Question about playing videos on my TV

[cb220]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I also know very little about audio/visual! Forgive me if what I ask is not possible, or does not make sense. I will try my best to convey my thoughts.

I have some videos (mostly .avi, some are 480p, some 720p) that I like to play on my televsion. At the moment, I am putting them on a handheld USB drive and playing them through an Xbox 360. While it WORKS, it doesn't work as I would like it to. Basically, the quality of the videos sees a signifcant drop off, also parts of the screen are cut off no matter which screen mode I change my tv to (it has some different modes like widescreen etc). So I guess my question is, is it possible to make these videos play high quality on my tv, while still having the picture fill the screen? And if so, how would I do this?

Thanks in advance!


PS: It is a HD tv, if that makes a difference.

[jagabo]

I don't think the xbox 360's upscaling ability is especially bad so i don't think you're going to get much better results from other players. Other problems like brightness, contrast, and color you can adjust at the TV.

Cutting off the edges of the picture is a function of the TV. It's called overscan. Everything you have ever watched on TV has had this "problem". Some newer HDTVs have non-overscan modes where you can see the entire picture. If your TV has a VGA input it probably won't overscan that.

[cb220]

Thanks for your reply, jagabo.

I have a video conversion tool that I have been messing with and it has all sorts of options like Video Scale Size (this has a bunch of ratios to select like 128:96 174:144 etc) Aspect (this also has ratios 1:1 3:2 etc). I don't really know what these do but would I be unable to use them to help the image fit my screen? Or would it not matter?

Also, about the overscan, wow, you learn something every day! You say that VGA input might fix this problem. I'm not too sure what that is, though. Would this be an easy thing for a newbie to set up? Thanks.

[jagabo]

I have a video conversion tool that I have been messing with and it has all sorts of options like Video Scale Size (this has a bunch of ratios to select like 128:96 174:144 etc) Aspect (this also has ratios 1:1 3:2 etc). I don't really know what these do but would I be unable to use them to help the image fit my screen? Or would it not matter?

Changing the aspect ratio will indirectly compensate for overscan on either the vertical or horizontal axis -- at the expense of distorting the image. For example a 16:9 video viewed on a 16:9 TV will fill the screen from side to side and top to bottom. And of course, overscan on the TV will crop all four edges off the picture. If you change the aspect ratio to 18:9 the video will still fill the screen horizontally, but it will not fill the screen vertically. Overscan will still hide the edges but the top and bottom edges will be black bars added at playback to keep the video 18:9 withing the 16:9 screen. Conversely, if you change the aspect ratio to 14:9, the video will fill the height of the screen and the left and right edges will have added black bars that get hidden by overscan.

Note that many software players allow you adjust the aspect ratio of the image at playback time so you can do this without making any changes to the source file. Some players even have zoom out capability that will add black borders all around the frame. This is probably your best bet. For example, in MPCHC, when playing full screen (or in a window) you can press 1 on the numeric keypad to zoom out, 9 to zoom in, in small increments.

Most graphics cards with TV output (s-video, or composite) used to have an overscan compensation option on the TV output. Everything that was sent to the TV output was shrunken a bit and black borders were added to all four sides. This seems to have largely disappeared from the standard setup applets.

Also, about the overscan, wow, you learn something every day! You say that VGA input might fix this problem. I'm not too sure what that is, though. Would this be an easy thing for a newbie to set up? Thanks.

VGA is 15 pin DIN analog output used on graphics cards. Many HDTVs have VGA inputs specifically for use with computers:



These do not overscan because losing the edges of the screen is catastrophic for the Desktop.

How are you connecting your computer to your TV now?

[cb220]

Ahh, I see. Now I understand what those options do!

Also, my computer isn't actually connected to my TV, I just download the videos on my computer, put them on a USB drive and plug the drive into the Xbox 360 to play them on the TV. The Xbox 360 is hooked up to the HD slots (if that's what they're called.)

Can VGA cables be bought quite long? My computer is on the other side of the room to my television.

