Gang,
I think I already know the answer to my question but would like some feedback from VS top-guns.
I am in the United States so whenever I render anything it is to NTSC. My problem is, whenever I burn a show to DVD and play it in the DVD player hooked to my standard television it appears to only display what VS calls the title safe area. About 15% around the edge is lost.
If I set the DVD player zoom to 1/2 then the whole picture is displayed but at a loss in picture quality.
Playing on the computer also displays the full picture and is good quality.
Is there a setting in VS where I can set it up to display properly on the television when playing through a DVD player?
Thanks,
Gary M
Output to NTSC but not getting full display on television
Moderator: Ken Berry
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THoff
What you are experiencing is both normal, and unavoidable.
The cropping while playing your DVD on a TV is the result of the overscan area, which is where the electron beam of an old cathode ray TV starts and stops its sweep across the tube and retraces to display the second interleaved half-image.
This doesn't happen on digital displays such as plasma TVs, LCDs, or properly adjusted analog CRT displays connected to a computer, where the entire image is visible. In the case of digital display, it's because they don't need to paint the picture by sweeping a beam across the display. In the case of an analog CRT, it's because they are usually adjusted to display the entire image without being cropped by the bezel framing the tube -- otherwise, you'd immediately notice that a maximized window is being cropped, or that the task bar isn't visible.
The cropping while playing your DVD on a TV is the result of the overscan area, which is where the electron beam of an old cathode ray TV starts and stops its sweep across the tube and retraces to display the second interleaved half-image.
This doesn't happen on digital displays such as plasma TVs, LCDs, or properly adjusted analog CRT displays connected to a computer, where the entire image is visible. In the case of digital display, it's because they don't need to paint the picture by sweeping a beam across the display. In the case of an analog CRT, it's because they are usually adjusted to display the entire image without being cropped by the bezel framing the tube -- otherwise, you'd immediately notice that a maximized window is being cropped, or that the task bar isn't visible.
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MtCastle
Thanks THoff, excellent explanation.
Thanks Kebrinton, it's nice to know I'm not alone.
I searched the forum for this topic and I am sort of surprised there aren't more posts about this.
Oh well, I guess it's just something that everyone knows about but doesn't talk about it.
Looks like I have a good reason to upgrade to a different type of display in the family room.
GM
Thanks Kebrinton, it's nice to know I'm not alone.
I searched the forum for this topic and I am sort of surprised there aren't more posts about this.
Oh well, I guess it's just something that everyone knows about but doesn't talk about it.
Looks like I have a good reason to upgrade to a different type of display in the family room.
GM
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Trevor Andrew
Hi
I am in England and therefore using the Pal System.
I realise that the frame size is different to Ntsc and maybe that makes a difference,
But when I view my dvd’s on the tv I get a full screen, no black borders.
Provided I have made a standard 4:3 ratio and not 16:9 widescreen.
I have tried on two different dvd players with the same effect
As far as I was aware the safe area effect looses a small portion of picture around the edge of the screen, about (10%.)
Hence the reason for keeping titles to the centre safe area.
This does not create an additional border.
I would suspect either your tv or dvd player setup.
Trevor
I am in England and therefore using the Pal System.
I realise that the frame size is different to Ntsc and maybe that makes a difference,
But when I view my dvd’s on the tv I get a full screen, no black borders.
Provided I have made a standard 4:3 ratio and not 16:9 widescreen.
I have tried on two different dvd players with the same effect
As far as I was aware the safe area effect looses a small portion of picture around the edge of the screen, about (10%.)
Hence the reason for keeping titles to the centre safe area.
This does not create an additional border.
I would suspect either your tv or dvd player setup.
Trevor
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rwindeyer
Just a couple of my thoughts about this:
I am also in PAL country, and also notice that on the TV a small area of the picture is lost.
My understanding of the overscan issue is that historically, it is known that CRTs tend to start failing with advancing age, and the picture size shrinks slightly. If the original picture was set to exactly match the size of the tube, or viewing area, one would start to see ugly black bars appearing around a decreasing picture. People would not like this. Therefore most TV sets have been deliberately set to spread the picture just a bit further than the actual edge of the tube, to allow for eventual aging and shrinkage.
The amount of picture lost is not usually noticeable; when you are the one doing the production and editing you are more likely to notice. Just be careful not to place critical images or titles way out towards the edge of the screen.
I am interested that plasma screens etc are not subject to this problem - that sounds logical, and may be a good argument to upgrade...
I am also in PAL country, and also notice that on the TV a small area of the picture is lost.
My understanding of the overscan issue is that historically, it is known that CRTs tend to start failing with advancing age, and the picture size shrinks slightly. If the original picture was set to exactly match the size of the tube, or viewing area, one would start to see ugly black bars appearing around a decreasing picture. People would not like this. Therefore most TV sets have been deliberately set to spread the picture just a bit further than the actual edge of the tube, to allow for eventual aging and shrinkage.
The amount of picture lost is not usually noticeable; when you are the one doing the production and editing you are more likely to notice. Just be careful not to place critical images or titles way out towards the edge of the screen.
I am interested that plasma screens etc are not subject to this problem - that sounds logical, and may be a good argument to upgrade...