Who decides these things?

I have good news and bad news. Good news is I just bought my first digital TV. It is 26inch, widescreen, capable of full progressive resolution. The first thing I did was plop in my 2.35 anamorphic Attack of the Clones DVD. It was amazing the picture was far better then any interlaced video. Then I put in a non-anamorphic DVD. I was horified by the results. All progressive video went in automatally streched the image to the sides. It would not let me switch it to 4:3 mode so I could view the movie without distortion when I switched it to interlaced I could. I had to take out my old interlaced DVD player to view non-anamorphic DVDs. According to an article from the digitalyobbsessed.com this not a problem with my television nor with my specific player or model alone. It says all progressvie scan DVD players do this. It would make sense to us for all progressive scan DVD players to do the best for both anamorphic and non-anamorphic discs. It would have a well duh response. But not to the so called "expert" manufactorers of progressive scan technology. Who decides these things?

I would like an answer to a question are there any progressive scan DVD players that can display non-anamorphic DVDs correctly. If there are I am listening please.

I believe you said that you had just received a new Samsung 931 in our other post in the suggestion thread (now deleted). If so, this is an unfortunate problem of the unit. Although it does an outstaning job with anamophic features, it does not have aspect ratio control for non-anamorphic discs. The 931 will stretch all 4:3 and non-anamorphic material to full. There has been much discussion about this problem on the AVSForum.

But if you did get the 931 (I'll be embarassed if you didn't after posting this), you still got a bargain for an outstanding player of anamorphic discs. Are you using the DVI output?

I just realized it wasn't you who responded, but Tim. My bad. Anyway, I do think that MOST progressive players don't properly scale non-anamorphic material, but I believe that some do, including the Panny RP91 and JVC models.

Are you not able to use your TVs aspect control to scale the image to fit properly? You didn't say what model you have. What if you switched the display on the DVD player to 4:3, and then used your TV's "zoom" setting? Does that not work?

KP

The article that says all progressive scans have this problem was written in 2000 so it makes sense some newer player would have fixed this problem by now. It is stupid that this problem ever occured. When you make a new improved product you have to make sure it does everything an older product does. Still I am going to take your advice try to return my model and get a progressive scan player that I know doesn't distort 4:3 movies. Thats for the advice KPChicago.

I would do a google search on the web for "non-anamorphic progressive" and spend some time reading. As I said before, they're out there, including the Panasonic RP-91 and the Bravo D1. My quick search also found this comment on CNET regarding the Toshiba SD3800 which was released over a year ago on June 1, 2002.

Owners of certain wide-screen TVs that cannot control aspect with 480p sources will want to note the SD3800's aspect-ratio control. Unlike many progressive-scan players, the Toshiba can display a progressive-scan picture on those sets without horizontally stretching nonanamorphic DVDs. A separate setting makes 4:3 material appear with bars to either side, and nonanamorphic letterboxed material can be magnified to fill the width of the screen.

Saying that all progressive scan players distort 4:3 discs just isn't accurate. There are several progressive players out there that properly scan non-anamorphic discs--but many that don't. Just as there are many players that have the chroma bug, and some that don't. Unfotunately, like any other product, all progressive scan dvd players aren't the same. If this is an important feature for you, maybe you should return your current player and shop around for one that scales properly. Take a few of your dvds to the store with you to make sure before you buy.

I wonder how this ever got started. Was there money to be saved in not allowing you to use a feature built into the TV? Was this a manufactorurs mistake that all the electronics companies made at once? Or is someone trying to piss us off? I can see no other reason for such stupidity.

progressive scan players stretch 4:3 materials when in progressive scan mode? that's terrible (not to mention stupid).

My model is a TX-3000. It is a standard progressive scan. In interlaced mode the 4:3 setting worked fine. When I switched it to progressive it outomattically switched it to wide mode and would not allow me to switch it back. Zoom mode would not work either. This is just fine for anamorphic material which is thankfully the vast majority of my DVD collection but for my few non-anamorphic titles this is the absolute worst. The black bars are the same size as on a 1.33 TV and the image is streched and distorted. Can anyone name a specific model that does play non-anamorphic DVDs correctly and again I would like to know: Who decides these things?

You're right...it is really stupid. I have no idea why any company would release a DVD player that doesn't properly display non-anamorphic widescreen and full screen discs. And it's not an obvious feature/flaw. I would have done the same thing had I not really investigated it. I think your post is going to save a lot of people a lot of time, money and energy (including me--who still does not yet own a progressive scan player).

Good luck...and keep us posted if you're able to find a player that suits your needs, or even if you decide to keep your current player. Obviously it does a great job with your anamophic discs.

Best...
KP (by the way..my name is Kevin...but everyone calls me KP)

Trading in my player will be hard. I have had it for 6 months and the store has a 30 day return policy. But I plan on trying my hardest to sell it and replace it with a progressive player that displays nonanamorphic material correctly. This is not only a problem with my few nonanamorphic movies but most anamorphic movie discs have nonanamorphic extras. Most making of features are 1.33 and most trailers and deleted scenes are nonanamorphic widescreen. The lack of an aspect ratio control is a huge problem I advise everybody buying a progressive scan to make sure an aspect ratio control is included. If someone had told me this it would have saved me a lot of greif. One thing on the Daredevil DVD the extras are all anamorphic even the 1.33 features are put in a 1.78 frame. When I first bought Daredevil I thought that idea is stupid but now my guess Fox did this to make it work right on players like mine.