VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 10 of 10
Thread
  1. Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Western NY
    Search Comp PM
    I didn't know where to put this since doesn't appear to be directly related to a specific player. In my case it is a Oppo 970 & a Sammy 5088.

    The movie 'True Lies' has a 'odd' aspect ratio where it won't size up properly using the above equipment. Out of 30 plus DVDs', this is the first that I couldn't watch because of a lack of a stretch mode. The height is too narrow to be correct. Swiching between the set and the players aspect ratios choices nothing works except a 16x9 image within a 4x3 innere screen.

    I have read other comments regarding issues, but why is this?

    BTW, I tried it on another player & TV and I was able to find the right combo.
    Why are ones and zeros so complicated? Linear Video Editing was easier. Downloading & streaming are two different things.
    Quote Quote  
  2. I have a different Oppo, as well as a different Samsung DLP widescreen TV set, but don't have any trouble playing that kind of DVD. Make sure the Oppo is set up in Wide/SQZ mode. Otherwise widescreen 4:3 DVDs like True Lies get stretched improperly. It's all explained in page 31 of your manual:
    16:9 Wide/SQZ – 16:9 TV Wide/Squeeze Mode. Choose when the display is 16:9. 16:9 materials will be displayed in its native aspect ratio, and 4:3 materials will be displayed with black borders on both sides to maintain 4:3 aspect ratio.
    http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_manual.pdf
    Swiching between the set and the players aspect ratios choices nothing works except a 16x9 image within a 4x3 innere screen.
    It's a 4:3 DVD. What do you expect? Maybe if you write 20th Century Fox a nice letter they'll release a 16:9 DVD of the movie.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Miskatonic U
    Search Comp PM
    It's a 4:3 DVD. What do you expect?
    We don't always get the extras that region 1 gets, but we almost always get an anamorphic release over here.
    Read my blog here.
    Quote Quote  
  4. I hear the same thing from the Europeans. Count your blessings. We're saddled with far too many of those damn things. It is from the early days of DVD though, and it was more common then (May of 1999 for True Lies). Not too many widescreen TV sets back then.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member FulciLives's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA in the USA
    Search Comp PM
    On my 16x9 WS TV I can change the aspect ratio to a "mode" that will "blow up" a 4:3 source so that you are effectively making a 4:3 source 16x9 without stretching the image. It basically blows the image up proportionally so that it fits from left to right and cuts of equal amounts from the top and bottom. Not a problem if the 4:3 source is 4:3 letterboxed with an aspect ratio of at least 1.78:1 or more (like 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 etc.)

    Basically this mode on my TV does the same thing as if you were to take the DVD and cut 60 from the top and 60 from the bottom then resize to 720x480 (assuming 720x480 to begin with).

    I guess the problem is that some 16x9 WS TVs cannot do this sort of "resize/conversion"?

    I thought this has been covered before and I was under the impression that the Oppo Digital units were able to account for this even if you have a 16x9 WS TV that cannot?

    However manono's description this time around is confusing and makes it seem as though this is NOT possible.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
    EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Western NY
    Search Comp PM
    manono; I have tried all choices including the Wide/SQZ which only makes it worse. The only way I can watch it is a 16x9 (or what aspect ratio it is) within a 4x3 window the same way one would watch the History Channel and a SD 16x9 documentary.
    It's a 4:3 DVD.
    No it's not. It's a 16x9 that doesn't have the correct height. It fills the width of the screen, but the image isn't high/tall enough.

    On top of all of that, the quality is the worst I have seen since Beta 3!!
    Why are ones and zeros so complicated? Linear Video Editing was easier. Downloading & streaming are two different things.
    Quote Quote  
  7. Originally Posted by videobruce
    It's a 4:3 DVD.
    No it's not. It's a 16x9 that doesn't have the correct height.
    Wanna bet? Open a VOB in DGIndex and run the Preview. Or put the DVD in your DVD-ROM, open it in DVD Decrypter set up in IFO Mode (up at the top, Mode->IFO), hit the Stream Processing Tab, and see what it says about the DAR for the Video. Lots of ways to find the DAR. They'll all say 4:3.
    The only way I can watch it is a 16x9 (or what aspect ratio it is) within a 4x3 window the same way one would watch the History Channel and a SD 16x9 documentary.
    And that's exactly what you have, a letterboxed or widescreen 4:3 DVD. 4:3 isn't by definition so-called "fullscreen". I guess you don't understand about 4:3 DARs.

