Aspect ratio question about the official Thundarr the Barbarian DVD-R's

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

I'm a huge fan of the post-apocalyptic early '80's cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian. So, last year, I got out these official Thundarr DVD-R's from the local library & re-watched the show. These were all in the original full-screen format, i.e. 4:3 - this is the way those of us who watched this show back in the day saw them, i.e. to fit on the old Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) TV set.

More recently, I bought these official DVD-R's from Amazon, and am currently watching them - note, these are definitely the official DVD's that came out circa 2010, not bootlegs (I've never seen bootlegs of this show). However, these copies are in the "Widescreen" format - i.e., they fill up my entire flat widescreen TV set. Note that I'm not a novice re: aspect rations; i.e., my TV is set up so that if I'm watching a widescreen movie, it will automatically be set to the correct format (16:9). And, full-screen TV shows/movies will automatically be shown in the correct format too, i.e. 4:3.

Note that if I "change" the format of my TV screen to 4:3 when watching these Thundarr DVD's, it will truncate the picture of these Thundarr Widescreen images, so half the picture will be cut off. Obviously, this does not look good.

So, do I have some kind of "alternate" copy of these DVD's that have been modified from full-screen to widescreen? However, if so, why is it that the previous DVD's I saw were full-screen? Are there two different official sets of these official DVD's?!

Note, I'm not upset about this - nor do I plan on returning them (I got them from Amazon months ago, and just got around to watching them now - so, it's too late to return them anyway). They do look good - I'm just puzzled about this.

Any info./input regarding this would be great - Thanks in advance!

[Supermartyoh]

Sounds like the content on the DVDs is incorrectly flagged and stretched (or cropped) to Anamorphic 16:9 (or 854x480), when it should display as 4:3 non-anamorphic 720x480 or 525. But may not be the case.

Keep in mind that most DVD players stretch 4:3 non-anamorphic when the video signal (ether using standard, component or upscaled HDMI connections) is outputted to a widescreen display set to "16:9 wide" or whatever setting name the monitor uses. Some 4:3 settings on TVs and HDTV units squeeze the picture size or simply crop the sides of the images, which can look ugly if its stretched 4:3.

Try different 4:3 or non-anamoprphic media on the TV set to the 16:9 wide setting and see if it displays properly when set to 4:3 screen mode. If it squeezes back, the disc is incorrectly flagged. If the TV's 4:3 setting may the cropping the sides by instead of squeezing, try watching it on a 4:3 monitor and see if it fills or looks squashed to letterbox. Another less convoluted way to tell is by putting in the discs on a PC with any media player on a widescreen monitor. If it fills the entire 16:9 area in full screen mode without changing any player settings, the DVDs are incorrectly flagged for 16:9 when they should be 4:3.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by Supermartyoh

Sounds like the content on the DVDs is incorrectly flagged and stretched (or cropped) to Anamorphic 16:9 (or 854x480), when it should display as 4:3 non-anamorphic 720x480 or 525. But may not be the case.

Keep in mind that most DVD players stretch 4:3 non-anamorphic when the video signal (ether using standard, component or upscaled HDMI connections) is outputted to a widescreen display set to "16:9 wide" or whatever setting name the monitor uses. Some 4:3 settings on TVs and HDTV units squeeze the picture size or simply crop the sides of the images, which can look ugly if its stretched 4:3.

Try different 4:3 or non-anamoprphic media on the TV set to the 16:9 wide setting and see if it displays properly when set to 4:3 screen mode. If it squeezes back, the disc is incorrectly flagged. If the TV's 4:3 setting may the cropping the sides by instead of squeezing, try watching it on a 4:3 monitor and see if it fills or looks squashed to letterbox. Another less convoluted way to tell is by putting in the discs on a PC with any media player on a widescreen monitor. If it fills the entire 16:9 area in full screen mode without changing any player settings, the DVDs are incorrectly flagged for 16:9 when they should be 4:3.

Good to know - Thanks for taking the time to post; this is extremely helpful.

