possible to force pillarbox for a backup?

[scarecrow143]

Hi - I have a widescreen tv and an LG dvdplayer that upconverts. I would like to backup my fullscreen dvd's in such a way that when they play it forces pillarbox mode instead of squishing the picture into the widescreen. I currently use DVD decrypter (not FAB)as my backup software.

Thankyou in advance for your help

scarecrow143

[unskinnyboy]

Your DVD Player or TV should have an option to change the screen mode to what you want. Look at your remote(s) a bit more closer.

[scarecrow143]

My LG player has a zoom mode which normalizes the picture vertically, cutting off the top and bottom of the picture. I have searched and found no setting that forces pillarboxing on the dvd player, in the manual for it, or on the remote. Thank you for the quick reply
scarecrow143

[unskinnyboy]

Usually, in all new players, you can switch the screen between 16:9 (wide screen), 4:3 (full screen), zoom (pan & scan) & wide zoom. If you can't find these settings on your player, search on the Internet based on your player model number to see if other users faced a similar difficulty (and how they resolved it). If you can't find anything, call up the LG customer care center in your country and ask. Hey, you paid for the player after all.

[setarip_old]

As well, your widescreen TV should very likely have a "4:3" setting available from ITS remote (Button labeled "Format" or similar)...

[scarecrow143]

Just got off the phone with LG customer support. The dvd player does not have the ability to enforce pillarbox mode. They were very helpful. Then checked all settings on the phillips tv. No pillarbox there either. This is a phillips 1080i tv without an hdmi port. Comcast hd stuff that was full frame came in pillarbox mode, but that is not available in my new location, only dvds.

[setarip_old]

This is a phillips 1080i tv without an hdmi port.And what settings are available from the TV's remote, when you press the "Format" button?

For most similar Philips widesceen TVs, the available "Format" settings are "4:3" (should appear as pillared), "14:9 zoom", "16x9 zoom", "Subtitle widescreen", "Widescreen", and "Super widescreen"...

[scarecrow143]

Have looked intently, but there is no format button on the remote. I need to force the pillarboxing with software if it is possible. Are there any programs that would do this?

Thank you for your responses, all of you
scarecrow143

[scarecrow143]

Ah - just found what you were referring to. it is functioned by the left and right arrows on my tv. Unfortunately, that function is disabled on the two inputs that support the 5-wire connection I must use for an upconverted picture. I do not wish to give up the upconversion, and this tv has no hdmi port.
scarecrow143

[setarip_old]

What is the model number of your Philips widescreen TV?

[scarecrow143]

Thanks for the help setarip_old. The model number is 30PW850H37A.

scarecrow143

[setarip_old]

I'm afraid I can't find any information about that model - not even at the Philips website. Is it possibly an older, discontinued, NON-flatscreen TV?

[scarecrow143]

have had it for about 2.5 years, bought it at costco. it is a flatscreen widescreen tube tv with 1080i resolution. It is not lcd or anything else that is very thin. This tv is FAT.

scarecrow143

[setarip_old]

I guess I should have said, "NON-plasma, NON-LCD".

Perhaps it just doesn't have the display capabilities of the Philips LCD flatscreen/widescreen TVs...

[scarecrow143]

you may be right - I was hoping to find software capable of making it a 16x9 disk with the pillarboxing matted in, like on the bad, non-anamorphic letterbox movies. Any ideas?

scarecrow143

[manono]

Hi-

There are 2 problems with fixing it by reencoding. One is that just the act of reencoding diminishes the video quality. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on how much you're compressing it and how well you know how to use your encoder of choice. The other problem is that converting 4:3 to 16:9 by adding pillarbars results in a loss of resolution, roughly 25%. Anyway, if you know your way around AviSynth, here's the script (with ITU resizing turned on):

LanczosResize(544,480,0,2,720,476)
AddBorders(88,0,88,0)

And encode for 16:9. Use FitCD for this sort of thing.

[scarecrow143]

thank you very much, I will give it a try.