DSTV dual view decoder qn

bwana

bwana

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Way off topic but I bow to the gracious, copious and diverse knowledge found here. :)

Does setting the Aspect Ratio in the dstv settings (menu-7-4-1-1) actually change anything? My TV supports 16:9 but changing the setting doesnt seem to make a difference.

Also what output on the decoder has the best quality? SCART or AV or is there another one?

Thanks
 
highest to lowest picture quality in terms of what is available worldwide
hdmi & dvi
vga
component (similar to rgb enabled scart below)
rgb enabled scart
svideo
composite
rf

just put ticks next to whicever your decoder outputs and you can easily figure out what is best.
 
werner said:
highest to lowest picture quality in terms of what is available worldwide
hdmi & dvi
vga
component (similar to rgb enabled scart below)
rgb enabled scart
svideo
composite
rf

just put ticks next to whicever your decoder outputs and you can easily figure out what is best.
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Thanks - think SCART is best of the bunch then (unless someone who knows the dualview box well thinks differently).

Just plugged in an old powerbook to the dvi and the picture rocks so I'm thinking that a mac mini to sit next to the tv looks almost worth while.

Any ideas on the 16:9 ratio setting? :confused:
 
As far as I know thats for Pan/Scan feature. if a film is 16:9 and played on a wide-screen TV then it doesnt re-scale the picture... if 4:3 then it will scale the movie to look decent.

Thats my view, dont have a 16:9 TV :-)
 
RichardP said:
As far as I know thats for Pan/Scan feature. if a film is 16:9 and played on a wide-screen TV then it doesnt re-scale the picture... if 4:3 then it will scale the movie to look decent.

Thats my view, dont have a 16:9 TV :-)
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So I guess I'd have to find something being broadcast in 16:9 before I saw any difference?
 
werner said:
that sounds about right...
Click to expand...
And thats probably something that DSTV doesnt do?

Oh well - guess I'll have to make due with stretching the picture to fit the screen - just hope there arent any J Lo films on! :D

Thanks for the info
 
I have a question about 16:9 or those that use it :

When you stretch a normal 4:3 picture to 16:9, can you see that it is stretched? I heard it stretches the ends of the picture anyhow (the last 20% of each side of the screen) and you won't notice anything because nothing generally takes place there. True?

In that case I want a 16:9 ;)

PS Go for SCART RGB if you can ... I've tried the composite and S-VHS (4 pin an SCART), and SCART RGB outdoes them all by far ...
 
bwana v.7 said:
Also what output on the decoder has the best quality? SCART or AV or is there another one?
Thanks
Click to expand...
When you say AV i presume you mean the composite out and not the RF ( arial ) out. There is no difference between composite and scart. The scart plug is just a unified standard plug that contains most often used combinations of composite/ svideo / rgb in and out connectors.

If you have a choice between svideo ( little plug with 4 pins ) and composite ( RCA plug ) , then svideo is the better, and theyre both better than RF ( arial )

Also, many people think svideo contain the audio signal. It doesnt. There used to be old video machines and cameras that had a similar looking plug for both video and mono audio, but not anymore.

Obelix
 
But ... SCART RGB is even better than S-VHS ...

Set it up in the DSTV menu and make sure your TV accepts SCART RGB.
 
Obelix said:
When you say AV i presume you mean the composite out and not the RF ( arial ) out. There is no difference between composite and scart. The scart plug is just a unified standard plug that contains most often used combinations of composite/ svideo / rgb in and out connectors.

If you have a choice between svideo ( little plug with 4 pins ) and composite ( RCA plug ) , then svideo is the better, and theyre both better than RF ( arial )

Also, many people think svideo contain the audio signal. It doesnt. There used to be old video machines and cameras that had a similar looking plug for both video and mono audio, but not anymore.

Obelix
Click to expand...
Thanks - since the tv and the decoder both have scart I've kept the av socket in the tv to use for something else (ps2). The tv has svideo but unfortunately the decoder doesn't - perhaps the new pvr one does if so I'll try that out then. My laptop has a svideo out so I can use that or the dvi. Nice to have choices. :)

@ Dolby - Stretching seems to take place across the entire screen for 16:9 - perhaps its dependent on the brand of tv?
 
there are different types of stretch...the one dolby is referring to is called non-linear (or sometimes "smartstretch") on some tv menus
if you use powerdvd, then they call is CLEV (cyberlink eagle vision)..it's ok, not great...you get used to it. a bit odd at first.

back to scart...scart is a socket, not an av standard...on the socket, depending on the appliance manufacturer, you may find either composite, or svideo, or rgb signals (as well as audio)...that is why scart with rgb is best...not just plain scart coz a plain scart socket many only carry composite signals. check your manual.
 
werner said:
back to scart...scart is a socket, not an av standard...on the socket, depending on the appliance manufacturer, you may find either composite, or svideo, or rgb signals (as well as audio)...that is why scart with rgb is best...not just plain scart coz a plain scart socket many only carry composite signals. check your manual.
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I noticed when I chose RGB as the scart output on the decoder the picture seemed noticeably more vibrant then when I selected composite. Think it also has s-video as a scart option so I'm going to give that a try now.

Cheers for all the help. :D

EDIT - ok - tried scart output set to s-video and it works really well. So well in fact that for the first time I can see what appears to be a mnet watermark at 9 o'clock on the screen on the movie magic channel.

EDIT v.2 - inadvertently downloaded a high def version of a series the other night - wow - what a difference it makes :D Unfortunately they're double the size but probably worth it if you've got a decent size screen.
 
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i think the best use of a 16:9 tv in SA from TV will come in 2010 when HD is finally introduced prior to the world cup, till then the best use of 16:9 is for movies and consoles. ;)
 
swordfish1 said:
do you have a new plasma by any chance?
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Yeah - broke down and got one the other day. El cheapo one so not expecting too much from it but so far am pleasantly surprised.:D
 
bwana v.7 said:
Yeah - broke down and got one the other day. El cheapo one so not expecting too much from it but so far am pleasantly surprised.:D
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so how is the streched TV coming? is it watchable? And what are you doing to avoid burn in?

I am also thinking of getting the cheap sony one in a month or so ... but can't find any reviews so far :(
 
i have a 16:9 CRT and it shows all the DSTV channels quite well, i am also surprised at how unnoticeable some of the conversions work out.
 
useless said:
i have a 16:9 CRT and it shows all the DSTV channels quite well, i am also surprised at how unnoticeable some of the conversions work out.
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doesn't it look stretched? or you just got used to it?
 
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