View Full Version : 16:9 on vhs


Robert Bobson
September 29th, 2003, 01:24 PM
I transfered a 16:9 project to VHS.

The result is video that's squeezed horizontally into the 4:3 frame.

Now if the VHS player is hooked up to a widescreen TV, will the squeezed tape play back correctly - fill out the 16:9 screen with the correct proportions?

It's all quite confusing - thanks!

Andres Lucero
September 29th, 2003, 03:27 PM
It depends on the monitor, but you *should* be able to find a setting that un-squeezes your video to fill the 16x9 frame.

Boyd Ostroff
September 29th, 2003, 08:45 PM
You will need to select the proper mode on your widescreen TV. You should have the option to stretch 4:3 to 16:9. But it's probably going to look pretty bad at standard VHS quality.

Don't get confused! All DV is 720x480. But 16:9 DV is "anamorphic" meaning "changed form". Widescreen TV's stretch the video to fill the frame, but the resolution remains the same. The individual pixels just have a different (wider) aspect ratio.

Peter Moore
October 4th, 2003, 12:27 PM
"Now if the VHS player is hooked up to a widescreen TV, will the squeezed tape play back correctly - fill out the 16:9 screen with the correct proportions"

It should, yes.

I don't think it will look any worse than a letterboxed VHS movie played in theaterwide mode on a widescreen TV. In fact it should look better.

Just make sure you transfer to to a SuperVHS deck with an s-video cable and SP setting.