[jagabo]

The Xbox 360 is hooked up to the HD slots

HDMI? http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-HDMI-AV-Cable/dp/B000UODATY
component? http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Component-HD-AV-Cable/dp/B000B6MLPU
s-video? http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-S-Video-AV-Cable/dp/B000B6MLPK

The Xbox 360 has a VGA output: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/dp/B000B6MLTG

VGA, with a good cable is good for 25 feet or more.

[neomaine]

cb220,

What's the make/model of your TV? What are you using for a cable to connect the 360 to the TV? yellow/red/white(composite), red/green/blue plus red/white(component? HDMI? What's the output set to on the 360?

1 - The port that you're connected to on the TV should have a setting called '1to1 Pixel' or set Overscan to 'None' or something similar. Use that to get the full picture.

2 - You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. You CAN'T make the video any better then what the 360 is giving you.

3 - Though VGA may work, it also may be a needless expense depending on the connection you already have and the make/model TV.

[jagabo]

a setting called '1to1 Pixel' or set Overscan to 'None' or something similar.

Samsung calls it Just Scan.

[cb220]

Thanks for your responses.

It looks to be hooked up with the "component" cables. The only part of the 6 colors not plugged in is the yellow. The make and model of the TV looks to be Toshiba TheatreWide HD. It also has a small number on it 23538199 if that means anything to you.

I'm not sure what you mean by the port I'm connected to on the tv? How would I change the settings of this port?

[jagabo]

It looks to be hooked up with the "component" cables. The only part of the 6 colors not plugged in is the yellow.

Is your xbox 360 set up to output 720p or 1080i rather than 480i or 480p?

[cb220]

I just checked in my Xbox settings. It's 480p, the screen format is "Normal" and the black level is "Standard".

[jagabo]

I just checked in my Xbox settings. It's 480p, the screen format is "Normal" and the black level is "Standard".

That is why you are getting poor resolution from your HD videos. Change to 720p or 1080i, whichever your TV is happiest with (ie, try both and see which looks better). That won't help the overscan issue though.

[cb220]

Ah! I changed it a 1080i since the Xbox wouldn't let me change it to the 720p (when I tried it said it would try to display an image and if it didn't display it within 10 seconds then it would go back to default settings, the image didn't appear). When I changed it to 1080i the Xbox defaulted to Wide screen mode, is that normal?

So about the overscan, if I understand correctly I have two options?

-VGA
-1to1 pixel

For the 1to1 pixel I'm still not sure what it is but after some reading I'm getting the feeling I need to have my computer hooked up to the TV and turn on 1to1 pixel via the video card? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I'm right that's not really an option for me .


So VGA would be my best bet? If so, I will try grab the previously linked VGA cable for the Xbox.

I'll await advice before proceeding since it's very likely I'm mistaken somewhere!

[jagabo]

1:1 pixel mapping is a feature of the HDTV. Either your TV supports it or it doesn't. It's usually only available on 1080p LCD HDTVs. On our Samsung you enable it by cycling through the picture mode options: 4:3, 16:9, misc. zoom modes, Just Scan. Non-overscan modes (other than the VGA input) are mainly supported by newer 1080p LCD displays. Those made in the last 2 years or so. There are a few other HDTVs that support it. We also have a smaller 1400x900 HDTV with it.

Technically, 1:1 pixel mapping is not the same thing as non-overscan. 1:1 pixel mapping means each pixel of the source is mapped to one pixel on the display. With a 1920x1080 source on a 1920x1080 display with no overscan you get 1:1 pixel mapping. When displaying a 1280x720 source with no overscan on that same display you don't get 1:1 pixel mapping because the 1280x720 image has to be scaled to fit the 1920x1080 display.

The VGA input (if your HDTV has one) is likely to NOT be overscanned by the TV but you may be limited in choice of resolutions. If your HDTV has a VGA input and you have a standard VGA cable sitting around (it will have a 15 pin d-shell at each end, like the picture posted earlier), I recommend you drag your computer over to the HDTV and hook it up. Verify that you can get a non-overscanned display at an acceptable resolution.

You didn't supply a model number for your Toshiba. The name "TheaterWide" is used on all (or at least many) of their HDTVs. Without the model number it's impossible to look up specifics. Check the manual.

Oh, and yes, switching to 1080i should give you widescreen. The xbox 360 should be able to play 4:3 videos pillarboxed within the widescreen display.