Dvd Palyers

[Jonny B]

can anyone tell me why when i watch a burnt dvd on my good dvd player it plays the movie in widescreen with only a small amount of black strip at the top and bottom which i like but sometimes this good player will have problems playing cheap or copied dvds, but when i play it in my cheap dvd player it plays fine but has alot more black strip and the top and bottom. I always thought it was either the movie itself that is widescreen, why would it show different depending on the dvd player. Also why would the audio be better from the cheaper player?

thanks

[astral]

Are there any menu setting on the players that tell it how to handle the disks?

Films made for the cinema are in 21:9 format (if I remember rightly) and will

show with a small band top and bottom on a 16:9 screen.

If the player thinks the screen is 4:3 then you will get the larger black bands.

It may just be a matter of settings.

The same goes for the Audio. The cheap player may have a surround processor builtin,

the more expensive machine may require an external decoder?

[Jonny B]

Are there any menu setting on the players that tell it how to handle the disks?

Films made for the cinema are in 21:9 format (if I remember rightly) and will

show with a small band top and bottom on a 16:9 screen.

If the player thinks the screen is 4:3 then you will get the larger black bands.

It may just be a matter of settings.

The same goes for the Audio. The cheap player may have a surround processor builtin,

the more expensive machine may require an external decoder?

hey astral, thanks for the reply. i think there is a setting on the good player when i played around with it the other day, it just seems to play with the small bands at top and bottom which is fine. cant seemed to change anything on the cheaper dvd player which has the wider bands at top and bottom.

as for the audio when i use the cheaper player i plug my good component cable from tv to player and use aux sound on the surround sound and normally play in dolby 5.1. When i use the good player i still use dolby 5.1 but just use the HD cable and the big one that joins my player to sub (dont know what its called) but the sounds isnt as loud or clear as with the cheaper dvd setup. any idea why? whats the external decoder?

thanks for your help mate, im the best at this stuff.

cheers

[astral]

I think there is a setting on the good player when i played around with it the other day, it just seems to play with the small bands at top and bottom which is fine. cant seemed to change anything on the cheaper dvd player which has the wider bands at top and bottom.

That sounds reasonable. The more expensive player is likely to have more options.

As for the audio when i use the cheaper player i plug my good component cable from tv to player and use aux sound on the surround sound and normally play in dolby 5.1. When i use the good player i still use dolby 5.1 but just use the HD cable and the big one that joins my player to sub (dont know what its called) but the sounds isnt as loud or clear as with the cheaper dvd setup. any idea why? whats the external decoder?

Many players include the decoder, with 6 output leads, Front L&R, Centre, Rear L&R, Sub.

Otherwise you can use the optical or digital output and feed to a separate decoder box to get the 6 channels

if i use the hdmi cable do i need one in the in and out socket of the player or just the out?

Only one hdmi should be necessary from the player, to the TV

[Jonny B]

I think there is a setting on the good player when i played around with it the other day, it just seems to play with the small bands at top and bottom which is fine. cant seemed to change anything on the cheaper dvd player which has the wider bands at top and bottom.

That sounds reasonable. The more expensive player is likely to have more options.

As for the audio when i use the cheaper player i plug my good component cable from tv to player and use aux sound on the surround sound and normally play in dolby 5.1. When i use the good player i still use dolby 5.1 but just use the HD cable and the big one that joins my player to sub (dont know what its called) but the sounds isnt as loud or clear as with the cheaper dvd setup. any idea why? whats the external decoder?

Many players include the decoder, with 6 output leads, Front L&R, Centre, Rear L&R, Sub.

Otherwise you can use the optical or digital output and feed to a separate decoder box to get the 6 channels

if i use the hdmi cable do i need one in the in and out socket of the player or just the out?

Only one hdmi should be necessary from the player, to the TV

ok, thanks. still confused and have no idea how to resolve it though, haha.

[astral]

You may not be able to do anything about the players and the bars.

If you have explored the menu options for the picture size 4:3, wide etc,

you just have to live with it.

[Jonny B]

You may not be able to do anything about the players and the bars.

If you have explored the menu options for the picture size 4:3, wide etc,

you just have to live with it.

yeah fair enough astral. so if i was looking at buying a new dvd player, cheap one, how do you know what size bars it will show at top and bottom? im still curious about the audio though, is it just the fact that its a copied dvd and maybe the good dvd player doesnt recognise it so well or something?

[astral]

Best to carry your own test DVD's with you and ask for a demo.

Audio is also a difficult area.

Reading HiFi magazines like HiFi News, it is generally true that the more you pay

the better sound you will get, but not always. There can be some expensive dogs

and some gems at reasonable prices.

Original DVD's probably have 5.1 surround sound,

the copies may have skimped and only have stereo.