Force 4:3 content to stretch on 16:9 display

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Level 1

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Force 4:3 content to stretch on 16:9 display

I've been trying for a couple of days to get 4:3 videos to stretch and fit the full width of my 43" Panasonic plasma and have been highly unsuccessful. The plasma display does has several modes to stretch 4:3 input, but none of them seem to work for tv 4:3 output. When playing a 4:3 dvd with the dvd player, the display will stretch the output to fit the full width of the display (no vertical bars). When I rip the dvd to h.264 (I've used both Handbrake and Turbo.264) and play the resulting video through the tv (through the same component inputs), I get the vertical bars. (btw, widescreen content displays correctly when either played with the tv or my dvd player). Is there any way to force the output to stretch without encoding the video again using a different setting? Unfortunately, I already have a large number of H.264 videos that I would like to use as is, if possible.

My setup:
tv 160GB
-v 2.02 software
-output video resolution set to 480p

Panasonic TH-42PW5
-widescreen - supports up to 480p
-component inputs

Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on May 4, 2008 5:21 AM

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Answer 1

DonH49

Level 6

16,716 points

May 4, 2008 5:23 AM in response to apugohome

I'd like to assist you but the "terms of use" will prevent me from helping your issue. I don't want spanked again.

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Answer 2

Chenks

Level 5

7,435 points

May 4, 2008 5:26 AM in response to apugohome

the appletv will display the content in the correct aspect ratio... therefore if the content is 4:3 then it will display it correctly as 4:3.

content isn't supposed to be stretched to fit the screen really.

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Answer 3

Alley_Cat

Level 7

20,560 points

May 4, 2008 6:00 AM in response to apugohome

Quite why anyone wants to watch 4:3 material distorted just to fit a 16:9 is beyond me, but I dare say you have a valid reason for doing this yourself. Short squat people, ovoid wheels, and rectangular squares get on my nerves. Only a zoom and crop would suffice but quality falls and you can lose people's heads etc depending on the framing.

I did originally wonder about screenburn but other than temporary image retention my panasonic doesn't seem to have an issue with 4:3 material or wider than 16:9 films with bars above and below (as intended).

Do the plasma's zoom settings not allow you to achieve what you want?

AC

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Answer 4

apugohome Author

Level 1

0 points

May 4, 2008 10:27 AM in response to DonH49

Thanks for the willingness:) Not sure what the issue with "terms of use" is. I guess, just to be clear, the stuff I'm ripping from dvd is personal content (things I had burned to dvd in the past and don't have the original videos for - not commercial dvds) or recordings from my non-HD Tivo (all 4:3 content), so I'm assuming that there should be no real issues?

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Answer 5

apugohome Author

Level 1

0 points

May 4, 2008 10:34 AM in response to Chenks

I guess I was hoping the plasma display would treat 4:3 output from the tv the same as 4:3 output from my dvd player, which it's currently not. I'm assuming the tv is doing something different, which is preventing the plasma from stretching the output.

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Answer 6

apugohome Author

Level 1

0 points

May 4, 2008 10:50 AM in response to Alley_Cat

I can understand how you feel...I would never have wanted to watch it in stretch mode before I got the plasma, but somehow, I've gotten used to it. I have a non-HD Series2 Tivo connected to the plasma. The output is 4:3 and I have the plasma set to stretch to fit the full display. Honestly, I've just gotten used to it and so when I tried playing back some of my recorded shows through the tv, it got on my nerves a bit:)

The plasma's zoom setting doesn't really do the job either it crops off some of the top and bottom and doesn't really fill the width.

I guess, I'll end up either living with it as is, or convert the videos and change the aspect ratio - really was hoping to avoid that...

thanks

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Answer 7

Chenks

Level 5

7,435 points

May 4, 2008 11:15 AM in response to apugohome

i would live with it... gets you used to watching stuff the way it's meant to be watched.

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Answer 8

Jaisen

Level 1

30 points

May 4, 2008 11:22 AM in response to apugohome

I would suspect it has to do with the way you've encoded it in Handbrake. Try playing with the anamophic settings. Encode it in strict, loose, normal aspect ratio, etc. Also, you can force Handbrake to encode the stuff directly into the 16:9 ratio...

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Answer 9

May 8, 2008 12:21 PM in response to apugohome

Many 16:9 sets will not zoom or stretch a 1080i signal. Your particular TV is like this. According to Panasonic, the 42PW5 will zoom a 480p signal. So check to make sure you're really sending 480p. The ATV itself does not have aspect ratio control, this is strictly a TV problem.

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