DVD to 1080P TV

[Jeffko37]

Greetings - I can't seem to find the answer to my questions, but if this is an old subject please forward the link.

Equipment: Samsung 60" 3D 1080P TV, Onkyo TX SR608 Receiver, Qnap TS-251, Sony BDP-S6200 3D Blu-ray player, Apple TV, NETGEAR AC1750 Wi-Fi DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem Router (C6300), Roomie Remote. There is something to be said for doing things, or should I say learning things, a little at a time. All the above is the result of a remodel of my living room where all you see is the tv. It's a bit overwhelming...especially for a 56 year old guy.

Question: I am using Leawo Total Media Converter Ultimate 7 to put all our favorite movies on the Qnap and recall them using Plex. I really don't care for widescreen preferring full screen. My impression was that I could use the software to convert everything to 1080P full screen. Not the case for widescreen as they stay widescreen even with the software set to HD MP4 1920x1080. If that remains the case because it's not possible to convert wide to full then I should back off the 1920x1080 since it nearly doubles the file sizes. What would be the optimal conversion settings to take full advantage of my hardware?

Thanks, Jeff

[smrpix]

If you want best quality, don't convert anything. Rip your BDs and DVDs to the Qnap as isos or mkvs at native resolution. There are tools like mkvtoolnix that will allow you to delete trailers and extras. Let your viewing device do the upscaling. Forget about reframing. I'm not confident you're using the terms widescreen and fullscreen correctly. Fullscreen refers to a 3:4 "flat" aspect ratio. Normal HD is 16:9 widescreen (like your TV) Many movies are an even wider 2.4:1.

[Krispy Kritter]

ditto

Leave the source alone.

I'm also skeptical of your usage of the terminology. Based on past experience, when many people say "full" screen, what they really mean is they don't want any black bars on the screen. They want the image to fill the screen. The black bars are used to maintain the Aspect Ratio so that you see the content as it was filmed. The only way to remove the black bars is to butcher the material.

For reference: http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/aspectratios.htm & http://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml

[newpball]

I really don't care for widescreen preferring full screen.

What if the movie is widescreen?

Of course you can butcher the film by cutting off the sides, but why would you want to do that?

My impression was that I could use the software to convert everything to 1080P full screen. Not the case for widescreen as they stay widescreen even with the software set to HD MP4 1920x1080.

What on Earth are you trying to do?

A DVD is not 1080p, you can't make it into 1080P!

I should back off the 1920x1080 since it nearly doubles the file sizes. What would be the optimal conversion settings to take full advantage of my hardware?

Leave it alone and play the DVD through a good quality DVD player.