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Aspect ratio different on computer compared to TV
Sorry, I know this question doesn’t belong on this forum but I looked at all the other forums and I don’t think it fits any of them either. Anyway, here goes…
I noticed that when I play DVDs on my MacBook Pro there’s more image on the sides of the screen than when I play those DVDs on my 16×9 TV. I thought maybe it could be that the DVD was slightly zoomed in on my TV so I decided to do a test using a non-anamorphic DVD because I thought if there are black bars on all four sides then I’ll know what the entire image is supposed to look like without fear that the TV screen was cutting off the sides. This is what I noticed:
When I play an old non-anamorphic DVD on my computer, showing black bars on all four sides, I still see more information on the left and right sides of the screen than when I play that same DVD on my TV. My TV also shows black bars on all four sides so I’m able to clearly compare the image on the TV to the image on the computer. I thought that my computer was somehow showing more information than it was supposed to or the TV wasn’t showing as much as it was supposed to.
Does anyone have any idea why playing the disc on my computer shows more of the image on the sides? It’s not that much more, just a little bit on the left and right sides. Thanks.
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14 Replies
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This is caused by Overscan. Every TV has it. Thats why NLE’s have an Action Safe overlay. Anything outside of the Action Safe area may be cut off due to overscan on a TV and every manufacturer has a different amount of overscan. In the old days of SD, this was actually the part of the tube that was hidden behind the frame of the TV cabinet. I’m not sure why HD TV’s still have this problem but they do. My Toshiba HD TV has a lot more overscan than my Sony HD TV. This is perfectly normal.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
John, thank you very much!!!!!!
So does this mean that when watching a DVD on a modern computer screen, it reflects how the movie was intended to be seen much more accurately than it does on any TV?
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maybe …
a little bit.in the film days even cinemas would have cropped a bit off the edges.
it was random, and most likely still is
so people know not to frame really important rings right on the edges of the frame.nick
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Thanks Nick.
How come when I play a non-anamorphic DVD on my 16X9 TV the overscan isn’t gone? There are black bars on all four sides so shouldn’t there only be overscanning when the image fills the entire screen?
And if I play an anamorphic DVD on my TV and change the view mode to 4:3 so I can see the edges on the sides, wouldn’t there be more image shown on the sides since there are black bars there and the TV isn’t cutting off the image due to overscan?
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[Bobby Hall] “There are black bars on all four sides”
you have your TV set up wrong
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Yea, it’s possible that your DVD Player isn’t set up correctly. You need to tell your DVD player that your TV is 16:9.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
and HD
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Nick, when playing a non-anamorphic DVD on a 16X9 TV, it’s normal to have black bars on all four sides unless you want to use the zoom feature and lower the quality.
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John, my TV player is set to HD, 16×9, 1920×1080. Why does anyone here think otherwise? I was doing a test with the different view modes on my TV to see how it displays both anamorphic and non-anamorphic DVDs. And I wanted to test it using a non-anamorphic DVD (with black bars on all four sides) so that I could see what the entire image was supposed to look like without fear that my TV was cutting off any of the sides.
If I can see the entire image with the bars on all four sides, does this mean I’m seeing the image without whatever overscanning my TV is doing? I was under the impression that overscanning occurs when the image is slightly cut off on the top and bottom to avoid black bars or to avoid part of the image not meant to be seen, and you wouldn’t necessarily be aware of it because it’s being hidden by the TV. But when you play an old DVD and it shows the black bars (since I set it to 4:3 mode), does this eliminate the overscanning? I thought there’d be no overscanning in this instance since the image of the movie isn’t extended to the edges of the TV since there are black. Thanks to anyone who can answer this!
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[Bobby Hall] “If I can see the entire image with the bars on all four sides, does this mean I’m seeing the image without whatever overscanning my TV is doing? I was under the impression that overscanning occurs when the image is slightly cut off on the top and bottom to avoid black bars or to avoid part of the image not meant to be seen, and you wouldn’t necessarily be aware of it because it’s being hidden by the TV. But when you play an old DVD and it shows the black bars (since I set it to 4:3 mode), does this eliminate the overscanning? I thought there’d be no overscanning in this instance since the image of the movie isn’t extended to the edges of the TV since there are black. Thanks to anyone who can answer this!”
The answer to all of your questions is, Yes. In your case, the black bars are being overscanned and not the picture so you are seeing the whole picture.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
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