Aspect ratio different on computer compared to TV

[Nick Meyers]

as mentioned before, domestic HD TVs are very random in their setups.
there are very few hard and fast standards,
so i don’t know if anyone will be able to give you a very solid answer.

why don’t you test it yourself?

knock up a test frame in FCP,
make a DVD,
and play it on your system

nick

[Bobby Hall]

I did a test. I played a nonanamorphic DVD on my computer, took a screenshot, and then played the DVD on my 16X9 TV (black bars on all four sides since it’s nonanamorphic), and I can see more information on the sides of the screen on my computer than I can on the TV. If I’m seeing the entire image on my TV and the only parts that would be overscanned are the black bars, I don’t understand what’s going on! It seems like my computer is “unlocking” more information on the left and right sides of the image.

[Nick Meyers]

no, your tv or player is cropping it a bit.
shouldn’t be much though?

can i ask what it’s all in aid of?

n

[Bobby Hall]

I’m just curious why this is happening. When I notice something and can’t figure out why it’s happening, I want to find out the reason. And I like to watch movies how they’re supposed to be shown, in whatever aspect ratio the director intended with no overscanning. I guess most people don’t care about that but I get annoyed when a 1.85:1 movie has slight cropping on the top and bottom to fit a 16X9 TV or any other type of cropping. It seems like most people want their entire TV screen filled no matter what.