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Re: Is an HDTV set required to maximise current DVD format?

Posted by Hornlover (M) on November 7, 2002 at 08:31:15

In Reply to: Is an HDTV set required to maximise current DVD format? posted by Ted33 on November 5, 2002 at 13:58:14:

One thing that hasnt been fully mentioned is the 'anamorphic' DVDs (most are). Not many people seem to be aware that when they watch a DVD in letterboxed format that the information on the DVD disk isnt letterboxed. Its your DVD player that derives this letterboxed image using algorithums (varies depending on manufacturer). The players typically will take 5 scan lines from the disk and make 3 to display. The disk itself uses all 480 vertical scan lines.
If you go into your DVD players setup menu and tell it you are using a 16x9 TV, it will not create the letterboxed image, but output the full 480 lines. With a HDTV, you tell it to stretch the image horizontally, restoring proper aspect ratio. Some standard TVs (such as the Sony Wega's), also handle the anamorphic mode by applying a vertical squeeze (using magnetic deflection) to squeeze these images down to letterboxed format. The advantage, of course, is you now use all 480 scan lines to reproduce the image, and not waste any to the black bars. This results in a sharper, better defined image. The closest thing you will find to high definition using a standard TV.

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