Multiple Aspect Ratios

[aplman]

The recent discussion "LED TV + WD HD player=Fantastic!!!" has been very interesting. May I suggest a different approach, using PTE's wonderful animation? Best done in a new topic, I decided.

My shows tend to have a mix of 3:2 and 16:9 images. Whether on my TV or my PC, I want to see a decent show, with my images filling the screen. Definitely no distortion, and preferably no black borders. So I rely on PTE's wonderful animation to give a borderless display, with the added interest of subtle animation.

To be able to enjoy shows on the PC or the TV, I need to produce two shows, one 4:3 and the other 16:9. I needed a reasonably pain-free way of producing two separate shows with different animations.

I start with a PTE file with no animation, saved in two versions, 4:3 and 16:9. I then process each with a small program I have written that adds animation using gentle panning and zooming. The result fills the screen. Typically an image is shown in its entirety - just not all at once.

I now have two PTE files with animation keyframes on each slide. I find I can accept the randomly generated effect on the majority of slides. For those that need adjusting, I don't need to add keyframes - they are already there - I simply adjust their position, zoom and pan parameters where desirable. Panoramic images are detected, and appropriately panned.

My program is not by any means perfect yet, and will probably need to be altered for new versions of PTE. However, I do find it helpful at this stage of my PTE adventures - and I see no more nasty borders!

I would be happy to share the program, if anyone is interested.

Regards to all ...

APLman (Ken)

[Conflow]

Ken,

I find that very interesting and I'm sure many Forum Members would feel likewise ~ I have one question ?

You say that your new Program can run a Slideshow on a modern 16:9 Television without borders and

perhaps it can do the same thing with 16:9 HD Televisions ?

How is that achieved when all 16:9 TVs have inbuilt 'Bandguards' (top & bottom) which are deliberately

installed into the TV-firmware so as to accomodate Commercial-Production variations from DVD's and from

world wide Studio-Productions and TV-Stations. The acceptable Bandgap variations are +/- 3% as recommended

by the PAL-Standard ~ perhaps you are using an 'overscanning' technique ~ if so that technique is highly

variable depending on TV-Manufacturer -Size of TV -and firmware setup. I'm curious as how you done that ?

I do wish you well with your Software and hope you can replicate it on various TV-Sets and its most refreshing

to have a new Member who can bring 'brand-new' technology into the Forum.

Kind regards,

Brian (Conflow)

[aplman]

Hello Brian ...

Thank you for your comments, but I fear you are too kind! My program does not do nearly as much as you have imagined. It simply reads a PTE file, and writes a new PTE file with animation code embedded for each slide.

Perhaps I am claiming too much, when I say the image fills the screen, and I see no more nasty borders. I meant to indicate only that the image fills the normal picture area of the screen. Any "borders" imposed by the hardware remain, naturally.

I value especially your explanation of modera TVs. I still live in the CRT era (widescreen, at least!), but I'm sure my passion for travel and digital photography will lead me to HD TV soon enough. I will be glad to have benefited from the knowledge of helpful people such as yourself.

Thanks again for your interest and encouragement.

Regards

APLman (Ken)