Quality of 16:9 Enhanced on 4:3 TVs?

[MrDelaney]

I haven't had a chance to run my own tests yet, as I don't have any 16:9 footage, so hopefully someone here can answer this question.

I create my own content, mainly on DV. I recently got an anamorphic adapter for my camera, so I will be shooting in 16:9 next time.

I'm thinking about authoring this next project as 16:9 enhanced, so that viewers with a widescreen TV don't have to 'zoom' or get gray bars on the sides. However, 99% of people who watch my DVDs will be watching on a 4:3 television.

Does 16:9 enhanced lower the quality of the video on a 4:3 TV?
From my understanding, the DVD player 'downsamples' the image by taking every 4 scan lines down to 3.

Some people have told me this would actually give you a better image, some have told me it would hurt the image.

Any opinions?

The alternative of course is to continue creating 4:3 letterboxed content.


I'd appreciate any views or opinions on this.

Thanks,

-Mr Delaney

[MrDelaney]

I can't believe no one has an answer to this... or an opinion.

Wow.
Aren't most people authoring 16:9 enhanced?

-mr d.

[Feuerwehr]

Most 4:3 TV's do not do 16:9 enhanced mode. Some of the newer sony models do, but they are the exception.
Check here: http://www.users.muohio.edu/corsilcj/169enhanced.htm
I beleive most 4:3 users would lose about 25% vertical resolution. I could be very much mistaken, but I think that most authoring is still in the 4:3 mode. However, 16:9 widescreen is still acceptable to watch on a conventional 4:3 set (through a DVD player) if the source video is good quality. Another factor to consider is that in a few years most viewers will have 16:9 capabilities. Some of the newer Sony and Canon consumer camcorders have true full resolution anamorphic 16:9 capabilities. I expect in a few years most models will have this option.
Good Luck!

[dphirschler]

It depends on the player. My Philips and Pioneer players downsample well. My Apex does not. In fact, the Apex does such a miserable job at downsampling that I believe instead of downsampling it is throwing every fouth line out. You can easily see the tearing lines, especially on diagonal shapes. As for the Philips and Pioneer players, they do a great job. The image is at least equal to a non-anamorphic widescreen (letterboxed) image and possibly better.


Darryl