    If you have the Oppo set for Wide/SQZ but don't have pillarbars, and you're seeing the video stretched from side-to-side, then you also have some sort of stretch mode set in the TV. In mine, it should be set for "Normal" Aspect. I don't know what it's called in yours.

    Let's check some reviews for the DVD:
    letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1)... The letterbox widescreen picture is pretty good, but not great, and it's not anamorphic, which is a major disappointment.
    http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews/truelies.html
    True Lies is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio of the theatrical release. The transfer is 4:3 widescreen and is not anamorphic.
    http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video/truelies.htm
    Video Tracks Widescreen Letterbox 2.35:1
    http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/details.asp?Index=1129
    The 2.35:1 widescreen transfer of this film by Fox is really excellent, especially for a film that is not anamorphically enhanced.
    http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/truelies.php
    Video: Widescreen 2.35:1...This is not anamorphic
    http://www.dvdmoviecentral.com/ReviewsText/true_lies.htm
    I certainly thought this would get the anamorphic treatment once it was released on DVD. Well, here it is and it certainly isn't anamorphic
    http://www.currentfilm.com/trueliesdvd.html
    True Lies appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Despite a few strong segments, a variety of significant problems marred the presentation and rendered it a serious disappointment.
    http://dvdmg.com/truelies.shtml
    Originally Posted by FulciLives
    However manono's description this time around is confusing and makes it seem as though this is NOT possible.
    Eh? I didn't say anything about zoom modes at all. Both the Oppo and the Samsung (mine anyway) have zoom modes that can "magnify" the pic at the same time keeping the aspect ratio. They're marginally better than those stupid stretch modes, but there's not enough resolution in widescreen 4:3 DVDs to make zooming them look at all decent. I always watch what few I have pillarbarred.

    And I would expect that someone calling himself videobruce, and with a decent home theater, as he does, to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the difference between 4:3 and 16:9. For example, he says "16x9 image within a 4x3 inner screen", and it makes no sense at all.
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Western NY
    Search Comp PM
    Ok, you win. What a waste of a movie transfer. Phoney all baloney (Sony) have anything to do with this?

    BTW, thanks for all the references and the time you took. This is the first movie transfer of this type I have seen.
    I assume DAR is digital aspect ratio?
    Why are ones and zeros so complicated? Linear Video Editing was easier. Downloading & streaming are two different things.
    Quote Quote  
  9. DAR = Display Aspect Ratio, the relative dimensions with which the final picture is to be displayed.

    PAR = Pixel Aspect Ratio, the relative dimensions of individual pixels.

    SAR = Storate Aspect Ratio, the relative dimensions of the stored frame in pixels.

    DAR = SAR * PAR
    Quote Quote  
  10. Member FulciLives's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA in the USA
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by manono
    Originally Posted by FulciLives
    However manono's description this time around is confusing and makes it seem as though this is NOT possible.
    Eh? I didn't say anything about zoom modes at all. Both the Oppo and the Samsung (mine anyway) have zoom modes that can "magnify" the pic at the same time keeping the aspect ratio. They're marginally better than those stupid stretch modes, but there's not enough resolution in widescreen 4:3 DVDs to make zooming them look at all decent. I always watch what few I have pillarbarred.
    Sorry ... I got a bit confused.

    I was thinking of the "issue" where some HDTV's cannot display 4:3 pillarboxed when the DVD player does 720p/1080i/1080p up-conversion. I believe some HDTV's need the DVD player to do "something" so the 4:3 image stays pillarboxed. I know ... totally different issue.

    As for 4:3 letterboxed DVD discs ... I do blow them up (proportionally) as I like the image to fill the screen ... I don't like black around the entire image. The only time I don't do this is if the aspect ratio is 1.66:1 and of course I watch 4:3 full screen pillarboxed.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
    EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!