ws tv ntsc help! missing image on left side?

[kevkev]

ok. i've got a 28 inch ws tv.
as you know you have to manually zoom in until the image fills the screen correctly. now for some reason when playing non anamorphic ntsc dvds and laserdiscs the image 'hits' the right side of the tv before the left, so it looks like theres a black bar of about 3/4 inch on the left side. anyone explain this? am i missing image? or is the image just shown slightly to the right? does that make sense??

[Widegoat]

A 16:9 anamorphic DVD shouldn't need zooming. If you zoom a 4:3 DVD you will crop the picture at the top and/or bottom depending on how you arrange the picture inside the frame. If you zoom a 4:3 letterbox presentation on certain TVs you will still see the overscan from the 4:3 frame, meaning that you might have a small black bar on the left, right or both sides of the screen. On some setups (either on the TV or DVD player) you can position the image according to your tastes - but this is a relatively common occurrence, particularly on older hardware.

[MattyD]

I don't know why manufacturers insist on putting zoom features into TVs, unless it's for pervs to zoom in on lady bits

You're much better off playing everything in its intended aspect ratio even if it means watching a smaller picture.

[Lyris]

I don't think I understand the original description - there's a black border down one of the sides? Can you take a picture?

If that's the case, it's likely just odd geometry (this is a CRT TV, right?). If so, it'll be correctable in the service menu.

[Baseley09]

True your gonna need to do an h-shift on the screen from the service menu.

You gotta zoom latterboxed Laserdiscs on a widescreen tube, otherwise your watching a floating box with bendy edges, the loss of quality is minimal (depending on TV i guess).

[J0e Musashi]

That black border is standard I'm afraid, it's not a geometry problem. Every console I ever ran through RGB on Trinitron CRTs did this. You don't actually lose anything to the right though, so it's not so bad. If a game has a screen adjust option you can sort it out though.

[Lyris]

Some of the Sony CRTs had an "RGB Shift" function.

[kevkev]

yeah thanks., you sort of get me. basically non anamorphic ld's and dvd's just float and you have to zoom. cant see a vshift on my tv though.

[Baseley09]

Youll need to get the service menu code for your tv should be online usually a remote combination or hold something when you turn the set on.

[J0e Musashi]

Yes, but if you change that then the standard TV display will be messed up.

[fallenangle]

This does sound like a simple RGB shift issue, Do you have a Component, HDMI or VGA or any other connection option because they shouldn't display the same sync problem?

RGB (SCART) shift is caused by a horizontal picture synchronisation mismatch between the console and the TV. Just Google "scart shift" and you'll easily find a technical explanation including the different reasons a black border appears on the left or right.

With overscan and, on CRTs, the TVs own screen surround, this image shift often isn't noticed and the black border hidden. I think some TVs even have auto-RGB shift correction built in.

This doesn't appear to be the case here so unless your TV's menus include manual RGB shift correction or you can get into the service menu (not a recommended solution for amateurs) you're stuck with it.

The problem here also seems to be that the TV concerned is relatively unsophisticated. It sounds as if it just has a simple (but actually quite useful) variable (?) zoom function rather than a SMART (Sony)/PANORAMIC (JVC etc) pseudo-WS mode. With auto-format correction enabled, would usually 'subtly' stretch any non-anamorphic image to fill the screen vertically/horizontally.

Personally I prefer to watch 4:3 material in it's original format even on a WS TV. But I can quite understand why you should want to do otherwise. 4:3 on a WS exposes all the TV's geometry issues and it is particularly ugly and off-putting when the image area is uncorrectably off-centre too.

[belmondo]

The problem here also seems to be that the TV concerned is relatively unsophisticated. It sounds as if it just has a simple (but actually quite useful) variable (?) zoom function rather than a SMART (Sony)/PANORAMIC (JVC etc) pseudo-WS mode. With auto-format correction enabled, would usually 'subtly' stretch any non-anamorphic image to fill the screen vertically/horizontally.

Personally I prefer to watch 4:3 material in it's original format even on a WS TV. But I can quite understand why you should want to do otherwise. 4:3 on a WS exposes all the TV's geometry issues and it is particularly ugly and off-putting when the image area is uncorrectably off-centre too.

The OP is talking about material that is presented in 4:3 letterbox. In this case you would need the simple zoom to get the image to fill the screen and maintain the correct proportions.

If it's Sony CRT set (and assuming the signal is RGB via SCART), one of the AV modes might fix it. My Sony had two AV modes that correspond to SCART 1, AV1 and AV1 RGB (denoted by a box with three dots in).

[J0e Musashi]

AV1 RGB fixes it slightly. More than AV1, but not totally.

[fallenangle]

The OP is talking about material that is presented in 4:3 letterbox. In this case you would need the simple zoom to get the image to fill the screen and maintain the correct proportions.

If it's Sony CRT set (and assuming the signal is RGB via SCART), one of the AV modes might fix it. My Sony had two AV modes that correspond to SCART 1, AV1 and AV1 RGB (denoted by a box with three dots in).

If SCART shift is occuring just zooming in won't correct it because the whole 4:3 image field is shifted and therefore off centre.

AV1 (or any TV with a single SCART socket) is usually the RGB capable one. If you swap to the other non-RGB one(s) you should get a centralised field because there aren't any sync issues. Of course, the PQ will be lower as it's composite and zooming in to fill the 16:9 screen will only detract from it further.

It could even be in this case that the letterboxed image area itself is either not itself centralised in that 4:3 field or not full width. You'll still get a black side border, maybe borders both sides even if you use max zoom-in.