DVD overscan or something?

[winifreid]

I have a Magnavox MDV 455 (ntsc) and a 21 inch TV. With both original an homemade DVD video, I have noticed that the player clips about 5% of the screen from all around. I determined this by using the zoom out function. When I zoom out, I can see that there is a lot of the sceen that is clipped when it is in normal(full screen) mode. Is this the case with all players? Is there a setting I can change to prevent this? In the system menu, I have tried changing the TV mode from normal pan and scan to letter box and wide screen, but I caould not tell any difference in the picture.
Thanks

[bugster]

This is not the DVD player but the TV that is responsible for this. All Tv's do this to a greater or lesser extent. Not much you can do about it.

[Frail_Left]

to a certain extent? chopping off 5% of the picture on all sides is way too much! by the way are you sure it is the tv's fault? i tested it with a cam and as far as i could observe there were no similar problems, the tv displayed the whole picture. there must be some solution! though i've been searching the net and messing around with the encoder for weeks now and couldn't figure it out myself Eventually i think i'll get around it by adding borders so that the actual content is displayed fully but then playing it on a pc is a prob. Any better ideas?

[johns0]

Eventually i think i'll get around it by adding borders so that the actual content is displayed fully but then playing it on a pc is a prob. Any better ideas?

Thats your best option for watching on tv,if you need to watch it on your pc just make a copy without borders.

[bugster]

to a certain extent? chopping off 5% of the picture on all sides is way too much! by the way are you sure it is the tv's fault? i tested it with a cam and as far as i could observe there were no similar problems, the tv displayed the whole picture. there must be some solution! though i've been searching the net and messing around with the encoder for weeks now and couldn't figure it out myself Eventually i think i'll get around it by adding borders so that the actual content is displayed fully but then playing it on a pc is a prob. Any better ideas?

So if the Cam does not display this behaviour it must be the player? Well, I suppose the player could be partly responsible but I doubt it. I don't suppose the Cam has a zoom function for you to check this with though. 5% is pretty much on the mark for overscan. Either live with it as most of us do, or encode with black borders to 'eliminate' the problem.

[winifreid]

Is broadcast the same way? Since I can't zoom I can't really test it. I guess I could watch something on the computer and TV at the same time, but I think I'd get dizzy turning my head around.
For many fims it may not be a big deal, but for some of those art pictures where the director is pushing the edge literally, it might cause you to miss the whole point of the picture.

[gshelley61]

All TV's overscan anywhere from 4-7%, regardless of the source. The broadcast signal is also cropped like this. This is to avoid seeing border artifacts and other problems (like there are on the bottom 8 lines or so on a VHS). Also, frequently the entire frame does not contain actual picture information. This is normal. If you want to see the entire frame, watch the DVD using a software player like PowerDVD on your computer.

[Frail_Left]

Bugster: i mean the camera was the source for the tv, if that's what you mean.

I knew the fact that tv's do overscan, only the amount seemed surprisingly much. Well if you guys say so, it must be true and there is nothing but to accept.