't have a problem with the EDGE doing it either.

 

[belamiru]

I hear you. I have PRO-101FD and I just can't stand any bars: vertical or horizontal. I send only 1080i/p to TV, so its FULL mode is useless (as you know it works only for SD).


For cable I have SA8300HD, so I use its ZOOM1 or rarely ZOOM2 to get rid of both vertical and horizontal bars.


For BD/DVD I got OPPO BDP-83. Its FULL zoom will do it right. It zooms any aspect to completely fill the screen.


Downsides are obvious. Loss of some top/bottom or left/right content. Plus, zooming is zooming. Each frame will be scaled up, which involves extrapolation, which obviously alters the original frame. This is what HDgaming42 probably referred to as losing video quality.


There are other caveats. SA8300HD does zooming before applying its own UI, but OPPO and DVDO EDGE will scale the result frame, which means that you will most certainly lose subtitles and partially or completely BD UI.


I personally can live with that just fine. I do not see any quality degradation in normal zoom mode (in most cases 1.33x to crop 2.35/2.40), unless you do 2x zoom, where it is somewhat obvious (looks a bit washed out), but I am not aware of any source that would require that.


If your cable/dish/BD/DVD cannot do zooming, then I suppose DVDO EDGE would do the trick (plus its de-interlacing and zooming are most certainly far better than any cable/dish box could provide). OPPO uses the same chip as EDGE.


Check EDGE manual, as I did not see any auto FULL zoom or a way to create zoom presets, meaning that you will probably have to manually zoom each time you have different aspect.

 

[Jason Turk]

To each his own. I think a lot depends on the movie as well. Often I find 2.35:1 films are still centered for most the content (in other words the actors and such are still in the middle of the screen). So for those such instances it probably isn't that bothersome. But, you won't know when that is the case so you chance it (unless you are really familiar with the movie).

 

[bodosom]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dannocron /forum/post/16825612


On the PRO-141, it does not have the 2:35:1 option. (It does have a vertical stretch, but that looks ridiculous!)...

So the simple question is, what is the best way to fill the screen without losing any video quality?

The exact answer is "you can't" but let's assume that you're willing to lose some quality. For 2.35 ZOOM is the best choice with a Kuro monitor. It fills the screen with a bit of vertical distortion. If you have a capable player (e.g. the BD-83) you can zoom in the player. The Oppo happens to do a very good job and provides serveral useful options. If you get the AVSHD pattern disc you can use the 2.35 image to explore. Have you asked on the Pioneer threads?

Quote:
Originally Posted by belamiru /forum/post/16833407


its FULL mode is useless (as you know it works only for SD).

It works for me in HD. There are circumstances where some options don't work.

 

[Jason Turk]

I personally don't know that investing in a good VP in order to distort an image makes sense. Getting the maximize video quality may be important, but when the image is going to be manipulated, well, not sure on that. Of course that is my 2 cents which in this market is worth a hay penny.