Watching 4:3 movie files on a widescreen TV

[coolplay]

Hi,

just got my SMS player installed and it's looking good. One problem I have with it however is that 4:3 movies are being stretched to the dimensions of my widescreen tv. I want to see the movies in their native resolution which would mean there are black borders down each side and the movie itself almost square looking. Now i'm assuming that this is a problem with SMS player thinking that its displaying on a normal non-widescreen tv and therefore doesn't do any adjustments. Anyone have any ideas how to stop this?

Thanks in advance.

[kevstah2004]

4:3 should display as 12:9

[suloku]

Have you tried changing the video mode with square/start menu?

[coolplay]

4:3 should display as 12:9

4:3 is 12:9 kev

[coolplay]

Have you tried changing the video mode with square/start menu?

Ya, tried this but it doesn't work. I had the same issue on my xbox xbmc player before i instructed the xbox that it was a widescreen tv as opposed to a 4:3 one. I've even set the ps2 to 16:9 and it's still giving the same issue.

[peterdcrees]

I'd say that you need to press some "aspect ratio" button on your TV remote to tell the TV that it's a 4:3 input source.

What kind of TV do you have and how is your PS2 connected to the TV?

[kevstah2004]

4:3 is 12:9 kev

Not really it's just 4:3 stretched 3 times to keep the aspect ratio correct with black side borders on a 16:9 display.
On my TV I can stretch 4:3 to 16:9 but everyone looks fat an it chops off 2: from each side of the picture so in actuality it's stretching to 12:9 over 16:9 and cutting off 2: from each side of the picture instead of stretching the 4: horizontal resolution 4 times and the 3: vertical resolution 3 times to equal 16:9 everyone would still look fat but it's be less noticeable then stretching to 12: with the missing 2: from each side of the picture.

[coolplay]

Not really it's just 4:3 stretched 3 times to keep the aspect ratio correct with black side borders on a 16:9 display.
On my TV I can stretch 4:3 to 16:9 but everyone looks fat an it chops off 2: from each side of the picture so in actuality it's stretching to 12:9 over 16:9 and cutting off 2: from each side of the picture instead of stretching the 4: horizontal resolution 4 times and the 3: vertical resolution 3 times to equal 16:9 everyone would still look fat but it's be less noticeable then stretching to 12: with the missing 2: from each side of the picture.

I know what your trying to say alright but you have to remember that 4:3 and 12:9 are ratios. 4:3, 12:9, 16:12 are all mathematically the same. They don't describe resolution but more the way the video is presented proportionally on screen. But what you describe with the black borders at each side is what i'm looking for.

[coolplay]

I'd say that you need to press some "aspect ratio" button on your TV remote to tell the TV that it's a 4:3 input source.

What kind of TV do you have and how is your PS2 connected to the TV?

I haven't tried this yet, i will later but I don't believe it will solve the problem. The problem is that the ps2 should be giving out a 16:9 signal but with black bars imposed at either side of the 4:3 video file.

[peterdcrees]

The problem is that the ps2 should be giving out a 16:9 signal but with black bars imposed at either side of the 4:3 video file.

That would make it easier, yes.
However I'm sure wide-screen TV's are capable of 'squashing' the image to give those black bars on either side, after all there are still a lot of other video devices (VCR, VCD, cameras, receivers, laptops) around that only output 4:3 signals, and the TV manufacturers keep compatibility with these by having selectable aspect ratios.