LED TV + WD HD player=Fantastic!!! but question:

[goddi]

Greetings,

Since I started using PTE many years ago, I created my shows for viewing primarily on my PC. However, I have recently come into the 21st century!!! I purchased a 40” Samsung LED TV and the WD TV HD Media Player. With the combination of the LED TV and the WD TV HD player, I feel more like a Spielburg! The results are stunning!

I formerly produced my shows for viewing on my PC, using the 4:3 aspect ratio because it filled the monitor, with only a minimal black border at the top and the bottom of the images.

Now with the 40” LED, I have reworked several of my old slideshows using the 16:9 aspect ratio. Then I create an MP4 file using that I can play from a memory stick that is inserted in the WD TV HD player. When this is played on the 40” LED, I can’t tell you how incredible the results are. I have been giddy with glee!!

So I am now going back and reworking more old slideshows in 16:9 and as an MP4 (HD 1920x1080 HQ). I just want to pass this ‘discovery’ I have made so others might be encouraged to try this combination. The 40” screen is filled completely with the slideshow. The WD TV HD player makes it very convenient to update shows because I only have to copy any revised show to the memory stick. And the WD TV HD player is easily transportable and you can connect it to a TV with an HDMI cable for HD (or RCA cables (included)for SD). This reduces the need to create DVDs to play on the TV.

So now my question: If I play a slideshow on my PC monitor that was created using 4:3, the black borders are only on the top and the bottom of the images. However, if I play (on the same monitor) the same slideshow created using 16:9, the larger black borders are not only on the top and bottom, but also on the left and right sides of the images. I expected the 16:9 slideshow to still have black borders on the top and bottom, but not to have them on the left and right sides. Why does the 16:9 have black boarder all the way around the images when played on a PC monitor??? My current monitor (CRT)setting is 1024x768. I am not sure what to change it to (if I should) to get no black borders on the left/right sides when the shows are created using 16:9, and played on a PC. The highest monitor resolution setting I have is 1600x1200.

Thanks…. Gary

[Conflow]

Hi Gary,

Welcome, so you have joined the 'Hi-Tech World' with a HD-Player but I doubt if anyone will believe you about

the superb A/V quality rendition of these Machines ~ well I do as we have been using them for the past year.

Of course the superb quality is due to 'Solid-State Memory' devices used, such as USB and SD Memory Cards and

HDMI connection to the TV Set apart from the fact tht it's purpose built for the job.

See the "attachment" as to how you can adjust your PC to give you the 16:9 Ratio Screen which you asked about.

Other readers might like to know that 'Aldi-Stores' have the 'Medion HD Player' in stock as from the 24th.of this

Month for 70.Euro. To me it looks like a duplicate of the Western-Digital Player ~its worth looking at.

Gary, I hope this helps...

Brian (Conflow Services)

[goddi]

Brian,

It is interesting to see the Medion device. My WD HDTV has only 1 USB port, 1 HDMI and 1 optical port and the ports are in the rear of the device. I also got the "Live" version that will let me access media from a PC in my network (but I have not tried it yet). It really opens up the possibilities for showing PTE shows.

I tried your setting on my monitor. But it does not seem to be doing what I expect. The image just shifts to the left, leaving a larger black boarder on the right. The PTE show was created using the 16:9 (1280x720) Screen setting. So my concern is if I make shows at 16:9, and give it to someone who plays it on a PC, it won't fill the screen as a show made in 4:3. So it seem like I have to always make 2 versions; a 4:3 for computer viewing and a 16:9 version for playing on my LED TV? Maybe I am still doing something wrong?

Gary

===========================

Hi Gary,

Welcome, so you have joined the 'Hi-Tech World' with a HD-Player but I doubt if anyone will believe you about the superb A/V quality rendition of these Machines ~ well I do as we have been using them for the past year. Of course the superb quality is due to 'Solid-State Memory' devices used, such as USB and SD Memory Cards and HDMI connection to the TV Set apart from the fact tht it's purpose built for the job.

See the "attachment" as to how you can adjust your PC to give you the 16:9 Ratio Screen which you asked about.

Other readers might like to know that 'Aldi-Stores' have the 'Medion HD Player' in stock as from the 24th.of this Month for 70.Euro. To me it looks like a duplicate of the Western-Digital Player ~its worth looking at.

Gary, I hope this helps...

