Does HDMI output to EXACT Aspect Ratio

[Albion]

After doing some searches there appears to be some confusion on this issue.

Just to explain I dislike overscan intensely.There are two things that are preventing me from buying a HD-DVD player like the HD-E1.

1.This industry cannot make up its bloody mind on which format it is going to choose.

2.Elimination of overscan using a HD Player.

I have a 37in Toshiba LCD HD Ready TV,(ie) it is not full 1080p.It does not allow any kind of picture manipulation that will get rid of overscan.

Now the suggestion seems to indicate that HDMI wll output to exact aspect ratio,whether SD or HD-DVD.1.78, 2.40,2.35,1.85,2.55,2.76 producing the optimum ratio with NO overscan.

Please tell me this the case.I can put up with overscan on ordinary satellite whether HD or SD,but not with DVD,HD-DVD or Blu-ray.

At present because I have an old Toshiba player that allows minimal shrink of the picture I can get rid of overscan on DVD.

But until I know that I can do this with HD-DVD etc,I won't committ to buying.

Will HDMI rid me of this curse?

 

[MikeK]

Unfortunately, I don't believe the player will do this for you - that said, I don't have an E1, so I'm not 100% on this.

Usually the overscan is a display issue - some displays allow you to override it (using a pixel direct mode, or some similar name) and some allow you to adjust it (may require access to the secret service mode), but with some, there's simply nothing you can do about it!

Try searching for info on your display - there may be some way to adjust the overscan down to an acceptable level!

 

[Albion]

Thanks for the response Mike.

Yes I've tried the Service Menu.

The instructions are straightforward enough,except there are two modes.

Service Mode and Design mode.Service mode only gives you the settings and cannot be changed.Whilst for some reason the instructions to get to design mode don't work.Apparently it is in design mode that the settings can be changed.

From my searches (on AV Forums and the net) these are the only instructions I can find.There must be other instructions to get into design mode,but even a search on LCD panels on these forums come up zippo.

Hence my hope that HDMI would be the answer.

Thanks again

 

[iainoco]

I have a 32" Toshiba LCD and the only time I have seen correct display of aspect ratio is when using VGA.

Playing HD DVD from my Xbox 360 through VGA displays bars at top and bottom on a 1.85:1 movie which I've never had on DVD through HDMI. Unfortunately I found VGA unwatchable due to judder during panning shots, component has no judder but overscan!!

 

[Albion]

Many thanks iainoco...are you saying for certain that when you use VGA from your X-BOX HD-DVD Drive you get ZERO overscan when playing HD-DVD's.

When you play 2.4 Aspect Ratio HD-DVD's are the black bars also bigger.

 

[iainoco]

It appears that way. Component no black bars on 1.85:1 material but VGA does give them. 2.35:1 material also has slightly more picture information at the sides. Unfortunately I can't confirm that it eliminates overscan completely

 

[Ned Senior]

cannot be certain it is what you mean but a lot of HD-DVD's I have watched on my E1 and Sammy plasma have had black bars top and bottom

 

[Albion]

Many thanks for your responses.It might seem I being a little over sensitive to the complete elimination of overscan.

Ever since VHS produced letterboxed editions of films,and I realised I still was'nt seeing everthing because of overscan,it sort of became an obsession.It's remained so me ever since.

The answer is of course 1080p exact scan 1:1 pixel mapping.Unfortuntely I bought an expensive (at the time) 37in HD Ready screen,which did'nt provide any kind of manipulation of the image area,unlike CRT's.

However VGA through the X-BOX HD-DVD drive suggests there is room for improvement.It may have to do until the time comes to buy a new LCD.

Thanks again

 

[Cocksure]

Your best bet would be to get an old 2nd hand video proccessor/scaler that would allow you to get one to one on all your sources and completely remove overscan. Your best bet would be to post this question over on the scaler foru as they will know the best why to help.

 

[Albion]

Your best bet would be to get an old 2nd hand video proccessor/scaler that would allow you to get one to one on all your sources and completely remove overscan. Your best bet would be to post this question over on the scaler foru as they will know the best why to help.

Thankyou Lizard.I wll do just that.