I think you're correct about these being incorrectly flagged. As I mentioned, the problem is that when I "convert" the picture to 4:3, it's very obvious that the picture is being cut/truncated & I'm seeing less of the picture than when it's @ 16:9. I may not play around too much with the aspect ration on the set, since my concern is that I'll mess something up & not be able to get it back to the way it was originally.

Unforunately, I don't have any 4:3 monitors any more.

So, it sounds like this is a flaw that occurred when these were manufactured. This sucks, but there's not much I can do about this. Again, I bought these at least 6 months ago (from Amazon) so it's too late to return them. They don't look that bad, but it would have been better to have gotten them in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else got these official Thundarr DVD's with this widescreen aspect ratio; my set was obviously a bad batch.

[Supermartyoh]

I remember borrowing these from a library a while back and they displayed as 4:3, so ether yours are early pressings that had a flaw corrected in later ones, or your DVD player stretches 4:3 outputting to a widescreen HDTV and the TV's 4:3 setting crops the sides instead of squeezes. Try playing these on a PC w/ widescreen monitor (or Laptop) with a media player on standard settings, and see if they fill the entire 16:9 area in full screen mode or appear with pillarbars. If its the former, its a flagging error on the discs. The latter, your player and TV screen settings are doing total opposites.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by Supermartyoh

I remember borrowing these from a library a while back and they displayed as 4:3, so ether yours are early pressings that had a flaw corrected in later ones, or your DVD player stretches 4:3 outputting to a widescreen HDTV and the TV's 4:3 setting crops the sides instead of squeezes. Try playing these on a PC w/ widescreen monitor (or Laptop) with a media player on standard settings, and see if they fill the entire 16:9 area in full screen mode or appear with pillarbars. If its the former, its a flagging error on the discs. The latter, your player and TV screen settings are doing total opposites.

Right - well, the Thundarr DVD's I also got from a library last year did show these in the correct 4:3 format, on this same set.

And, I know my Blu player re: my HDTV will play 4:3 DVD's/Blu's in the correct 4:3 aspect ration re: the way I have this set up now:

For example, I recently re-watched Aguirre: The Wrath of God (on Blu) and that was in the correct 4:3 ration, without me having to do anything. Ditto with The Blair Witch Project (that wasn't quite 4:3, but close enough).

[Supermartyoh]

So it seems the DVDs are flagged wrong. But i'm puzzled about your BD player, mine (Magnavox thing from 2011) stretches 4:3 non-anamorphic content to 16:9 on any video output to my Insignia 32", and theirs no way to set it back in the player settings but that TV can squeeze the image back on the 4:3 screen setting.

The reason why 4:3 content on Blus display correctly is because (in most cases) the 4:3 content is encoded as 1920x1080 16:9 with black horizontal borders, so it doesn't do any stretching or fiddling around as Blu ray 1080p displays as 1:1 native. However, I've seen some 4:3 Blu-Rays (from mostly bargain bin and low budget labels) that are stretched to fill the entire 1920x1080 16:9 width, with the 2009 Gulliver's Travels BD and a 50 pack of upscaled PD westerns on one Blu ray disc coming to mind.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by Supermartyoh

So it seems the DVDs are flagged wrong. But i'm puzzled about your BD player, mine (Magnavox thing from 2011) stretches 4:3 non-anamorphic content to 16:9 on any video output to my Insignia 32", and theirs no way to set it back in the player settings but that TV can squeeze the image back on the 4:3 screen setting.

The reason why 4:3 content on Blus display correctly is because (in most cases) the 4:3 content is encoded as 1920x1080 16:9 with black horizontal borders, so it doesn't do any stretching or fiddling around as Blu ray 1080p displays as 1:1 native. However, I've seen some 4:3 Blu-Rays (from mostly bargain bin and low budget labels) that are stretched to fill the entire 1920x1080 16:9 width, with the 2009 Gulliver's Travels BD and a 50 pack of upscaled PD westerns on one Blu ray disc coming to mind.

Interesting - thanks for the feedback here. Yes, it could be my Blu player. I got a new one over the summer (Sony), and my previous one was a Samsung. I'll have to check this out.

