16:9 Letterboxing On Pc

[vaustein]

I built a home theater PC running WinXP Pro and connected it via VGA cable to my 32" Samsung LCD HDTV. It works great in general; full screen display at 800x600 and 1024x768 (though not at 960x800).

The problem is with DVD movies. If I play a 16:9 DVD program in the standalone Sony DVD player connected to the same TV, the display is true widescreen with no letterboxes. However, running on the PC with a software DVD player, letterboxes always appear. Some software players offer so-called "smart stretching" options that introduce distortion.

I suspect this has something to do with standard VGA resolutions not being 16:9. Yet, the TV itself can certainly display 16:9 resolution, as demonstrated with the standalone DVD player. Are the video card (nVidia 7800 GTS) or the VGA cable simply unable to support a true 16:9 display mode?

It would be nice to chuck the DVD player and just use the PC for movies. After all, a 15-pin VGA cable ought to have at least the bandwidth of component video cables. This solution wouldn't work for Blu-Ray / HDDVD, but I'm still waiting for a clear winner to emerge from that contest.

 

[sam fisher]

I built a home theater PC running WinXP Pro and connected it via VGA cable to my 32" Samsung LCD HDTV. It works great in general; full screen display at 800x600 and 1024x768 (though not at 960x800).

The problem is with DVD movies. If I play a 16:9 DVD program in the standalone Sony DVD player connected to the same TV, the display is true widescreen with no letterboxes. However, running on the PC with a software DVD player, letterboxes always appear. Some software players offer so-called "smart stretching" options that introduce distortion.

I suspect this has something to do with standard VGA resolutions not being 16:9. Yet, the TV itself can certainly display 16:9 resolution, as demonstrated with the standalone DVD player. Are the video card (nVidia 7800 GTS) or the VGA cable simply unable to support a true 16:9 display mode?

It would be nice to chuck the DVD player and just use the PC for movies. After all, a 15-pin VGA cable ought to have at least the bandwidth of component video cables. This solution wouldn't work for Blu-Ray / HDDVD, but I'm still waiting for a clear winner to emerge from that contest.

Well, my 7600GT is capable of 16:9, so your 7800 should be.

 

[vaustein]

Good to know. So how to get rid of letterboxes, then?

 

[nickspoon]

Are you able to use a DVI cable?

 

[sam fisher]

Good point, i'm using DVI with my card.

 

[Vimacs]

go in the gfx card option, there's a option someware to set standard tv resolutions.

 

[vaustein]

Yes, the TV has HDMI inputs, and the card does have a DVI port. The NVidia console has TV resolution options as well. Is this what you're suggesting?

 

[Vimacs]

yep, just select a 16:9 res

 

[vaustein]

It worked!

I bought a $25 Philips DVI-HDMI cable, connected the DVI end to the NVidia card, the HDMI end to the TV, and configured the NVidia control panel for 720p HDMI mode. Documented max PC res is 1360x768, so 1080i might be unsafe.

I ran a series of subjective tests comparing PC versus my Sony DVP-NS325 standalone DVD player. The test material were "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" chapter 3, and Fellowship of the Ring chapter 1. Mel Gibson's costume and tan were noticeably sharper, the blue sky less pixellated, and the Bartertown welcome sign better textured on the PC than the Sony. As for FOTR, the Mordor script on The Ring never looked sharper than on the PC. Plus, the Sony introduced jaggies on the edge of The Ring while Isildur handles it. Also, watching on the PC I noticed details previously missed, like the orcs firing arrows back at the Alliance army.

For kicks, I tried them both on the PS2 - probably third place in picture quality.

Now one question remains. Earlier in the day, I picked up a $50 Radio Shack brand DVI-HDMI cable, apparently with gold connectors. Should I just get my $$ back, or open it up and test with it?

 

[Steve-O]

Now one question remains. Earlier in the day, I picked up a $50 Radio Shack brand DVI-HDMI cable, apparently with gold connectors. Should I just get my $$ back, or open it up and test with it?

get your money back unless you have money to just throw away