so as we all know the standard for widescreen is 16:9...since the D3's actually 17:9, does that mean there's no way at all that we can actually fill the screen with a dvd video and actually have it display fully without black bars OR crops?

well...you can watch it fullscreen but a little "deformed". I didn't even notice it at once...I know it's a little disapponinting...

This is a tricky subject...

No matter what the aspect ratio of your monitor is (16:9, 4:5, etc) almost all DVDs are going to have black bars at the top and bottom...

Even the most expensive plasma monitors still have black bars at the top and bottom with 16:9 DVDs...

Unless you are watching an anamorphic DVD, you are going to get some (albeit small) black bars at the top and bottom of any sized monitor...

Do a Google search on anamorphic versus 16x9 and you will get all sorts of info...

Good luck,

Mark

Movies are all filmed closer to 2.3:1 or so, that's where the bars come in.

It depends on what film is used to shoot the movie. There's a bunch of different ones that are considered widescreen.

i read some guides for the software handbrake (convert movies to ipod and play it from there), and i ended up using crude anamorphic, which is basically morphing it to fit the D3 before i put it on the pod...i still get like...1mm black bars top and bottom, but i think i can live with that. at least the picture's not deformed.

Yeah if you check the back of most DVDs they all list different aspect ratios.

Movies are all filmed closer to 2.3:1 or so, that's where the bars come in.

You are correct movies aren't actually 16:9 they are 2.35:1 ratio for standard movies and 2.4:1 for THX movies. hence the black bars. True home theaters have 2.35:1 screens and an anamorphic lens on their projectors to display it properly.

There are also several movies filmed with a 1.85:1 ratio as well...

Saving Private Ryan

Good Will Hunting

Almost Famous

Monsters Inc

...come to mind and just confirmed after checking my DVD library...

16:9 is 1.78:1, so even 1.85:1 will have black bars at the top and bottom...although overscan on CRT displays typically will take care of this...17:9 is actually almost exactly 1.85:1...so films filmed in this aspect ratio should fit the D3 screen almost perfectly if encoded correctly to maintain this aspect ratio...

Typically, more epic/cinematic films will take the 2.35:1 or 2.4:1 aspect ratio...like The Matrix, LOTR trilogy, Star Wars, etc...

He y Lawton caa you give me your settings for handbrake to set the crude anamorphic. I tried anamorphic and it gave me an error when i tried to load it to my ipod.

Movies shot 1.85:1 will 99% be cropped to fill the 1.78 aspect ratio of modern anamorphic DVD's.

Movies shot 2.35:1 will be hard matted with those black bars you're talking about.

DVD's can only use two aspect ratios, 16:9 (ala 1.78:1) and 4:3 (aka 1.33:1) Everything in between needs to either be matted or pan&scan'd.

He y Lawton caa you give me your settings for handbrake to set the crude anamorphic. I tried anamorphic and it gave me an error when i tried to load it to my ipod.

set your screen resolution to 480 x 320. auto crop. i also suggest you use chapter markers to navigate through the movie. don't worry about the movie changing extension from mp4 to m4v; m4v will work on the pod just fine. i've set video bitrate to 1280 and audio to 160kbps 48000hz. your movies will come out somewhere between 900mb to 1.2gb per movie, but i find it's pretty much a minimum requirement if you want the colors to not be blocky and the movie to look good.

oh, and on the D3 make sure you set the movie display to "full". it'll automatically stretch horizontal only; the vertical height has already been matched to the screen, so no vertical stretching is required.

fyi, storing anamorphic info in videos automatically disqualifies them from getting played in the pod. why...i don't really know.

Yeah i know that it does. But i dont like watching videos on my ipod. I am a grown man and have a big screen and projector and while im on the road a D3. LMAO. Video thorugh the ipod screen is for teenagers LMAO thanks man i will try it out.

Yeah i know that it does. But i dont like watching videos on my ipod. I am a grown man and have a big screen and projector and while im on the road a D3. LMAO. Video thorugh the ipod screen is for teenagers LMAO thanks man i will try it out.

Using phrases like 'LMAO' is for teenagers.

amen