REALLY basic dvd question

[brvid]

Please don't laughtTOO hard at this question, as it's really pretty basic
and I AM a real DVD newbie.

Having rarely even rented Blockbuster movies and the like on DVD's
(I'm a old VHS guy), I've run into a problem that I can't resolve.
This may just be basic DVD operations that I'm unaware of because I'm
so new to even viewing DVD's on anything other than my Mac Powerbook G4.

Here it is: I bought my mom and sister their own DVD players for Christmas, one Magnavox, one Aiwa, both in the $80 range.

I rented them some DVD movies from Blockbuster and when we
hooked them up, they automatically default to playing in
widescreen format...black bars on top and bottom.

I figured out that you have to use "zoom" to get the picture to
"fill" the screen, as if you're watching traditional TV. The problem is
that on one of the players, the word "ZOOM" stays there in the top
of the screen for the entire length of the movie. On the other player,
no "zoom" word staying on screen, but every time the movie progresses
to the next chapter (every 5-10 minutes), the screen jumps back to
widescreen.

I went into set-up on both units and tried to change the aspect ratio
settings to what they said were "full screen" mode, but it didn't work or
"take" on either unit, and I tried repeatedly. No effect at all.

Is there an easy way to get full, normal screen 4:3 ration (no top and bottom lines as in widescreen), that stays there without a graphic "ZOOM"
remaining, or it popping back to widescreen every few minutes, ect?

Also is this just normal DVD operations that virtually all feature films
default to widescreen, and the only way to get full screen (traditional TV) is one of these zoom procedures (which also tends to blur/pixelate the image)?

If this is the case, other than then superior picture crispness, isn't
a feature film on VHS "easier" to view in that they "usually" come
automatically in the traditioinal 4:3 full screen format?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Barry
brvid@aol.com

[Conquest10]

dvds are presented in the correct aspect ratio of the movie. when you get a vhs copy, that's pan & scan crap. they cut out half of the film in order for it to take up the whole screen. some dvds come in fullscreen mode. but the widescreen are better and more compatible with the future since hdtvs are widescreen.

[brvid]

OK, but how do I get it to FILL the dam screen without the problems
I mentioned in the original post?

[Conquest10]

buy the vhs

[zodiac]

check the remote or the manual,there may be a menu or setup button to change the tv aspect 4:3 letterbox to 16:9
some dvds are two sided,one being wide screen and the other full screen.

[Cornucopia]

This is one of those times where it would have been good to RTFM.

ALL DVD players have settings where they will default playback to Auto, hard Letterbox, or hard PanNScan. Auto is dependant upon how the dvd is authored.
DVD titles can be authored Widescreen (16:9) or NormalScreen (4:3). If its WS, it can also have PS hints added to the file. Discs can come WS only, FullScreen(akaNormal)only, both on same side of the disc, one on each side of a doulbe-sided disc.

While most videophiles prefer WS (closer to orig cinematic experience & director's intent), everybody's different.
If you like normal 4:3, go to players' set up, change to hard PS, the end.

Enjoy your player! (but don't come crying to us when people are seen to have a long discussion with someone offscreen. )
Really, once you've got a 25" or bigger TV WS is usually not a size problem anymore.

HTH,

Scott

[brvid]

Thank you very much Cornucopia. This sounds like what I was looking for.

FYI - I'm fully aware that feature films are generally shot in widescreen
and that a telecine of some sort is used when they are transferred to
tape for viewing on traditional 4:3 TV screens, and that this requires
the telecine operator to be making a creative decision in terms of
"what" is going to be cut off, but that something has to go in order to fit
into the 4:3 ratio (unless you remain in that widescreen mode).

I also know that this "could" end up in conversations with folks "off screen", but personally, if it was really as offensive as all that, you'd think
there would be a much more vocal outcry about all the feature films
shown on TV over the past 50 years, being terribly distorted. Of course
I know it's always been a point of contention by the directors whose films are being aesthetically compromised by the 4:3 conversion, but generally
it's not usually a huge issue, unless you're dealing with EPIC cinemotography (i.e. Star Wars, Lawerence of Arabia - type stuff...right?)
I agree that the widescreen option looks wonderful if your watching
it on a widescreen TV (which will be the norm in a few years), but thats
not what I'm using today.

I'm dealing with one TV that is running the DVD on a 20" screen, and while the crispness of the DVD is great, the widescreen does
greatly shrink the picture on that size screen especially if you're
more than a few feet from the screen. The other TV is 27" and isn't as much of an issue, I just knew there HAD to be a way around
widescreen if that was the viewers choice.

Again, a long winded thanks!!

[Dubber]

Also, some DVDs come encoded in both - Full Screen AND Widescreen (i.e. Ice Age) and you have a chance to choose the aspect ratio before you hit Play ... You get to choose it in DVD menu.