16:9 letterboxing on software dvd players

[vaustein]

If this has been answered before, my apologies. I didn't see this topic in the newbie FAQs or the software player forum. However, I'm probably not the first person to ask this.

My home theater PC (running WinXP Pro SP2) is connected via VGA cable to my 32" Samsung LCD HDTV. The video card is an nVidia 7800 GTS. 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions look great. Also, software DVD players work well. However, there is a problem.

When I play a 16:9 DVD program through my Sony standalone DVD player connected to the same HDTV, the display is widescreen without letterboxes - exactly what I want. When I play the same movie on the PC with a software player, letterboxes always appear. Some software players offer "smart stretching" but it introduces distortion.

I suspect that standard VGA resolutions are not 16:9, and therein lies the problem. However, my TV can certainly display 16:9 correctly as shown by the Sony DVD player. There must be some way to make this work.

If I could daisy-chain a less urgent question, should video streamed through a VGA cable look better than through component video cables? After all, the VGA cable has 15 wires, at least three of which are dedicated to RGB. I'd really like to chuck the standalone player and just use the PC for movies.

The audio side is working perfectly. The card is an SB Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA mounted on a PCI->PCMCIA desktop adapter. I configured the software player to pass the S/PDIF out directly to my Pioneer 1016THX receiver, and the receiver correctly picks it up as DDigital, DTS 5.1/6.1, etc. instead of PCM.

[guns1inger]

if you are using a VGA connection then you need to install the correct drivers for TV so that your gfx card recognises the TV's native resolution. At the moment you are using standard monitor resolutions, which is where most of your distortion is coming from.

[Krispy Kritter]

And no, it won't look better. After you get your driver/resolution problem corrected. They should look identical, or near identical. Any differences would most likely be hardware related (cable or circuits inside the TV). It's not uncommon for a TV to display a better picture on component than on HDMI (or vice versa) even using the same source.

[Cornucopia]

What model # is your Samsung?

What does the manual say about inputs via the VGA connector (allowable resolutions, etc)?

Scott

[vaustein]

Thanks for the replies. I think the TV model is Samsung LN-S3241D 32" 1366x768.

I bought a $25 Philips DVI-HDMI cable, connected the DVI end to the NVidia card, the HDMI end to the TV, and configured the NVidia control panel for 720p HDMI mode. Documented max PC res is 1360x768, so 1080i might be unsafe. [Can anyone confirm this? The manual isn't too helpful].

I ran a series of subjective tests comparing PC versus my Sony DVP-NS325 standalone DVD player w/ the old Radio Shack brand FusionAV Component Video cables. The test material were "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" chapter 3, and Fellowship of the Ring chapter 1. My methodology was to watch each program several times, alternating between the PC and Sony until a clear winner emerged. I probably watched Sauron explode about ten times.

The blue sky was less pixellated and the Bartertown welcome sign better textured on the PC than the Sony. As for FOTR, the Mordor script on The Ring looked sharper on the PC. Also, for the first time ever, I noticed Orc arrows flying towards the Last Alliance army (most of the arrows are flying toward the Orcs). Otherwise, it was hard to notice a difference in either program on either hardware.

For kicks, I tried both DVDs on the PS2 - probably third place in picture quality, though I didn't compare the PS2 as rigorously.

What do you think? Yes, it subjectively appeared that DVI->HDMI @ 720p was better, but maybe that's an artifact of progressive versus interlaced? Or perhaps the Sony runs at lower resolution? Also, since the reported maximum VGA resolution is 1366x768, could it hurt the TV to run it in 1080i (corresponding to a DVI mode resolution of approximately 1900x1080)?

Thanks again for the feedback and interest, I do appreciate it.

[vaustein]

Oh, and the 720p DVI mode eliminated the letterboxes I complained about in the original post. Otherwise, the Sony DVD player would win by default.

[guns1inger]

You can send 1080i to the TV. It will downconvert to 720p on the fly

[Krispy Kritter]

Do you have the DVD player setup to output to a 16:9 screen?

[MysticE]

A very informative post and analysis.

[vaustein]

Kris: Both the software DVD player and the Sony (as well as the PS2) are set to widescreen. FYI, while the Sony player would automatically pick 4:3 mode for fullscreen video, the PS2 threw a "video not supported" error until I manually reconfigured for 4:3. Not very robust

Mystic: I hope this post helps others who have had the same problem. It's tough to do a subjective test like I did w/ MMBT and FotR; lots of disc swapping between the PC and Sony. I really perceived a better picture w/ the PC in 720p HDMI mode. Actually, the Sony produced a brighter picture, which ought to have biased the viewing experience toward the Sony. I just wish I understood *why* the PC viewing experience looked better.

[MysticE]

I really perceived a better picture w/ the PC in 720p HDMI mode. Actually, the Sony produced a brighter picture, which ought to have biased the viewing experience toward the Sony. I just wish I understood *why* the PC viewing experience looked better.

The *why* might simply be the Sony player. Maybe this brand would do a better a better job.

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h.html

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_review.html