Mac DVD Player

[hellsaviour]

Is there any way of streching out non widescreen programmed DVDs in DVD Player so there is no black bars at the sides?

[AntnyMD]

Not from within the Player ... it strictly adheres to 4:3 or 16:9 aspects. You could rip and reauthor the content using DVD Studio Pro 2, and tell it that your 4:3 content is 16:9. However your content will be distorted and unwatchable. Not worth the effort.

[hellsaviour]

Is there a alternative DVD player for macs that can stretch out the image?

[galactica]

video lan client [www.videolan.org]

[hellsaviour]

I tried it but it didn't stretch it. Is there a way of zooming in DVDs on VLC or Mac DVD player?

[AntnyMD]

Do the black bars bother you THAT much? They're there for a reason actually...

[deadsierra]

Just watch it in the original aspect ratio.

[Meritocracy]

Just watch it in the original aspect ratio.

Agreed. This is just as bad as people with 4x3 televisions complaining about black bars while viewing widescreen based content. The reverse will happen in a few years when we'll have to deal with these same individuals bitching about older 4x3 based content or their old Foolscreen DVD purchases having bars on the side of their new 16x9 sets. OAR is the way to go. Everything else is a distortion of how the material should be presented and viewed.

[hellsaviour]

Its annoying with my TCM dvd because it is letterboxed, but for some reason it wasn't programed as 16:9, so there is a big black edge around the whole thing. its doesn't bother me with other DVDs just that.

[AntnyMD]

Yes, those DVDs are problematic. DVDs authored like that are done solely to force you to buy the properly encoded widescreen version when it comes out. This is one of the reasons I find Netflix to be worth the $20 a month -- For the price of 1 or 2 DVDs, I can preview the damned thing to make sure its worth the purchase price, especially those pointless 4:3 letterboxed DVDs.

[Meritocracy]

All this means is that your TCM DVD isn't anamorphic.

[michaelchrisman]

MAC DVD PLAYER & WIDESCREEN PREFERNCE??

Have a DVD which has recorded on it widescreen formated material.
When DVD is placed in Mac DVD superdrive, the DVD player only shows it in standard 4:3 format and so pictures are 'squashed'. I had assumed there must be something in DVD player preferences that can be ticked to allow material to be viewed in widescreen as intended. I have a G5 and widescreen cinema display so I don't understand. Most DVD players automatically adjust to intended format of recorded material once dvd starts playing or at least have a capability in its oreferences section to make change. Why can't I find this??? What can I do. I know its been recorded on DVD as widescreen because the facilities house copying the material has checked this and copied twice at may request.
Please advise what I can doi. Thanks.
Michael
==============

[deadsierra]

MAC DVD PLAYER & WIDESCREEN PREFERNCE??

Have a DVD which has recorded on it widescreen formated material.
When DVD is placed in Mac DVD superdrive, the DVD player only shows it in standard 4:3 format and so pictures are 'squashed'. I had assumed there must be something in DVD player preferences that can be ticked to allow material to be viewed in widescreen as intended. I have a G5 and widescreen cinema display so I don't understand. Most DVD players automatically adjust to intended format of recorded material once dvd starts playing or at least have a capability in its oreferences section to make change. Why can't I find this??? What can I do. I know its been recorded on DVD as widescreen because the facilities house copying the material has checked this and copied twice at may request.
Please advise what I can doi. Thanks.
Michael
==============

Nope, your DVD is being played back just the way the disc asked it to be played. Your copy house must be creating invalid DVDs of some type. Perhaps they did set the 16:9 flag correctly, but I'm quite certain they borked something.

Try playing another (commercially pressed) widescreen DVD in your computer. Chances are it'll play fine.