16:9 Tv playback?

K

kyle_noad100

Active member
when i connect my camera to my TV, dispite being recorded in 16:9, the playback comes out in a stretched 4:3. Its not a wide screen TV, but surely the footage should still be displayed in 16:9 with black bars at the top and bottom.

Im connecting it to the TV the composit yellow and white cable. I have also tried c0onnecting it to the TV using the same cable, but with the scart adaptor fitted to the end.

I dont have an s-video in on my TV.

Can anyone help me play back my footage from the camera on TV in 16:9?
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

This is a fundamental misunderstanding about 16:9, and why people who clamor for 16:9 chips may not quite understand all the implications.

Your video that you shot is designed for a 16:9 television.  You have a 4:3 television.  It displays wrong.  That's what will happen.

If you had shot 4:3 video and displayed it on a 16:9 TV, it would also display wrong.

It's the proverbial square peg and round hole situation.  A 16:9 TV is not a 4:3 TV, and cannot properly display a 4:3 signal.  It's a square peg.

A 4:3 TV is not a 16:9 TV, and cannot properly display a 16:9 signal.  It's a round hole.

There is no way to shoot one source video that will play properly on both systems. You have to choose which one you want, because you can't do both.

So now that you have 16:9 footage and a 4:3 TV, somehow you have to convert your footage to display properly on the 4:3 shape of your television.  There are two common ways:

1) do it in post.  Letterbox your footage and make a 4:3 letterbox version.

2) burn it to DVD.  DVD players have built-in aspect-ratio conversion hardware, and they will automatically letterbox the footage for you.

That's why Panasonic included "letterbox" mode in the camera: because it makes footage that plays properly on 4:3 TV's (which still comprise something like 90% or more of the TV's in America), but gives the look of widescreen.
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

If I may hijack this thread, can I also ask if the XL-2 is a true 16:9 chip? I coudnt find that on their website so it leads me to believe that the ccd's are 4:3 and I would still need: an anamorphic lens and to tag it as anamorphic in post. Can anyone confirm, deny, or protest this?
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

The XL2 is, for all intents and purposes, "native 16:9".

Now, the thing is, its chip is 4:3, but they never use the top and bottom portions, it's like those sections don't exist, they only ever use a 16:9-shaped patch in the center of the CCD. As far as physical real estate goes, it's the same size as the DVX's Squeeze Mode, but the XL2 has more pixels crammed in there so it can deliver full resolution.

So, you get full-resolution 16:9, with no need for an anamorphic adapter and no need to flag it as anamorphic in post, as the camera automatically sets the flag for you.
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

what about in 4:3???? is it using the whole 4:3 chip or is it using a tiny 4:3 speck in the middle of the 16:9 segment
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

The XL2 uses a small 4:3 "speck" in the middle of a 16:9 "speck" in the middle of a 4:3 CCD.

So when in 4:3 mode, it has the CCD surface area equivalent of a GL2 or other 1/4" CCD camera. However, the picture still looks pretty darn good!
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

wow. it must have a new technology CCD or somethign. i mean its has little signal noise, it uses very little of its surface area, it has small pixels but still manages to get sharp and relatively bright pictures. thats really cool. I like the XL2. plus its pretty. Big but pretty.
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

The XL2 has had a couple of years to advance the technology since the introduction of the DVX. It does some things very nicely.

The megapixel CCD lets it get good resolution even though it's using smaller areas of the CCD. But the inclusion of megapixels doesn't really help its overall performance, as it has worse low-light performance and lower latitude than the DVX does.  It does have a cleaner lower-noise signal though, that's for sure, which may be the result of some heavy-duty coring going on.  I don't know if it has vertical streaking problems; the night we got vertical streaking on the FX1 we didn't have the XL2 with us.
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

Hmmph.. Could the clenliness of the signal be caused by the fact that its less sensitive? like i know 0Db gain has the lowest noise. but lets say for instance tehy built it say, 3 or 6 DB undersensitive, would that lead to a cleaner signal but less senstivity? or does the reduction of noise in a image stop at 0 db.??

ie -3db gain cleaner than 0db?
 
Re: 16:9 Tv playback?

[quote author=kyle_noad100 link=board=XL2;num=1102197139;start=0#0 date=12/04/04 at 13:52:19]when i connect my camera to my TV, dispite being recorded in 16:9, the playback comes out in a stretched 4:3. Its not a wide screen TV, but surely the footage should still be displayed in 16:9 with black bars at the top and bottom.

Im connecting it to the TV the composit yellow and white cable. I have also tried c0onnecting it to the TV using the same cable, but with the scart adaptor fitted to the end.

I dont have an s-video in on my TV.

Can anyone help me play back my footage from the camera on TV in 16:9?[/quote]

In addition to what Barry said, which is probably your best bet, there are also 4:3 TVs with a "16:9" mode -- they will unstretch the video and display it properly. The much-ballyhooed line of Toshiba flat screen TVs will do this.
 
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