Brian (Conflow Services)

[davegee]

Gary,

I'm not sure if I know the answer to your problem but I can tell you my experiences/setup for doing exactly the same thing.

I use 1920x1080 images in a 16:9 show with "Fixed Size of Slide" ticked.

i.e. Fullscreen

Aspect Ratio = 16:9

Virtual Size = 1920x1080

That show will fit to the width of any aspect ratio monitor from 4:3 (1024x768) right up to my 16:10 (1920x1200) with black lines where appropriate at the top and bottom but never at the sides.

When playing the same show from my laptop to the 16:9 TV via HDMI (same setup as your WD) the show automatically fills the screen.

I started doing this a couple of years ago and reported it here - others have since adopted this methodology with the same results as you are experiencing.

DG

[Conflow]

Gary and Dave,

Gary, firstly you asked how to set-up 16:9 on your PC and you now know how to do that. However I had not realised that

you had another problem, ie:- Getting PTE to fill the 16:9 Screen. Looks as if Dave beat me to it with the PTE setting

of "Fixed Size of Slide".

Concerning the 'HD-TV Media Player' its made by 'Medion Akoya' Model No:E7212.Akoya are a specialised Electronic

Supplier to Aldi Store USA ~Europe ~Canada. Contact them and ask about this product released in Europe.

Link:- http://www.aldi.com/

Hope all works now.

Brian.

[goddi]

Dave and Brian...

I tried out the settings but no luck. I still get black borders around each entire image.

The only way I can see it working is to, first, set your settings as you stated, and then, zoom in each image to eliminate the left and right black boarders. But this will crop out the upper and lower parts of each image. It seems that this is the results of trying to get a camera's 4:3 into a 16:9 aspect ratio. This should work but in many images, I can't crop the top and bottom because it would crop out important parts of the image.

Am I missing something here??? I don't see any other way of preparing a show that will be as full screen as possible, at least on the left and right sides.

Thanks... Gary

=======================

Gary,

I'm not sure if I know the answer to your problem but I can tell you my experiences/setup for doing exactly the same thing.

I use 1920x1080 images in a 16:9 show with "Fixed Size of Slide" ticked.

i.e. Fullscreen

Aspect Ratio = 16:9

Virtual Size = 1920x1080

That show will fit to the width of any aspect ratio monitor from 4:3 (1024x768) right up to my 16:10 (1920x1200) with black lines where appropriate at the top and bottom but never at the sides.

When playing the same show from my laptop to the 16:9 TV via HDMI (same setup as your WD) the show automatically fills the screen.

I started doing this a couple of years ago and reported it here - others have since adopted this methodology with the same results as you are experiencing.

DG

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Garry

Most digital slr's are 3-2 ratio not 4-3 as you stated, so if your camera is different, ignore this comment. I've tried to follow this thread but some of it is going over my head. However I have owned a modern flat screen 32inch HD ready TV for a while and so I'm familiar with their foibles. My TV has a button on the remote named aspect, when I press it I get a menu of varoius viewing ratios starting at AUTO 16-9 14-9 4-3 zoom 1 zoom 2 & finally zoom 3. I wondered if you had used this feature on your TV to try to illiminate the problem. If the aspect button isn't on your remote it could be on the set-up menu. I usually set my aspect to AUTO which usually takes care of items transmitted in different ratios. The worst instance I have is when a cinemascope film is being transmitted it's like viewing it through a letterbox, setting it to an aspect to fill the screen cuts of part of the picture. Which is why I'm not a 16-9 fan. Come back 4-3, or better still 3-2.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[davegee]

Gary,

If you are using 1920x1080 images in a 1920x1080 show then, in O&A, your images will FILL the screen area shown (at 100%).

If you are using smaller images then they will appear in O&A with the black border (at 100%).

Are you getting this in O&A?

Post a screen shot of your OPTIONS / SCREEN Tab and let us know what size images you are using.

DG

P.S. I picked up one of these HD TV players in PC World recently to have a look at the specs. The one I looked at had an output resolution of 1280x720 which, if not upscaled to suit your 1920x1080 would give the sort of scenario you are experiencing - it's not that is it?

[goddi]

Eric and Dave...

Sorry for my added confusion. Yes, I meant to say my camera is 3:2. My PC's monitor is set at 1024x768.

