OVERSCAN

[Benny 069]

Great now that I have your attention...wow what a great forum.
Posted a topic a few days ago and the couple of replies I got led me to explore a little further.
Still not fully up to speed with all the jargon but from what I can gather my problem with Component DVD might actually be the fact that my LCD screen is actually showing all the horizontal and vertical lines of resolution.
I get a very thin black boarder (1cm) down each vertical edge. And after a bit of investigating and playing with picture geometry I have noticed a boarder (about 2mm) top and bottom.

TV: Loewe Xelos 32" LCD
DVD: Yamaha DV-S5650
Monster Cables for connection.
All TV and DVD set ups are correct (been over it a thousand times)

So am I guessing right???

[guns1inger]

Simple test to see if you are seeing everything. Encode a short clip with a 2 pixel line all around the outside edge. Play this back and see if you can see the full width of the line.

Even if you can see them, they should be right at the edges of the screen, not 1 cm in.

[Benny 069]

Ok will give that a go. If I knew how. Do I just edit a clip on my computer and somehow add a 2 pix line to the border. Even if I do this am I proving that the TV has the "problem" or is it the DVD player OR the fact that in this world of so called "standards" there is an incompatability problem with the DVD players output and the TVs' upscalling when connected through Component.
p.s. Have noticed that when I play a genuine 4:3 DVD there is a small (1 to 3mm) border top and bottom.

[manono]

Hi-

There is such a thing as underscan. My DVD player underscans by a couple of pixels. My suggestion is to play the DVD on your computer, like with PowerDVD or some such, keep it small screen, and check if there are columns of black pixels on the outsides of the active video. Very few DVDs don't have some black somewhere outside of the picture. If you're lucky, you'll have neither overscan nor underscan, but you'll be seeing the entire DVD, no more and no less.

[jagabo]

Ok will give that a go. If I knew how. Do I just edit a clip on my computer and somehow add a 2 pix line to the border.

Just do a google image search for overscan. That will turn up lots of images from which you can make a DVD.

http://images.google.com/images?q=overscan

[Benny 069]

Yep..Just played Fifth Element through Power DVD and there was a very thin black line down each vertical edge. Did a bit of math and upscaled it and it seems that the TV is displaying the same black line. Is this good or bad???? I dont care too much just wondering what it was I am seeing. If I was to try an upscaling DVD or HD DVD would the lines still be there or would the upscaling component of the TV be happier with the "extra" content. Curious....

[manono]

It all sounds good to me. Sounds like no overscan, like you're getting the whole picture. You might check out some other DVDs in PowerDVD, until you find one with no black on the left and right sides, and then see if it's the same way on the TV.

[neomaine]

Beny 069,

With a natural resolution of 1366x768 you'll be bound to get some sort of black borders depending on what you're input is. The DVD, upscaled, with be 576p (you're in PAL land, right?). I have a 42" 1080p television that shows the same properties you're describing depending on the input.

This also could be a function of the DVD player itself getting it to 720p (1280x720) which is still under the native resolution and has to be scaled up. Remember, something has to get the video to the TVs native resoltion of 1366x768, period. Its the only thing you're TV can display. If its not that resolution, then its scaled.

If it easy truly 'black bars', or simply some pixels not being used, I'd say the TV is doing the best it can with upscaling the video its getting. If your issue was overcan, then you'd be seeing A LOT worse that just black (unused pixels) bars. Besides, its LCD, no worry about burn-in.

[Benny 069]

Thanks Guys.

I was worried that my TV was a dud, ( I am new to LCD ), but from what I can gather from browsing older forums and the info that you have supplied I'm pretty confidant that the TV is doing the best it can with the info it's being fed.

Cheers.

p.s. I will keep an eye on this site it's full of great info.

[edDV]

If anyone ever wondered why the consumer TV industry overscans ~5%, this thread should give a glimpse of their support line complaints. The more complaints, the more they overscan.

If you want to see the crap around the edges, buy a professional monitor. They should force all buyers of those to sign an oath that they won't complain about what they see.

[FulciLives]

I thought that displays that have no OVERSCAN ala an LCD TV still "force" OVERSCAN so as not to show the "junk" around the edges?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[iThinkYouBrokeIt]

I thought that displays that have no OVERSCAN ala an LCD TV still "force" OVERSCAN so as not to show the "junk" around the edges?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

How exactly do they have no overscan, yet "force" overscan???

[FulciLives]

I thought that displays that have no OVERSCAN ala an LCD TV still "force" OVERSCAN so as not to show the "junk" around the edges?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

How exactly do they have no overscan, yet "force" overscan???

Well that is what I heard. I assume they purposefully apply a slight mask around the image or purposefully blow it up a bit.

For instance my computer monitor has a front button called "ZOOM" and it blows the image up by a very tiny margin ... just enough to slightly cut into the image a bit all around. I do this if I am watching a video that I've blown up to full screen. It's subtle but enough to cut off the extra bit of black most DVD discs have on either sides of the image. It definitely is nowhere near the amount of OVERSCAN present on your typical TV but it's just enough to still cut the very edges of all 4 sides.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman