Instructions for playing widescreen DVD ...

PeterWright wrote on 2/5/2006, 8:49 PM
Since using HDV I have made all my projects widescreen, and most have gone out as DVDs.

Because I have no control over viewing conditions, and since many viewers still have 4:3 TV sets, I want to include instructions to try and avoid people viewing "squished up" video pictures and thinking that I put it out that way!

Here's a possible paragraph I could include on the DVD sleeve. I'd welcome any suggestions for improvements, and the final result may be useful to anyone in the same situation:

"This DVD has been produced in widescreen (16:9) format, and if you have a widescreen TV, the picture should fill the whole frame. If on the other hand you are using a Standard Definition TV and the picture appears to be "squeezed", you may need to change the settings on your DVD Player Set Up to LB or letter box setting, which will mean a black "letterbox" effect at the top and bottom, with an undistorted widescreen picture in the middle."

Comments

farss wrote on 2/5/2006, 9:28 PM
Peter,
I think on most DVD players the selection is under TV Type or something like that. Basically you tell the DVD player if you have a 16:9 or 4:3 TV and it takes care of the rest. There might be another option that lets you choose whether or not the 16:9 image is centre cutout or letterboxed.
Bob.
John_Cline wrote on 2/5/2006, 9:32 PM
Most, if not all, DVD players will recognize the 16:9 flag in the bitstream and will automatically letterbox the 16:9 material to display correctly on 4:3 televisions. I suppose you can still include your paragraph on the sleeve, but it's probably unnecessary.

John
PeterWright wrote on 2/5/2006, 9:41 PM
Thjanks Bob and John. I'd been hoping it was unnecessary, then I turned up to one of my clients' viewings and the 16:9 was squeezed to fill the 4:3 screen!

Also, I wasn't sure whether it was DVD player always, or sometimes TV set up ....