Tweet
Heya, I'm using PowerDVD 4.0 to watch my DVDs on my PC and I've noticed an annoying little trait. Whenever the DVD source is an anamorphic 4:3 picture, instead of outputting it fullscreen, PowerDVD adds the black bars to the top and bottom so the picture is ultimately windowboxed (ie. black bars on all four sides). Anyone know how to make PowerDVD recognize that although the picture is anamorphic, it is a 4:3 image and should be displayed as such on a 4:3 device? Thanks.
-
-
"Whenever the DVD source is an anamorphic 4:3 picture"
As far as I know, anamorphic resolution is 2.35:1 - and that's how it's displayed... -
Anamorphic ratio is 16:9, approx 1.78:1. Sometimes DVDs will take a full screen image and encode it anamorphically so people with anamorphic displays don't have to go to the effort of hitting a button on their remote control. To do this, the image has to be squeezed and have bars added to the sides so that the picture remains 4:3 when it is unsqueezed.
Now, DVD players in non-anamorphic mode are usually capable of enlarging this picture so it fills the entire 4:3 frame. Not PowerDVD. It merely adds the black bars to the top and bottom, like it would for your normal anamorphic movie, resulting in black bars on all four sides of the picture. Not good.Comment
-
"Anamorphic ratio is 16:9, approx 1.78:1"
No - that's conventional widescreen. As I said before, anamorphic video is 2.35:1 (even narrower than conventional 16:9 widescreen)
"It merely adds the black bars to the top and bottom, like it would for your normal anamorphic movie, resulting in black bars on all four sides of the picture."
And, once again, that's how it's displayed...Comment
-
Thanks, Setarip, for your assistance but I believe you're mistaken on both counts.
2.35:1 is merely an aspect ratio, much like 1.85:1, 1.78:1 (which is also 16:9, if you know your fractions), 1.66:1 and, say, 1.33:1 (better known as 4:3, those wacky fractions again).
When you're talking about the anamorphic process, the aspect ratio of your source is generally of little consequence (as long as your aspect ratio is 1.78:1 or wider - hence my problem - it isn't).
From DVDfile.com:
---------------------
16x9 Anamorphic Enhancement
The new DTV Television standard does not use a square (4:3) television set image area, but rather a 16:9 aspect ratio. This can present a problem when displaying DVD video on widescreen monitors. The full widescreen image is is "squished" horizontally on the disc, using what is known as an anamorphic process. Material stored anamorphically has to then be unsqueezed horizontally ("downconverted") by the DVD player be properly displayed on a standard 4:3 television. The DVD player removes every fifth line from the picture, and adds letterboxed bars to the top and bottom to display the wide image correctly.
Otherwise, the DVD player outputs the 16x9 "squished" image directly to a 16x9 player, which unsqueezes the image. The benefit of anamorphic enhancement is that it allows the image to be displayed at a higher resolution (hence better image quality), and still remain compatible with both 4:3 and 16x9 displays.
---------------------
As you can see, the aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is never mentioned. Its irrelevant. The agreed upon aspect ratio of widescreen television is 16:9 which is why anamorphically encoded DVDs are often referred to as '16x9 enhanced'.
Now, aspect ratios less than 1.78:1 (such as 1.66:1 and 4:3) can be anamorphically encoded but they require black bars on the side so that they unsqueeze to the proper dimensions. Fine for a widescreen TV but what about a 4:3 display device? You don't want a 4:3 image, the same as your television, being effectively shrunken down with widescreen bars on the top and bottom as well as the black bars on the sides. That's called windowboxing, for obvious reasons. Therefore, there's usually a flag in the encoding that tells the DVD player to play that information at full screen, unsqueezed with the side bars effectively pushed off the edge of the display.
PowerDVD doesn't seem to recognize this flag, however, which is where my problem stems. I need to know how activate this recognition, if possible.
Anyway, I'm gonna go tell someone that gives a ****.Comment
-
"Whenever the DVD source is an anamorphic 4:3 picture"
"Anamorphic ratio is 16:9"
?
"The DVD player removes every fifth line from the picture, and adds letterboxed bars to the top and bottom to display the wide image correctly."
Unless your PC has a widescreen monitor, it would seem that, as I said twice before - that's how it's displayed...
"Anyway, I'm gonna go tell someone that gives a ****."
If this is directed to me, I'm offended...
Have a nice day...Comment
-
Originally posted by setarip
"Whenever the DVD source is an anamorphic 4:3 picture"
"Anamorphic ratio is 16:9"
?
It is possible to encode an 4:3 (Aspect Ratio) anamorphically (16x9). Please see the attached picture for an example of what I'm dealing with. Alternatively, you can see it here:
As you can see, its a 4:3 that's been squeezed so it'll assume the proper dimensions when displayed anamorphically - they've put black bars on the sides to compensate. Please see:
And scroll down to the heading "1.66:1 Movies". It pretty much explains the dilemma, just substitute 1.66:1 with 4:3 (or 1.33:1 if you prefer).
I'm not crazy. Its a genuine phenomena.
"The DVD player removes every fifth line from the picture, and adds letterboxed bars to the top and bottom to display the wide image correctly."
Unless your PC has a widescreen monitor, it would seem that, as I said twice before - that's how it's displayed...
Yes, but unfortunately you've completely ignored my explanation about how DVD players are also capable of outputing an image like the one I linked to above full screen with no black borders at all. I suppose it must unstretch and then zoom in on the image to do this. Unfortunately, it seems as though PowerDVD does not have this ability (hence my query) whereas my Hollywood+ certainly does.
Don't be so uptight. Is just humour."Anyway, I'm gonna go tell someone that gives a ****."
If this is directed to me, I'm offended...
Thanks, but I know what anamorphic is and I certainly haven't been telling people its 2.35:1. You'd do well to read that article yourself.
I appreciate that you tried to clarify things but unfortunately you are misinformed and are passing on bad advice.Last edited by cashflag; 20 Sep 2003, 08:17 PM.Comment
-
here is some greek for the both of you:
anamorph simply means
that the video encoded in the mpeg2 stream has a different
morphology from the morphology it appears to have during beeing played. the presylable ana means different , other, but also different but meaning the same. morph means figure, shape (of a
solid body?)
....the behavior of such a movie in a dvd is normally
encoded (display instruction) in e.g. the ifo....(source : ifoedit)
you could say that a 480 x 576 resolution of a pal SVCD is also anamorphic.
anamorphic resolutions are often chosen to optimize bitrate/ quality ratios.....or to display strange width to hight ratios.....
think of a CSVCDComment
-
uh....i forgot to mention the mainpoint....
an anamorphic encoding is not necessarily bound to a certain
aspect ratio (besides that which have prooved to be reasonable
for a DVD)Comment
-
Exactly.Originally posted by shiny#3
uh....i forgot to mention the mainpoint....
an anamorphic encoding is not necessarily bound to a certain
aspect ratio (besides that which have prooved to be reasonable
for a DVD)Comment
Comment