Apple TV HD Movie Rental not full screen

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Level 1

5 points

Apple TV HD Movie Rental not full screen

I just rented the Simpson's movie in HD on my Apple TV, but when I play it, it's not full screen. It plays in a rectangular box in the middle of the screen, about 1/2 the size of the display. I'm using component cables, and everything else runs full screen including movie trailers and HD podcasts (which look great). Any one else have a similar problem? This 1/2 size thing is no good!

Thanks in advance.

Posted on Feb 22, 2008 9:06 PM

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Answer 1

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,560 points

Feb 23, 2008 12:40 AM in response to EntropyGuru

Sounds like it's a widescreen movie encoded with a flag set to display it as 4:3, annoying to say the least.

AC

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Answer 2

Chenks

Level 5

7,435 points

Feb 23, 2008 2:45 AM in response to EntropyGuru

EntropyGuru wrote:
I just rented the Simpson's movie in HD on my Apple TV, but when I play it, it's not full screen. It plays in a rectangular box in the middle of the screen, about 1/2 the size of the display. I'm using component cables, and everything else runs full screen including movie trailers and HD podcasts (which look great). Any one else have a similar problem? This 1/2 size thing is no good!

Thanks in advance.

how long did you watch it for ? as the start of the movie does this on purpose (it's a gag in reference to TV show in the cinema).

after about 2 minutes it fills out to be proper widescreen.

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Answer 3

Scott H

Level 1

35 points

Feb 23, 2008 6:27 AM in response to EntropyGuru

I own this movie in the widescreen version of DVD, and it does not play full screen either. I don't think that this is a flaw, rather this particular movie uses an unusual aspect ratio.

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Answer 4

Chenks

Level 5

7,435 points

Feb 23, 2008 6:30 AM in response to Scott H

Scott H wrote:
I own this movie in the widescreen version of DVD, and it does not play full screen either. I don't think that this is a flaw, rather this particular movie uses an unusual aspect ratio.

my DVD of it has correct aspect ratio... ie proper widescreen (expect for the very start but that is on purpose).

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Answer 5

EntropyGuru Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 23, 2008 8:06 AM in response to EntropyGuru

Thanks all for the ideas. Interestingly, the video I see is in wide screen format, but it doesn't fill the entire screen. I have dead space around all 4 corners, as if you took a wide screen video and decreased its size while maintaining the aspect ratio. I watched the movie for a while and this behavior didn't change. In any case, I sent a message to tech support and they asked me to re-download the movie. I'll try this later today.

Thanks again.

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Answer 6

macfrk

Level 1

20 points

Feb 23, 2008 11:11 AM in response to EntropyGuru

How much is "for a while"? Make sure you forward a big chunk of the movie and see if you still have the problem. We rented the Simpsons and my husband started tweaking with the controls trying to solve this "problem". Only several minutes later we realized the "dead space" was placed there on purpose in the first part of the movie.

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Answer 7

EntropyGuru Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 23, 2008 4:59 PM in response to macfrk

Thanks macfrk! That was the issue. I forwarded a few minutes in while trouble shooting, but then realized that I needed to go even further. I guess I choose a bad movie as my first iTunes rental... Thanks to all for your help!

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