Need some DVD help

[Comp625]

I have a Dell Latitude D800 which has a 15.4" widescreen (with the 64mb nVidia GeForce Ti4200 Go graphics chipset). I rarely use it to watch DVDs but since my main DVD player is still at school (and I'm home for Thanksgiving break), I decided to pop in a DVD movie today -- "What about Bob?" if anyone is curious.

Anyways, the movie is listed to be in 1:85:1 Widescreen format. However, when I pop the DVD into my laptop and watch it in Fullscreen mode, there are 4 black bars (1 on each side of the picture). The vertical black bars (on the left and right side of the screen) seem to be coming from the hardware because it has a very dark shade of black (same shade as if the LCD was turned off). The horizontal black bars (on the top and bottom of the screen) are from the motion picture itself (you can tell because it has a softer shade of black).

I tried using Windows Media Player 9 to watch the movie but its using the same codecs as WinDVD so it doesn't really make a difference. I've tried looking through my nVidia Display Properties and playing around with the Video Overlay Zoom controls to no avail.

Is there anything I can do to eliminate at least a pair of the black bars? My guess is that I can somehow eliminate the vertical black bars since they come from the hardware but I'm not sure. Many thanks! (Happy Thanksgiving by the way!)

 

[KLin]

you need to go in and tell the program to keep the OAR (original aspect ratio), and make sure 16x9 is set as the screen size.

 

[Comp625]

I've looked everywhere in Intervideo WinDVD's settings and have found nothing. However, I found an information box in the Settings. Here's the whole thing:

Version:
4.0 DXVA B11.052
Navigation:
Type: DVD
Region: 1
Drive: D:
TV System: NTSC.
Macrovision Level: 2
Video:
Hardware:
Vendor: Nvidia
Stream:
Type: Encrypted MPEG2
Bitrate: 8.000 Mbps
Framerate: 29.970 Hz
Resolution: 720x480
Aspect ratio: 4x3
Audio:
Hardware:
Audio Device: directsound
SPDIF: On
Number of speakers: 2
Stream:
Type: Dolby Digital (AC3)
Bitrate: 192 Kbps
Number of channels: 2
Sampling Frequency: 48khz
Sampling Bits: 16
Volume Boost: On
Quiet Mode: Off
LFE: Off
Prologic: Off
Dual Mode: Off
CPU:
Name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1400MHz
Family:6 Model:9 Stepping:5
Standard Feature: 0xa7e9f9bf
Hyper-Threading: Not supported, Not enabled
Instruction support:
Intel MMX: Enabled
Intel SSE: Enabled
Intel SSE2: Enabled
AMD 3DNow!: Not enabled
AMD Enh 3DNow!: Not enabled
AMD 3DNow! Pro: Not enabled

The glaring error is the Aspect Ratio: 4:3. How would I change it? I have the latest nVidia GeForce Ti4200 Go drivers supplied by Dell.com (as the regular detonator drivers obviously won't work).

 

[KLin]

there's probably a way to change the AR to 16x9. I've never used winDVD so I don't know how to do it. try searching google for changing the settings within winDVD.

 

[Bv3]

According to this review ( http://www.currentfilm.com/dvd...s/whataboutbobdvd.html ) the dvd is not anamorphic. That means the black bars are actually part of the picture encoded on the dvd. In order to get the movie to fill the whole screen you will probably have to use zoom.

 

[Comp625]

Nevermind...I looked up the whole anamorphic deal and now I understand it. Thanks all! I'm glad it wasn't my DVD player that was flipping out but rather a poor effort on Disney's part.

 

[Comp625]

Another issue that I'm concerned about is that the video quality on my laptop definitely doesn't hold a candle to my standard 4:3 $200 Sanyo piece of junk set. Everything feels sharper and more vibrant on the television. This is apparent on action pieces (like the space battles in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- the Dominion Wars if anyone is curious). I can't really describe it but watching a DVD on my laptop just doesn't feel as smooth or captivating compared to watching it on a regular (non widescreen) television.

Is it because the codec used with WinDVD 4.0 is old and needs to be updated? It seems like I'm 2 versions behind because WinDVD 6 is out.

Or maybe it's my Dell D800's LCD...but everything else seems to be sharp and nice.

 

[Bv3]

Basically an anamorphic DVD conatins a picture that is the same shape as a widescreen tv. If you watch it on a standard tv your DVD player adds in the black bars to keep the image propotions correct. A non-anamorphic DVD (like What About Bob?) contains a picture that is the same shape as a standard tv by including the black bars in the picture. So when playing it on a widescreen tv your DVD player thinks it is a standard size picture and adds bars to the sides to keep the aspect correct. What you need to so is zoom in the picture so it fills the whole screen.

EDIT: Here's a good guide with lot's of pictures http://gregl.net/videophile/anamorphic.htm

 

[Comp625]

Originally posted by: Comp625
Another issue that I'm concerned about is that the video quality on my laptop definitely doesn't hold a candle to my standard 4:3 $200 Sanyo piece of junk set. Everything feels sharper and more vibrant on the television. This is apparent on action pieces (like the space battles in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- the Dominion Wars if anyone is curious). I can't really describe it but watching a DVD on my laptop just doesn't feel as smooth or captivating compared to watching it on a regular (non widescreen) television.

Is it because the codec used with WinDVD 4.0 is old and needs to be updated? It seems like I'm 2 versions behind because WinDVD 6 is out.

Or maybe it's my Dell D800's LCD...but everything else seems to be sharp and nice.

For reference purposes (if anyone is researching this topic), I resolved this problem by getting the new Cyberlink PowerDVD 6. It has this feature called Eaglevision that makes colors in DVDs much more lifelike. It's AMAZING! Not to mention, I like the plethora of features and the overall look/layout of PowerDVD much better than WinDVD (albeit I've only used WinDVD 4 and not 5 and 6).