Sony XBR450 and Denon 1910; no automatic support for anamorphic DVDs?

I have a Sony 36XBR450. This set has been great, even better since I got HD (Moto DCT5100) from Comcast.

The set automatically detects the 16:9 aspect ratio of HD signals coming in on the component video inputs and compresses the available lines of resolution into the 16:9 area, increasing the effective resolution. You can tell when this is happening by the absolutely black bars above and below. Also, the TV's on-screen menus are smushed when the TV is in this mode.

I had an old Sony 5 disc carousel (also connected via component connections) and when it played anamorphic DVDs, would also trigger this desired anamorphic compression.

However, when this player died (tip - don't move a carousel player with discs inside) i decided to replace it with a Denon 1910. I have an AVR-3802 that I'm pretty happy with, and liked the upconvert options (even though the xbr450 doesn't have DVI in, and I didn't realize the upconvert only worked on the DVI output).

The picture seems pretty impressive (after turning on the progressive scan) but it seems as though even though the 1910 is set with the screen @ 16:9, the XBR does not automatically detect the anamorphic content. I have to navigate to the TV's Setup menu and change the "16:9 enhanced" from "Off" to "On". Once I've done this all is well again, the set properly handles the anamorphic content. However, the setting isn't very sticky, as simply cycling through the video inputs unsets the "16:9 enhanced" setting.

Any thought?

Thats weird, I have a KV32XBR400 and the 16:9 Enhanced mode options are "AUTO" or "ON".

If set to "AUTO", all is well, most all DVD's will display in their optimal mode. If turned "ON", absolutely everything is in widescreen, stretching out all content, TV, VCR, whatever.

And yes, If I cycle the inputs, it goes back to "AUTO" by default.

This got me thinking so I sent a naive email to Sony and got a nice response. Learned something myself about my own TV...

I have a Sony KV32XBR400. What exactly is 16:9 enhanced mode good for? The only options I have are "Auto" and "On", I guess I would understand the function better if there was an "OFF" setting to compare too.

Answer...


Thank you for taking a moment to contact Sony Online Support.

The 16:9 mode provides enhanced picture resolution for wide screen sources, such as DVD (only available when the Television is in VIDEO mode). The Sony KV-32XBR400 features 16:9 mode. The options in this mode are AUTO, ON and OFF.

NOTE: AUTO/ON will appear when the Television is in Video mode 1-6. ON/OFF will appear on the Television screen when it is in VIDEO 5-6 and the 480p signal occurs.

For information on the 16:9 mode, please refer page 36 of the instruction manual of the Sony KV-32XBR400 Television

"ON/OFF will appear on the Television screen when it is in VIDEO 5-6 and the 480p signal occurs."

Apparently the XBR 450 (or in your case, 400) cannot automatically detect anamorphic mode DVDs if the input is progressive (480p). Glad I was able to fix the drawer on my DVP-C660. Sure it's not progressive, but hey, at least I don't have to monkey through the menus every time I (or my kids) watch a DVD.

Maybe it's just me, but I cannot for the life of me see a difference between progressive and interlaced DVD. Never have been able to. Some people say its a world of difference.

I would expect to see the subtle details like text and such to appear cleaner, but I can't see it. Then again, this TV has always done an extraordinary job, so maybe on other sets I would notice.

Some TV's do the line-doubling. When you input a non-progressive scan signal the TV converts it to 480p. As I understand it, letting the DVD player do the math results in a better picture than letting the TV do it (but you may need a calibration DVD to see the improvement). Here is a fair discussion of it (some of it is stuff you probably know already, but some may be useful):

http://www.hometheatermag.com//dvdplayers/69/index.html

I believe the DRC function on our Sony's does this. I can select progressive or interlaced for any source. Mine is set to progressive for everything, so maybe that's why I never see any difference.