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How to set up your television to display all the resolution that an Anamorphic Enhanced (a.k.a. Widescreen or 16x9 Enhanced) DVD provides.
This FAQ is maintained by Anthony W. Haukap The current version of this FAQ document can always be found on my website at: The author makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information provided in this document, and is not responsible for any consequences of its use.
Since I've been asked several times for information on how to perform the "vertical squeeze" service menu trick to view 16x9 (anamorphic) encoded DVD material on a standard 4x3 television, I thought I would put together a mini-FAQ for all who are interested in such things. It is my understanding that some 4x3 European PAL televisions have a remote control or user menu accessible option (switch) which allows switching between a 4x3 and 16x9 aspect viewing area. That means with a push of a button on the remote you can see the full 16x9 resolution of a 16x9 enhanced DVD, even though you are watching it on a 4x3 television or monitor. Oddly, this option has either been disabled or is not available most American NTSC 4x3 televisions... until now! FYI - A 16x9 enhanced DVD has 33% more resolution than a non-enhanced DVD title. Someday in the very near future all of our (American NTSC) televisions will have a 16x9 aspect ratio for HDTV. Until the time when your area begins HDTV broadcasts you're probably watching DVDs on a standard 4x3 display, but there's no reason you shouldn't be enjoying the full resolution that DVD can offer today.
First take a look at the Sony Service Mode FAQ on my web site at http://www.cyberspace.org/~awh/ and you will find the necessary information for getting into service mode and all the service mode items listed. Also in the How to Adjust a TV FAQ, on my web site there are additional television manufactures listed with the procedure on how to enter service mode on their models as well, but I have very little information when it comes to other manufactures - I don't have a complete service mode manual for anything other than Sony right now. If you would like to contribute any additional information you might have on other television manufacture's service modes please email me. Read the _SERVICE MODE WARNING_ before proceeding.
If you have a SONY television enter service mode and look for an item named VUSN the default value is 0, changing this to 1 will shrink the vertical height and create a 16x9 area. Most Sony television manufactured since 1998 have the VUSN item in their service mode, however if your Sony television doesn't have the VUSN item keep reading because there is still a way to achieve a 16x9 area by adjusting the picture overscan amount. Once VUSN is set to 1 you will probably notice a thin white line across the display at the edge of the video area. To eliminate this distracting line you will need to use the SCRL and or the VPOS service mode items to move the picture up just until the white line is no longer viewable. See "More Adjustments" below if your picture seems distorted in any way. For the SONY Wega series television you will find additional information on how to preform the 16x9 squeeze in the "Sony Wega 16x9 (Anamorphic) Vertical Squeeze" FAQ that I maintain on my web site.
There are additional items in service mode that may be of interest - setting the service mode item VZOM to 1 will create an 16x9 area by placing black bar on the top and bottom of the picture, you can use this to give a "film like" appearance to your favorite TV shows, also the service mode item EHT will allow you to adjust the height of the black bars.
The following basic procedure can be adopted for ANY television, but the service mode items to adjust picture overscan will vary with manufacture. By reducing the vertical height of a 4:3 by roughly 75% will give you a 16x9 viewing area. The actual amount of the reduction depends on the television's overscan settings. If you have a SONY television and don't have the service mode item VUSN you can still create a 16x9 area. The main items you'll be interested in while in service mode are the ones that set the overscan amount - VSIZ (Vertical SIZe) and HSIZ (Horizontal SIZe) these items are relative and not absolute, so the only way to achieve a 16x9 area is to measure (with a ruler) the horizontal width of the picture and adjust the vertical size based on the measurements taking into account any overscan that might be present on the sides of the screen. For example: if the picture is 48" wide the vertical height would be 27" (48 x 0.5625) for a 16x9 aspect ratio assuming no overscan. You simply need to adjust the VSIZ value until the picture is squished to 27". Another way to do this is to simply display a anamorphic circle, the anamorphic convergence w/ circles (title 20, chapter 5) on the Video Essentials DVD does the job nicely, also the Paramount logo "star" border makes almost a complete circle, using the circle as a guide just adjust VSIZ and/or HSIZ until you have a perfect circle displayed. You may need to increase HSIZ in some cases to achieve a 16x9 area because the VSIZ setting on some models doesn't seem to have enough range to squeeze the picture enough. If you haven't achieved a 16x9 aspect when you hit 0 in the VSIZ setting you'll need to increase HSIZ to make up the difference.
You will probably also need to adjust a few other things in service mode as well like pincushion (PAMP & CPIN), keystone (PPHA, HKEY & HTRP), linearity (VLIN, VSCO & VCOM), etc. to keep the picture aligned. Just use one of the test patterns on the Video Essentials DVD disc to set it up. Make sure to keep a record of any changes you make in service mode so you can restore the television to it's original state should it become necessary or you decide you want to go back to watching 4x3 video material.
Remember you'll need to setup your DVD player to output video to a 16x9 monitor for this vertical squeeze trick to work. Also remember that any static image you display on a television (direct view or projection) can eventually damage it, this includes the black bars on letterboxed movies. As long as your television has been calibrated by an ISF professional to NTSC standards the chances of image burn-in will be greatly reduced but can not be eliminated entirely. If you don't have an ISF professional in you area you might want to take a look at my "do-it-yourself" TV calibration FAQ. Question: Does 16x9 "squeezed" on a 4x3 monitor look as good as a "REAL" 16x9 television or monitor? FYI - The new XBR250 series Wegas from Sony automatically detect 16x9 material and do the squeeze for you without having to enter the service menu. |