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  1. I have some old DVDs that are presented in non-anamorphic letterbox widescreen. I can either zoom in using my HDTV's picture settings or use the built-in zoom on my Blu-ray player. Is one method preferable over the other, and if so, why?
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  2. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    I guess it depends on the model. Cheaper blu-ray players might have a crappy zoom/resizing functions.

    Have you tried and compare? Do you notice any big difference?
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  3. The zoom on the Blu-ray player can use pan-and-scan information on some DVDs to zoom into the portion of the picture that's of interest. The TV won't have access to that information and will just zoom in to the middle of the frame.
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  4. Well, the BD player seems to leave a slight black edge on the sides (to avoid overscan? I didn't think that awas an issue). It also keeps the removable subtitles (on foreign language discs) in the same place on screen as if the DVD was not zoomed.
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  5. Originally Posted by GavSalkeld View Post
    Well, the BD player seems to leave a slight black edge on the sides (to avoid overscan? I didn't think that awas an issue).
    Normally TV's overscan. So you don't see small black borders at the edge of the frame. Also, in my experience DVD and Blu-ray players upscale the entire 720x480/576 frame to the HDMI port. So if there are black borders in the source you will see black borders on the TV (if the TV doesn't overscan).

    Originally Posted by GavSalkeld View Post
    It also keeps the removable subtitles (on foreign language discs) in the same place on screen as if the DVD was not zoomed.
    Yes, that's a common problem -- the player renders the subtitles before zooming. Of course the TV will cut off the subs too -- it doesn't know there are subtitles in the picture.
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  6. Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Yes, that's a common problem -- the player renders the subtitles before zooming.
    That's actually better, isn't it? It means the subtitles don't get cut off.
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  7. Originally Posted by GavSalkeld View Post
    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Yes, that's a common problem -- the player renders the subtitles before zooming.
    That's actually better, isn't it? It means the subtitles don't get cut off.
    No, you want the player to render the subtitles after zooming.
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  8. If I have a letterboxed DVD and the subtitles are in the bars, then when I zoom in on the BD player, the bars are removed but the subtitles stay in the same place on screen (and in the same size) as they were before I zoomed. How is that a bad thing? If anything, the TV zoom distorts them as it zooms in on everything.
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  9. Originally Posted by GavSalkeld View Post
    If I have a letterboxed DVD and the subtitles are in the bars, then when I zoom in on the BD player, the bars are removed but the subtitles stay in the same place on screen (and in the same size) as they were before I zoomed. How is that a bad thing?
    That's rendering the subtitles after zooming. It's a good thing. It's what you want.
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  10. Oh, right, I totally misread what you said initially. I apologize!

    For me, the BD player seems preferable but is there any technical difference between that and a TV doing it, aside from the subtitles issue?
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  11. Originally Posted by GavSalkeld View Post
    For me, the BD player seems preferable but is there any technical difference between that and a TV doing it, aside from the subtitles issue?
    It would depend on the quality of the player's upscaler vs. the quality of the TV's upscaler. And the connection used.
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  12. Member Krispy Kritter's Avatar
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    It boils down to what works and looks the best. Period.
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  13. Yeah, to me, the one that looks best is the BD player's built-in one. As for which works the best, on a technical level, I'd be interested in knowing about.
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  14. Originally Posted by GavSalkeld View Post
    Yeah, to me, the one that looks best is the BD player's built-in one. As for which works the best, on a technical level, I'd be interested in knowing about.
    You're missing the point -- as each player model and tv is different, the answer depends on the specific player and tv, and the only way to know is to try.
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  15. Member Krispy Kritter's Avatar
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    Technical specs don't matter either. Will you really use the option that looks worse, simply because "on a technical level" it's "better"? I'd hope not.
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