That being said, my impression was that my newer Sony Blu player would show a TV show/movie in 4:3 if they're set up that way, on both DVD's & Blu's. I recently watched my Blair Witch Project regular DVD (not Blu) on this playet, and it did show as the correct almost-full-screen aspect ratio. I will need to check & see if any other full-screen DVD's/Blu's I have also are shown with the correct 4:3 aspect ratio.

However, I agree that it sounds like my Thundarr DVD's were flagged incorrectly to begin with; i.e., it appears that they were modified from full-screen to fit onto a widescreen set - which means that I'm losing some of the image. Again, I don't want to fiddle around with the aspect ratio settings on the set/player TOO much, since I'm concerned about screwing this up & not being able to re-set this back.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Again, I don't want to fiddle around with the aspect ratio settings on the set/player TOO much, since I'm concerned about screwing this up & not being able to re-set this back.

If the DVDs are incorrectly flagged the player settings won't help much, just cycle through your TV's picture options until you hit 4:3, the cycle back to your current one after your done. You shouldn't really lose too much picture unless your 4:3 mode has some overscan, even then it's going to be marginal. You might have options for 1:1 4:3, but as you said you're not keen on fiddling around, I'd stick with 4:3, then cycle back once you're done.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

UPDATE:

Thanks again for all the feedback, everyone. I may stand corrected re: these Thundarr DVD's - they may not be incorrectly flagged, as I originally thought - here's what I've noticed:

I just put in a Seinfeld S1 DVD & then later put in a Batman: The Animated Series S1 DVD in this same Blu player - I'm 100% sure these are in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio, since I've had both DVD sets for years and when I've watched them before on my older player, they both showed up as 4:3. However, on this new Sony Blu player they were stretched to 16:9.

So, as a previous poster mentioned, it appears that my new Sony Blu player stretches at least some 4:3 content to 16:9; presumably it's also doing this to my Thundarr DVD's. My previous Samsung Blu player did not do this with 4:3 content - but that was a 3 1/2 year old player (bought new in December 2012); this crapped out on me earlier this summer.

That being said, what's still puzzles me here is that when I watched The Blair Witch Project DVD on this same player, the picture was for all intents & purposes full-screen - thought it still took up more room than most full-screen images, there were still the black bars on either side of the screen.

In any case, this new Blu player is obviously treating 4:3 movies/TV shows differently than my previous Blu player. It is a hassle to have to change the aspect ration each time I watch something in 4:3, but I may have to do this....

[GreatGreg]

Check to see how your player is connected to your display.

If you are not using HDMI, the display may not be able to properly auto-aspect your picture.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by GreatGreg

Check to see how your player is connected to your display.

If you are not using HDMI, the display may not be able to properly auto-aspect your picture.

Good to know - Thanks. However, I am using an HDMI cable; that's the only I would watch Blu's (or DVD's) on an HD set.

[GreatGreg]

Sorry I just read your previous reply.

There are aspect ratio settings on both your TV and your player. It sounds like your TV is fine (if it worked before with another player) but your new player may not have the correct settings.

Check your menu options and play around with your settings in there. Make sure it is set to output the same aspect ratio as your set. Then your set will know what to do from there.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

In any case, this new Blu player is obviously treating 4:3 movies/TV shows differently than my previous Blu player. It is a hassle to have to change the aspect ration each time I watch something in 4:3, but I may have to do this....

Originally Posted by GreatGreg

It sounds like your TV is fine (if it worked before with another player) but your new player may not have the correct settings.

I don't have the newest Sony player, but mine doesn't have an option to change the display of 4:3 material, usually there's a Wide and Original option with most players ...

HOME>SETTINGS>SCREEN SETTINGS>SCREEN FORMAT>WIDE/NORMAL

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by chip75

I don't have the newest Sony player, but mine doesn't have an option to change the display of 4:3 material, usually there's a Wide and Original option with most players ...

It may be because it's an older Blu player. My new Sony (purchased new in July 2016) does have the option of switching between 16:9 & 4:3. Unfortunately, this has to be done manually - it's not automatic.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the advice regarding the aspect ratio settings on the player.

