Hi...

a question, are there any players that can do a "poor man's pan&scan" on a 16:9 DVD that does not have pan&scan info, by simply showing the center three quarters of the image, cutting off 1/8 each on the left and right edge?

Unfortunately 1.) Here in Europe almost all DVDs are widescreen and don't have p&s info, 2.) I can't afford a new 16:9 capable TV set, and 3.) letterbox mode looks like a mess with many (all?) players, having glittering & sparkling artifacts and messed up diagonal lines, as well as a general sort of un-focused look to it.

The other option would be a player that does decent letterboxing without artifacts if it exists, but the "poor man's pan&scan" would give a larger image area so I think I'd prefer it, since there are not many cases where important stuff happens at the very edge of the picture.

Thanks for any help.