To Zoom or not to Zoom...That is the question

Do you ever use the zoom function to eliminate black bars

  • Never - I want to watch the movie as the director intended

    Votes: 43 72.9%
  • Always - Wide black bars top & bottom annoy me

    Votes: 2 3.4%
  • Sometimes - Depends on the movie

    Votes: 14 23.7%

  • Total voters
    59
thank god I'm not the only one. Non-anamorphic DVD's are a major pain, especially NTSC or SVCD material. Watch squished into the middle third of the screen, or be able to count the horizontal lines from the sofa. Not good.

I thought maybe just I had this problem, or that the zoom (aspect adjust) on my TV (LG 28" wide) was particularly good at reducing video quality.

I dont mind black bars on say 2.35:1 films, and i dislike watching 4:3 material stretched out horizontally too. But are people still making non-anamorphic material? And can anyone recommend a DVD player that can do a better job than my TV for this kind of issue?
 
Originally posted by Barry Bingham
Also, note that before I got the S75, I'd have voted "never" in this poll. Because I had not seen a DVD zoom subtle enough to make me want to zoom

Dogtanian the dvd player Barry refers to is the Panasonic S75 maybe it would be sending him a message to find out more.
 
Lets try and keep things civil please guys... ;)

If you're not going to add anything constructive to the thread, then please don't post at all.

K.
 
It's not all about non-anamorphic DVD's, I think he wants to know if anyone zooms into an anamorphic 2.35:1 movie to eliminate the black bars and fill their display? Also, this can be done on front projectors and many DVD players, so the fact he didn't stipulate which device would be doing the zooming (player or display) is irrelevant!! I understood the question straight off, so why not leave the guy alone and answer his damn question or don't if are not bothered!

I never zoom into a picture to get rid of the black bars, like I never watch a 4:3 movie or TV program in any other setting than 4:3. I want to see the material as it was intended to be viewed (or as near to as possible) and I simply can't stand it when people have a stretched distorted picture on their sets!

This is one of the reasons that people like my parents won't buy a widescreen TV, as they say that it makes people look weird and fat etc. I try to explain that this is because the sales people are dicks and have the sets in the wrong mode but they don't quite get it. Then if they do see a 4:3 presentation correctly displayed on a 16:9 TV, they moan about the black bars at the sides!!! This will not end until everything is presented in an anamorphic ratio.

It is possible I am so anal because I am a filmmaker, but I just don't get it? I tell people it's like taking a really nice panoramic holiday photo showing the whole family against a fantastic tropical vista and then cutting half the family off to fit it in a picture frame they like!

BTW, there is a very good use for some zoom modes on certain DVD players, and that is to zoom out rather than in if the player allows it. I do this with my Toshiba SD900E to make sure I am seeing the whole picture and not loosing image due to over-scan, but when I get my DVI equipped DVD player and projector this will be a thing of the past - YeeHaa!
 
Originally posted by Kane D Williams
I never zoom into a picture to get rid of the black bars, like I never watch a 4:3 movie or TV program in any other setting than 4:3. I want to see the material as it was intended to be viewed (or as near to as possible) and I simply can't stand it when people have a stretched distorted picture on their sets!

I must confess to having double standards, I would never zoom in to eliminate Black bars on a dvd, but on terestrial I use "Super live" on my Tosh 32zd26 TV to fill the screen. The problem is somethings seem to be broadcast in wide screen and some arn't, Also I guess that because I watch more TV than DVD's I have just become used to it.

+ Don't forget the wife factore............:(
 
Jay - Tut, Tut!

This is not having a go at you, but can you tell me why you use 'Super Live' for 4:3 stuff? Do you use this setting for all you riewing, or do you switch to 16:9 mode for 16:9 broadcasts?

I am really intrigued by this sort of thing, like when I see people come into a cinema that is pretty much empty, with loads of seats available in the central plain and they look around and then head for a seat somewhere right to the side and towards the back????? I think, 'what made them chose those seats'? It's not as though they are simply lazy or they would have sat at the first seat available, but NO, they actually squeeze past people to get to CRAP seats!!?? What is this all about? Sorry - a little off topic! HaHa
 
Kane I do switch between super live and wide depending on what the broadcast is, but not always. the reason being is my terestrial picture is not very good at the momment so a little stretch here or thereI can live with, it also depends on what the subject material is, if its the news then it would stay in superlive, if football generally wide, movies if broadcast in wide then obviously I set it to wide.

I guess I can compare it to the radio or CD if I've got ithe radio on in the back ground or listening to the news the the quality is not so much of an issue but if you want to listen to a spercific CD then you want the quality to be much better.

I hope that explains why I maybe live with terestrial 4.3 stretch, maybe when I upgrade to digital this may change.

As for the cinema, i'm with you, I try to get as close to the centre of the cinema as possible maybe sitting a little further towards the back. Although I must admit when I went to see the Abyss it was full and had to sit at the front, it was a showcase so was very close, I was almost lying down to look up at the screen, it was quite a different experiance but still very enjoyable........:smashin:
 

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