At this point, I can make MP4 slideshows 16:9 for the TV. However, when I create the 16:9 version for playing on the PC, when I look at it in O&A, the black border are only on the left and right sides of the images. But, when I Preview it on my computer, black borders are all around. I have created it as you have indicated.

If I keep the show at 4:3, the black boarders are only at the top and bottom, and fill the screen from left to right. I just want the 16:9 version to have black boarder on the left and right sides BUT not also have the black boarder at the top and bottom (as I see in the O&A), when played on the PC. I don't understand why the Preview results are different from what I see in the O&A. I'd like to be able to stick to the same aspect ratio for viewing on the PC and on the TV, and avoid the result of getting black borders all around the images.

I hope I am stating this clearly. Maybe not. Let me know.

Gary

Edited later: Actually, what I meant is that I'd like to have the 16:9 version to have black boarders only on the 'top and bottom'. My monitor is a CRT so maybe that is what happens with a CRT (boarders all around) as opposed to if it is played on an LCD?

Brian has educated me that what I see in the O&A will be different that what I will see in Preview.

=======================================

Hi Gary

Most digital slr's are 3-2 ratio not 4-3 as you stated, so if your camera is different, ignore this comment.....

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[Peter S]

Try using images 2200 x 1240, Project Options set to 2200 x 1240, tick fixed size in pixels. This is still 16:9 and is the only way I have found to completely fill the screen of my 1920 x 1080 Sony TV. It may work for you. I can see no logical reason for this working but it does and 1920 x 1080 does not.

Kind regards

Peter

[goddi]

Peter,

My concern is not so much playing the show on my TV. What I would like is to create one show that can be played on a CRT, an LCD and the TV, without having to make different shows in different aspect ratios to suit different screens. The MP4 created in HD at 16:9 looks great on my LED TV. If I play the exe that was made using the default 16:9, it puts black boarders all around the images. So, to get the show to play on the PC (CRT monitor) with black boarder only on the top and bottom, I have to use 4:3.

But from talking to Brian, the 16:9 show, when played on an LCD PC monitor, would give the results I am looking for (black boarder only on the top and bottom, not the sides, too). So maybe, I still have one foot in the 'old world' with my CRT monitor. I was hoping to be able to use one aspect ratio of 16:9 that would work on all monitors and TVs.

Maybe not??? Am I closer to understanding all of this????

Gary

=============

Try using images 2200 x 1240, Project Options set to 2200 x 1240, tick fixed size in pixels. This is still 16:9 and is the only way I have found to completely fill the screen of my 1920 x 1080 Sony TV. It may work for you. I can see no logical reason for this working but it does and 1920 x 1080 does not.

Kind regards

Peter

[davegee]

Gary,

Attached is a Backup in Zip of a 1920x1080 project which, when played on both my 1920x1200 monitor and my steam driven 1024x768 laptop monitor, FILLS THE WIDTH OF THE SCREEN with black bars top and bottom.

Please unzip to your desktop and try it and then reprt back?

I hope it works - I don't normally use Backup In Zip.

DG

Goddi_Jan28-2010_22-50-44.zip

[Peter S]

Sorry Gary, I misunderstood. I thought you wanted to get rid of the black bars. I hate them and assumed you did too!

Peter

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Gary

Red box white border, 25mm black bar top and bottom on my 1280 x 1024 laptop.

I don't think you can acheive what you are seeking.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[goddi]

Dave,

Thanks for your files. I took a look at it. I added one of my images to your .pte file to see what would happen. When I Previewed it, your red image filled the screen; however, my image, as usual, had black boarders all the way around. I checked your image in Photoshop and it is 1920x1080. My image, full original Nikon image, is 3872x2592. When I resized my image to 1920x1080, it filled the screen, as yours did, but the image was stretched...I don't want the distortion.

What do you do to your images to get them to fit the 1920x1080 screen size? Do you resize them or crop them??? It seems the only way to fill the screen with my images (losing all black boarders) when using 1920x1080 16:9 is to expand each image in O&A until the left and right edges of the image fill the area (losing some of the top and bottom portions of the image). But this would work for playing on CRT PC monitors; I wonder what it would look like on an LCD PC monitor?

Gary

=========================

Gary,

Attached is a Backup in Zip of a 1920x1080 project which, when played on both my 1920x1200 monitor and my steam driven 1024x768 laptop monitor, FILLS THE WIDTH OF THE SCREEN with black bars top and bottom.

