16:9/anamorphic - what's the difference?

[Eyael]

Stupid question: can anyone tell me what's the difference between 16:9 and anamorphic aspect ratios? I have tried both and they look the same... :?

[BSPeter]

rightclick > Video > deselect "Keep aspect ratio"
> Aspect ratio > Anamorphic
Now pull on edges of movie window; you can give it any rectangular shape you want!

[hazmat42]

16:9 refers to the dimensions of a widescreen TV (vs. 4:3 for standard television). Anamorphic scope refers to the dimensions of the film, which is 2.35:1 (vs. 1.85:1 for flat scope). When a DVD says "16:9 anamorphic widescreen", that means it is formatted for widescreen TVs and therefore
will digitally fill out as much of the screen as possible. If your dvd doesn't say "16:9 anamorphic widescreen", then it may appear slightly distorted since it was made originally for a 4:3 screen (important to note when buying DVDs since they will be replacing standard TVs in the near future)

If you chose 16:9 on your player, and it doesn't change the screen, that means the original DVD was 16:9 anamorphic widescreen to begin with. Try 4:3, and you will see the picture distort to fill a 4:3 screen.

I think I explained that properly, but someone else can come along and
proofread my post.

If you want to "geek up" on this subject, check this out:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articl...reenorama.html

[artam]

I'll try to explain it more precisely than hazmat42:

16:9 aspect ratio says only that the picture frame is formatted to be displayed properly on the 16:9 tv screen. However, it is the special case of anamorphic format too.

Anamorphic format in general is independ from aspect ratio of the output TV screen and says what is the aspect ratio of the source film movie (it could be 2.35:1, 2.21:1, 1.85:1, 1.78:1, 1:33 or whatever else). The picture is encoded to the full resolution of the DVD format (720x756 pixels PAL, 720x480 NTSC) and the proper format of the picture is defined in the mpeg extension header as the "pixel aspect ratio" parameter. It means, how must be the square pixel of the encoded picture frame displayed as non-square pixel to obtain the desired aspect ratio of the movie.

For example (taking encoded is frame is 720x756 pixels PAL):
for anamorphic format 1:33 (4:3) the pixel aspect ratio is 1.067
for anamorphic format 1:78 (16:9) the pixel aspect ratio is 1.422
for anamorphic format 2:35 (most cinemas) the pixel aspect ratio is 1.881
etc...

If you play the anamorphic encoded movie on the TV, than according tho TV screen aspect ratio adjusted in DVD player menu, the player will at first fit the width of the picture on the screen, than will calculate the height according pixel aspect ratio and finally the rest lines will be filled black to get the letterboxed picture.

[Eyael]

Thank you all for your extensive explainations. :D

[avok]

I understand what anamorphic is. I know what DVD players do when they play anamorphic DVD. But I didn't quite catch one thing. What bsplayer does when I select anamorphic aspect ratio? I don't see much difference. Besides that I can resize the picture, it gets distorted, so no much use in that. And most importantly, having a 16:9 TV and 4:3 computer display, what aspect ratio should I select? And is it the same for all movies or I have to switch according to the movie? What about my monitor display resolution and the resolution set for tvout? Do they make any difference?

[HellMaster]

i am not a pro in this, but i've noticed it in my computer... as far as i can tell, if u rip one anamorphic video, and forget to mention in the encoder that it was anamorphic, the result will be a slightly distorted video (standard 16X9 or 4x3 one) ... setting this mode on BSPlayer can help u correct those badly encoded videos... so u will be able to see the video without distortion.

Grtz, HellMaster

[ajj]

Originally Posted by avok

I understand what anamorphic is. I know what DVD players do when they play anamorphic DVD. But I didn't quite catch one thing. What bsplayer does when I select anamorphic aspect ratio? I don't see much difference. Besides that I can resize the picture, it gets distorted, so no much use in that. And most importantly, having a 16:9 TV and 4:3 computer display, what aspect ratio should I select? And is it the same for all movies or I have to switch according to the movie? What about my monitor display resolution and the resolution set for tvout? Do they make any difference?

Set your TV to 16:9 mode or wide or whatever it is called in your TV, then apply anamorphic aspect ratio from bsplayer and tadaa, you have perfect picture without any zooming from TV :D