Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater DVD output on HDTV

sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.
When i play a widescreen movie on my DVD player connected (via component cables) to my new HD plasma monitor, shouldnt the 'Normal' display mode display the picture on the entire screen (with possible small bars on the top and bottom bacause the movie is in a ratio slightly different from 16:9)? Currently, i have to turn the zoom or full or justified mode on to cover the whole screen from left to right - the normal mode covers an area in the center only .

thanks for explaining this to me.

mshukla,
Excuse the simple question, but are you sure the DVD is a widescreen version?

Could also be a setting on the DVD player you may have to change. What kind of a player is it?

Yes, the dvd is definitely widescreen, i have tried with multiple DVDs .
the player, i cant remember the model right now but it is a full functional Sony model with component out and 5.1 audio etc. no settings that i know of. i can post back with the model number in a few hours.
thank you

My HDTV has a button on the remmote for picture shape to change between the various modes.. Sure its not your tv?

yes, the Panasonic TH-42PHD6UY has 4 modes, Normal, Full, Justified and Zoom.
a regular 4:3 aspect picture occupies an area in the middle with two side bars when run in Normal mode. you can run on justified/Full/zoom mode if you want the picture to strecth to the full screen.
But with 16:9 aspect pictures, the Normal mode should, to my understanding, display no sidebars, no top or bottom bars. Of course most movies arent 16:9 so if i have 2.35:1, it should still display with no sidebars and some top and bottom bars.
of course i may be missing something

Welcome to the world of non-standard widescreen. I have the Panny 6UY, HD DirecTV (HD Tivo on order), and run DVI and component to the plasma. Your experience is common. Just because a DVD is widescreen doesn't mean you won't get bars. I'm writing this from memory so I can't recall the exact numbers for the aspect ratio. But if you look at widescreen DVDs, they are NOT all listed w/ the same aspect ratios. Hence they will not always "fill" the screen. For example, the Matrix widescreen DVDs still have the bars on top and bottom. It's a user preference if you want to zoom to get rid of the bars, you'll lose part of the picture. I watch in full mode and live w/ the bars. It all comes down to preference. Nothin's perfect...

I think he's complaining of bars on the sides of the screen, not the top and bottom.

If you check the TV's menu's there is a setting which allows the TV to automatically check the format of the incoming signal and adjust accordingly. I also have a Panasonic (PT50LC13) and on my system it is under the SETUP - VIDEO menu and is called ID-1, set this to ON and you should be good to go.

Hello, I'm 99% sure the setting will be on your DVD player. There should be 2 ways to set up the DVD player, basic or advanced. You should be able to fix your problem in either set up, but I always prefer going through the advanced set up.
There will be a setting for your screen type, 4:3, Pan & Scan or 16:9

Make sure that the 16:9 is selected.

Good luck.

thanks, yes, i am concerned about the side bars. I know i have to live with the top and bottom bars because of the differences in the aspect ratios of films.
and in response to HAY's post earlier, i have checked my DVD settings and it is set to 16:9.
I am more curious than concerned now. It may be that the picture will never strecth out fully sideways in Normal mode unless the input is 720i/p or 1080i. Anybody care to comment on that?
thank you all

Which display and DVD player are you using? I have the Panny TH42PWD6UY. I run the Denon 2200 DVD via component. When I watch DVDs set for widescreen, I watch it in FULL mode. Normal shows the screen in a 4:3 box, w/ bars on top/bottom and sides.

It could be a combination of your DVD player settings and plasma settings. You may also want to post on AVS Forum on either the plasma or DVD player section. You'll get a lot more responses there.

In reply to:

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It may be that the picture will never strecth out fully sideways in Normal mode unless the input is 720i/p or 1080i. Anybody care to comment on that?

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I also have the Panasonic TH42PWD6UY, and selecting "normal" on the Panny's remote always results in 4x3 ratio, with bars at the sides, regardless of what the input signal is. I don't consider it a problem; I think "normal" just means "4x3" to Panasonic, not "automatic adjustment to the input signal's ratio." For widescreen movies, I set the plasma to "full." That seems to display the movie across the entire width, sometimes with bars at the top and bottom, and without any distortion.

If there is a setting that allows the Panny to automatically select the display ratio, as expatbrit indicates, I haven't found it, but I plan to look when I get home tonight.

thanks. i missed your post when i first checked this morning. that seems to be the most logical answer, i will check tonight. one thing i have noticed that the menu options on the TH-42PHD6UY, which is a commercial model, are different from the ones on retail models. Will let you know tomorrow

my display is TH42PHD6UY and the DVD is Sony DVP-S530D. i do get no sidebars when displaying in Full or Justified modes but i was curious why it doesnt display it that way in Normal mode.
1) i am going to try expatbrit's suggestion and
2) as i said, it may just be the 720i+ input signal that may be required (that will be avalable only off a HD source).

surely you mean you have the PHD6UY not the PWD6UY because the PWD is not HD and you wont get the full benefit of an HD source!

I bought the PWD6UY because I didn't think HDTV was worth the extra bucks. I mostly watch DVD's, and DVD's are not HD. Some folks think DVD's view better on an EDTV than on an HDTV, which "upconverts" the signal. Also, viewing EDTV and HDTV side by side in a store from ten feet back, there wasn't much difference, to my eye.

Denver, Actually in that mail i was responding to oldskoolboarder who said he had the same model monitor and was using it with HD DirecTV.
you are right about there not being any difference in SD or HD with DVD (480i) input but with 1080i input, it should be lot different.

I checked, and my Panny appears not to have the automatic ratio setting that expatbrit mentions.