Why doesn't my DVD recorder playback in 16:9????

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Why doesn't my DVD recorder playback in 16:9????

lannykaster

64 posts

Master Geek

#107759 19-Aug-2012 11:05

i have a Model DMR-EH55 dvd recorder, one of the first to come onto the market (only 80GB)
and have a Freeview box plugged into it.

Whenever i record something from the HDD onto a disc, it plays it back as 4:3 when it's actually a widescreen picture.... very similar to my Geekzone profile pic. see how's it's squashed up???

is there anyway i can get around this? i have the dvd recorder's settings to 16:9 widescreen, and i have also tried 16:9 letterbox to see if it'd make any difference.... it didn't :(

so now, at the moment, i have my Freeview box set at 4:3 so at least when i replay the discs i've burnt, it shows it at the correct apect ratio

any help on this would be great :)

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#674219 19-Aug-2012 12:50

lannykaster:

Whenever i record something from the HDD onto a disc, it plays it back as 4:3 when it's actually a widescreen picture.... very similar to my Geekzone profile pic. see how's it's squashed up???

is there anyway i can get around this? i have the dvd recorder's settings to 16:9 widescreen, and i have also tried 16:9 letterbox to see if it'd make any difference.... it didn't :(

Try reading the manual.

It seems that "Enable High Speed mode" needs to be set "off" to record 16:9 off air to HDD but set to "On" to record 16:9 from HDD to Disc. Default is "On"

Strange! Don't remember having that problem with mine.

ChevronX

280 posts

Ultimate Geek

#674220 19-Aug-2012 12:52

Can you change the TV resolution to 6.9? Does that fix the problem? Very weird but sounds like it doesn't know the correct ratio for the TV to change it too, does the manual change work?

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old3eyes

9119 posts

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#674236 19-Aug-2012 14:00

My DVD recorder always plays back 16:9 stuff as 4x3 and have to set the TV to 16:9. or back again afterwards. It seems that these DVD recorders do not understand what 16:9 is. It used to be really annoying when it was connected to a Freeview STB which was out putting in 16:9 but when played back was in 4x3. The only time I use it now is for The Untouchables on Triangle via analog.

Regards,

Old3eyes

Spyware

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#674237 19-Aug-2012 14:08

Given the timing for both 4:3 and 16:9 is identical they are indistinguishable, so of course TV has to be set to correct aspect ratio as both TV and output device have no clue.

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lannykaster

64 posts

Master Geek

#674244 19-Aug-2012 14:44

old3eyes: ....It seems that these DVD recorders do not understand what 16:9 is... ...it was connected to a Freeview STB which was out putting in 16:9 but when played back was in 4x3.....

yes, that's exactly what's happening to me! but i will try that "enable high speed" thing when i get home, although i dont think it makes any difference

a widescreen 16:9 picture recorded from my Freeview box plays as 4:3 (tight n skinny) and even worse is when i've recorded a show that is 4:3 with two black bars at either side... THAT is like watching a thin rectangle!!! lol.

richms

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#674253 19-Aug-2012 15:40

Spyware: Given the timing for both 4:3 and 16:9 is identical they are indistinguishable, so of course TV has to be set to correct aspect ratio as both TV and output device have no clue.

There are flags in the broadcast signal to identify the aspect.

Seems that samsung TV's ignore them however, even when set to auto they dont change when for example a sky box is set onto the one remaining 4:3 channel (cnn) whereas another TV (panasonic CRT) is able to correctly change aspect.

Richard rich.ms

Spyware

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#674344 19-Aug-2012 18:42

Yeah there are flags in the digital streams, doesn't mean that there is anything in the analog out of a decoder though. My understanding was that Freeview standard does not demand any such signals on the analog out and whether a decoder would bother to output such signals by default is anyone's guess.

P.S. Nick Jr is 4:3, so is RT I believe.

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richms

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#674351 19-Aug-2012 19:01

They are on the analog stream as well, it works over RF from they sky box to my other tvs just fine.

Richard rich.ms