Why does my DVD look different on TV?

[bakera]

Why does my newly burned DVD look different when I play it on my set-top DVD player and TV? It look as though I'm losing 3 or 4% of the viewing area on all sides when played on on my set-top DVD player and TV.

When I play the exact same DVD in the DVD-ROM on my computer, I see 100% of what I put in the visual field when I assembled the thing.

This was an irritating discovery when some of my scrolling title and text was no longer readable, since the far right and far left letters appear cut off when seen on TV. Tried it on two TVs (13 year old JVC and brand new flat Sony) and two different DVD players (3 year old Sony and brand new Yamaha).

Is there something quirky about set-top DVD players and TVs, or am I missing something?

Thanks for any input

a. baker

[setarip]

Depending upon the specific DVD, you may have to set your standalone DVD player to one of the following three settings:

1) 4:3 Letterbox

2) 4:3 Pan & Scan

3) 16:9/4:3 Widescreen

[bakera]

Tried all three settings, but no change. Still losing viewable area on all 4 sides. Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

[setarip]

"Any other thoughts?"

Sure - adjust your television's picture size settings (to reduce/eliminate the intentional overscan)...

[bakera]

I tried every possible combination of settings on both TVs and both DVD players to no avail.

When I plug the composite video/RCA jacks of my computer into the TV inputs (the same ones the DVD player would use), the TV shows me 100% of what's on the DVD. I just can't explain it, but it seems there's something inherently different in the way 'PowerDVD' reads the disc and the way the set-top DVD player reads it . . .