Please unzip to your desktop and try it and then reprt back?

I hope it works - I don't normally use Backup In Zip.

DG

[goddi]

Peter,

For the TV, at least at this point, the black boarders don't bother me because the 40" LED is so large, it isn't a big deal, so far. If I keep the border in black (left and right sides), it just blends into the frame of the TV.

I am coming to the conclusion that you can't make a PTE .exe file that will show exactly the same on a CRT PC monitor and an LED PC monitor, when making it at 16:9, unless you expand each image to the left and right edges of the screen and lose portions of the top and bottom parts of the image.

Gary

=========================

Sorry Gary, I misunderstood. I thought you wanted to get rid of the black bars. I hate them and assumed you did too!

Peter

[davegee]

Gary,

You cannot "resize" your image out of the camera that way.

For a distortion-less image in 16:9 format you MUST crop to 1920x1080 (16:9) and lose some of the top and bottom.

Set up and save a crop tool to do just that and crop your images to the 16:9 format. Or, in IMAGE SIZE make sure that you CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS to get the the 3:2 (ish) aspect ratio when altering height or width.

If you want to use the images straight from camera then I would sugget that you make your images 3:2 and 1080 pixels high. Your camera produces an image which is not EXACTLY 3:2 so for uniformity I suggest that you set up a 3:2 crop tool and use it on all images.

Use the 15:10 option in Project Options / Screen.

That way you have the optimum for computer and HD Video. On your computer the images will fit to the WIDTH of your 4:3 monitor (black lines top and bottom) and on your TV they will fit to the HEIGHT of your screen (black lines at the sides).

If you don't want to crop your out of camera images, I would suggest that to be the only way of getting a compromise between computer and TV.

I have chosen to crop my images to suit the 16:9 format and get the best compromise between my 16:10 monitor, the occasional TV show and the 16:9 projector that I sometimes use. Two out of three is not bad!

Knowing what I know now I think that I should have bought a 16:9 monitor a few years ago instead of my 16:10 but I have learned to compromise.

DG

[KyDan]

Now with the 40" LED, I have reworked several of my old slideshows using the 16:9 aspect ratio. Then I create an MP4 file using that I can play from a memory stick that is inserted in the WD TV HD player. When this is played on the 40" LED, I can't tell you how incredible the results are. I have been giddy with glee!!

…. Gary

Gary and all, thanks for this tip. I too have made a few slide shows of vacation pictures and they look great on a PC but

when burned on a DVD and seen on either a CRT TV or new big screen LCD TV they were lacking.

My wife WANTS to see them on TV!!

So I tried my latest vacation pictures as HD MP4 and played them thru my son's Sony Play station 3.

They look awesome on our big screen TV

Yes!!! Finally I have the quality I've wanted for years.

I probably would not have thought to try the MP4 were it not for Gary's post.

Here is another more expensive alternative to the Western Digital HD player-- Sony Play station 3.

Maybe you already have one for the kids??

It will play your MP4 files just fine and it has a USB port in the front so you can import

your slide shows easily to play on it.

ALSO- for those of us in the US who are Netflix subscribers the PS3 plays blue ray DVDs

and it supports Netflix instant movies. You can watch movie and TV shows downloaded

from Netflix instant view on a PS3 also. And the PS3 is blue tooth ready so you can

wirelessly network it to your PC and your cable TV. Not to mention the large hard drive

in the PS3 can hold all your music MP3 files and will play them and show you cover

art for the albums at the same time.

Thanks again for the tip on watching my shows as MP4 on my TV.

They look wonderful.

Peace!

Dan D.

Louisville, Kentucky good ole USA

[goddi]

Gary and all, thanks for this tip. I too have made a few slide shows of vacation pictures...

Here is another more expensive alternative to the Western Digital HD player-- Sony Play station 3. Maybe you already have one for the kids??...

Thanks again for the tip on watching my shows as MP4 on my TV.

They look wonderful.

Peace!

Dan D.

Louisville, Kentucky good ole USA

====================

Dan...I am glad to get the message out. I got the idea from someone else in this Forum. Isn't technology fun??? But since I don't have kids to teach me the latest techno innovations, I am really behind the times and I have to be self-taught. I wouldn't have any idea what to do with a PS3 if I had one!!!

But I am happy to hear of someone now enjoying their own 'home-movies' as I am.

Gary