[Arch Stanton]

Is there not some kind of aspect ratio button on the remote for your actual TV, whereby you could just change it to 4:3 there and bypass the player? I had to do that for my old Twin Peaks DVD set because for some reason it would stretch it to 16:9 every time.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

It may be because it's an older Blu player. My new Sony (purchased new in July 2016) does have the option of switching between 16:9 & 4:3. Unfortunately, this has to be done manually - it's not automatic.

The option I posted should be for your player, switch it to NORMAL and leave it alone, the first option should be left to 16:9 as that's what your display is.

Home>Settings>Screen Settings>TV Type>16:9/4:3

16:9: Select this when connecting to a wide-screen TV or a TV with a wide mode function.
4:3: Select this when connecting to a 4:3 screen TV without a wide mode function.

Home>Settings>Screen Settings>Screen Format>Full/Normal

Full: Select this when connecting to a TV with a wide mode function. Displays a 4:3 screen picture in 16:9 aspect ratio even on a wide-screen TV. Normal: Changes the picture size to fit the screen size with the original picture aspect ratio.

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

Is there not some kind of aspect ratio button on the remote for your actual TV, whereby you could just change it to 4:3 there and bypass the player? I had to do that for my old Twin Peaks DVD set because for some reason it would stretch it to 16:9 every time.

As we posted, AnamorphicWidescreen, can use the 4:3 button on the TV's remote if the content is incorrectly flagged or stretched by his player, they just have to cycle back to the original option after they've watched the DVD.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

Is there not some kind of aspect ratio button on the remote for your actual TV, whereby you could just change it to 4:3 there and bypass the player? I had to do that for my old Twin Peaks DVD set because for some reason it would stretch it to 16:9 every time.

Yeah, there is - but the problem is that if I switch to 4:3, then I'll have to manually switch back to 16:9 the next time I watch something in widescreen. I typically will watch films/TV shows in 16:9 rather than 4:3, so this is a hassle.

And, this 4:3 & 16:9 issue has nothing to do with my TV; I'm using the same TV I've had for years. This has everything to do with this new Sony Blu player. Conversely, my older Samsung Blu player (with this same HD TV) would automatically "know" the aspect ratio of a film/TV show, so it would automatically present the film/TV show in the correct format - and I wouldn't need to do anything.

[knight17]

I have got a Samsung Blu ray player, so I am not sure if the settings are similar but choosing an option called original on it, will result in the media being played as intended, i.e 4:3 for old Blu ray series and 16:9 or equivalent for the newer ones. In other words, the aspect ratio of the medium in question is left as it is. I believe Samsung also leaves this option on by default, hence you might have not noticed it.

Perhaps there is an option on the blu ray menu that needs to be toggled. If you check up the model you might come across it online or in the manual.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Yeah, there is - but the problem is that if I switch to 4:3, then I'll have to manually switch back to 16:9 the next time I watch something in widescreen. I typically will watch films/TV shows in 16:9 rather than 4:3, so this is a hassle.

And, this 4:3 & 16:9 issue has nothing to do with my TV; I'm using the same TV I've had for years. This has everything to do with this new Sony Blu player. Conversely, my older Samsung Blu player (with this same HD TV) would automatically "know" the aspect ratio of a film/TV show, so it would automatically present the film/TV show in the correct format - and I wouldn't need to do anything.

Did you change the settings as I described, AnamorphicWidescreen? You should be good to go after that.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by chip75

Did you change the settings as I described, AnamorphicWidescreen? You should be good to go after that.

Thanks - I tried to do that but it didn't work on my TV.

As it turns out, it's all good at this point. I will just manually switch back from 16:9 to 4:3, depending on what I'm watching.

I did notice that Thundarr in 4:3 does have better PQ in that aspect ratio than when it's stretched out to 16:9 - which lends credence to the supposition that it was flagged properly to begin with (@ 4:3) and it's just that my player is forcing it into 16:9 - unless it's specifically set to 4:3.

Again, Thanks again for all of the feedback - this is much appreciated.