Picture Size in System Setup ?

[ride525]

I have a 4900 receiver (811, maybe soon? :) ). Also have a new Samsumg HLN437 DLP widescreen TV

Anyway, noticed today in setup menu there was a place to change the picture size. I changed it from 4:3 to 16:9. Didn't notice any change though.

Just what is the 16:9 picture size used for in the 4900 menu?

Thanks,

Jeff

[Cyclone]

Hehe. That was one of the first questions I ever asked here.

The answer is that selection does nothing. Not a damn thing. It has no purpose and it should have been removed from the software.

[mattydork]

Follow this link for a great explanation of 16:9 (anamorphic) video encoding:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/editorial/bz100298.html

This particular essay is geared toward explaining the benefits of 16:9 encoding for dvd but, applies to all instances.

A number of years ago (possibly 1997-98), DirecTv experimented with 16:9 (or anamorphic encoding) during a special presentation of Apocalypse Now on PPV. i don't recall if they did any other presentations this way. Unfortunately, at that time, widescreen tv was all but non-existent and there was no real way to decode the picture. Everything was squished looking.

The feature in the Dish software is actually very forward thinking as most televisions in the future will be widescreen and capable of decoding an anamorphically encoded signal, just like your Samsung is able to decode the anamorphic picture included on most dvds.

Now that Dish has announced their HD monitors (see earlier post in this forum) they might start experimenting with sending an anamorphic picture on some of the PPV as titles are made available to them, especially for the HD PPV.

Hopefully this helps. fyi: i keep my receiver set for 16:9 just in case. i have a WS Toshiba and keep hoping that Dish will start showing encoded movies.