Dvd player plays widescreen dvds in fullscreen on widescreen tv

[Fireworks_at_Dawn]

In response to my outcome, a bit of good news and a bit of bad.

I have a ps3 (comes with bluray player) which plays movies at their normal aspect ratio so i use that for 4:3 movies and the player for widescreen.

HOWEVER,
Lately i have noticed that the extras on the widescreen dvds that are fullscreen extras have played not streched out on the player. I don't see why it would suddenly be fixed but i would still recomend gettting a blu ray player or ps3 (i cant verify all bluray players but the ps3's works).

The only problem with this for me is i have several region 2 dvds and im not sure if you can hack a bluray player to set it to all regions

[yoda313]

The only problem with this for me is i have several region 2 dvds and im not sure if you can hack a bluray player to set it to all regions

Do you have a bd-rom on your computer? You could rip them with dvdfabdecrypter or anydvdhd and convert to h264/mp4 and either copy to dvd or to a memory stick/harddrive (if under 4gbs as ps3 can't read over 4 with fat32 limit). Or you could rip the bluray and stream to the ps3 with playon, tversity or ps3mediaserver.

I think it will be hard to get a region free bluray player. I'm sure there are ones that can be modified but I don't know how easy it is.

I think the ones made by oppo usually have that kind of capability.

Oh if you were to get a bluray burner on your computer you could rip and burn it to be region free (at least the principle is the same as doing that for region locked dvds). There might be some work to be done but I don't have a bluray burner so can't help you there with the specifics.

And an fyi I wouldn't touch your ps3 if you wanted to ever use it again on their psn (or is it soe now?) network if its modified. They don't like that kind of stuff.

[Fireworks_at_Dawn]

oh no, im not going to touch the ps3.

I meant to hack the player, its fairly easy to do dvd players (ive done my past several players) but yes Im not sure about blu rays but im sure it can be done, i just havent looked into it since as of now im content with what i've got going on. But thats my own problem, for others having the aspect problem i think getting a ps3 or blu ray will solve the problem. (And yes, blu ray players play dvds)

[yoda313]

but yes Im not sure about blu rays but im sure it can be done, i just havent looked into it since as of now im content with what i've got going on.

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

The link says dvd hacks but I have to imagine it has been updated for bluray players.

I think it is few and far between for easy hacks for bluray players. I am not saying there aren't any but I think it will be much harder for bluray players than it was for dvd players.

Also you could google "region free bluray players" and see what you come across.

[JJMARTIN]

I checked the Philips site and found they have several old models that have the Pillar Box option. I found FactoryDirect had one of those models, refurbished. I bought it. It looks the same, acts the same, even uses the same remote. My original one hasn't died yet. I switch them back and forth every month or so. With luck I'm set for a few years.

[jman98]

JJMARTIN - Just fix this at the TV. Your HDTV should come with a remote control that will allow you to go between 4:3, 16:9 and various zoom modes. I've even seen old TV content originally recorded in 4:3 as extras on various BluRay discs and for some reason they show up as 16:9 and obviously stretched on my TV. I just switch the TV to 4:3 mode for the content - problem solved. I have been too lazy to play these discs on a PC just to verify what aspect ratio they are truly set at, so I really don't know if they are encoded incorrectly or if it's some kind of bug between my player and TV, but it's easy enough to fix.

You should understand that in the USA the vast majority of consumers just watch EVERYTHING in 16:9 whether it's really 4:3 or not. I've got friends and family members who do this. My brother is the only person I know (and I had to train him) who deliberately will switch his TV between 16:9 and 4:3 depending on the content of what he watches. It's probably the same in Canada. Most consumers actually don't want a pillar box option on a DVD or BluRay player.