Stretched movie problem

[bigvis]

Hi everyone.

This is a great forum, everyone seems to know alot about this stuff so I was wondering if someone could help me. I have a media pc running xp pro and an ati 9800pro on a samsung HD 42" plasma with a native res of 1024x768. the PC is also set to this resolution but as can be expected the display looks stretched. Can someone tell me the best way to make divx and xvid etc movies appear in the correct ratio when i am watching them? Also, how is it that a widescreen plasma can have a native resolution that is commonly used on a 4:3 style PC monitor?

thanks in advance,

Bigvis (n00b)

[Baldrick]

You shouldn't make the divx or xvid in some special way. Just use a good video player(Zoom Player, MPC) or htpc software(Media Portal,GBPVR) and you can watch it in it original aspect ratio, zoom, resize or whatever you like.

and I don't why it looked stretched on your plasma....

[guns1inger]

Have you told the PC that the monitor has changed ? If the PC still thinks it is connected to an ordinary monitor then it will use standard resolutions and pixel shapes. If you tell it that it is connected to a widescreen display, it will offer a different range of resolutions and pixel shapes to match and make the display look correct again.

[bigvis]

thankyou for your quick responses. i think it might be the fact i havent told windows im using widescreen. ill try today.

[bigvis]

Ok so i have tried getting the plasma to view wide screen but it only gives me the options to do 4:3 style resolutions or multples of that. I have even uninstalled the monitor and let windows decide. Is there a way to make it do wide screen resolutions. I think the problem is that the plasma is wide screen but with a native resolution of 1024:768 which is 4:3. Maybe no one else has noticed the slight stretching but if you measure it on your monitor screen (as in centimetres) you can never get it to display on the plasma in that ratio. the difference is minor (.39 height vs .51) but its there.

[guns1inger]

Windows just isn't seeing the Plasma for what it is. Otherwise it would give you widescreen resolutions to choose from. This is a common problem with widescreen laptops that have been installed with default windows drivers instead of the correct LCD drivers.

How are you connecting to the plasma ? VGA, DVI, s-video ?

[bigvis]

Gun,

Thanks for your replies,

Im connecting with just an RGB monitor style cable. What I cant understand is how a 16:9 Plasma has a native resolution of 1024x768. I can run the computer letterbox and its fine (its a setting on the plasma tv), but isnt 1024x768 by its very nature 4:3 ? I did uninstall the plug and play monitor and let windows find the plasma, but it installed it as a plug and play. I guess what I am asking is this:

How can a widescreen tv have a native resolution of 1024X768 (which is 4:3) without the horizontal pixels being wider than the vertical ones?

[manono]

How can a widescreen tv have a native resolution of 1024X768 (which is 4:3) without the horizontal pixels being wider than the vertical ones?

Of course, they are wide pixels. Think of it as being 1366x768, except with less resolution:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1629402

[jagabo]

If your TV and computer have HDMI or DVI interfaces use those instead. RGB cables prevent your monitor from telling your computer what its properties are.

Look under Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> Adapter -> List All Modes. There may be more resolutions there.

[bigvis]

Thankyou everyone for your advice