aspect ratio what's he trick to get the sony rdr-vx560 to play vhs tapes in their original aspect ratio as opposed to stretching out the picture horizontally to fit the widescreen tv...i've played with all the variables and pored over the manual but every tape i try is always stretched and get dubbed in the stretched format...any helpful suggestions from those people who've had good experiences with this unit? aspect ratio what's he trick to get the sony rdr-vx560 to play vhs tapes in their original aspect ratio as opposed to stretching out the picture horizontally to fit the widescreen tv...i've... » Read More aspect ratio what's he trick to get the sony rdr-vx560 to play vhs tapes in their original aspect ratio as opposed to stretching out the picture horizontally to fit the widescreen tv...i've played with all the variables and pored over the manual but every tape i try is always stretched and get dubbed in the stretched format...any helpful suggestions from those people who've had good experiences with this unit? « Show Less
1744161
I've found that with upconverting machines, if you are playing back in the 720P/1080I/1080P modes the 4:3/letterboxed image will be "stretched". You need to reset the playback to 480i or 480p for these images. I have four such machines of different manufacturers and they all work this way. My HD-DVD and Blu-ray machines, though, do play 4:3/letterboxed images in the correct ratio format, even when I'm set to the hi-def modes. Hope this helps.
1744162
Did You ever get an answer on this. I have the same deal, including 4:3 aspect DVDs which are stretched to what I call "fatscreen". I have fussed with everything imaginable. If you have an answer, please email me at <michael.steeno@us.army.mil>
1744163
the problem is not in your RDR-VX560 on this issue. do check your TV's picture configuration e.g. zoom, wide, zoomwide, normal....settings. hope this helps.
456171
I had basically the same question.. I have a 36 inch RCA tv that is supposed to have better clarity than regular tv, in fact, when playing a VCR the picture quality deminishes from the built-in tuner. With the tuner you see blades of grass on a football field, and Troy Palamalo's individual hair strands. Not so with a VCR playing. I'm looking for a Digital Converter that transmits that sharp image, as in HD. I bought a Zenith converter and it is disapointing, like VCR picture.
1351898
I have a dvd vcr player combo and it only had the standard rca connections. I hooked it up and it worked great. Even with a hdmi coupler between hdmi cables. I switched between the 720 and 1080 settings but couldn't tell a big difference but they both worked. It's definitely worth a shot.
112524
The most useful method to view a larger image of your videos is to use the supplied wires to connect your camcorder to the RCA contacts on the front or back of your TV. By selecting the proper input option on the TV and the playback mode on the camcorder, you can watch every second of every tape on a large screen. Be prepared, however, to quickly put your audience to sleep because the good stuff is surrounded by mediocre, or worse, scenes. Suggestion, look into video editing software for your computer that will allow you to string just the good and spectacular scenes together in interesting ways. Once this editing is done, you have multiple options to digitally send your masterpiece anywhere, create DVDs, etc. hope this helps.
14191
If you are asking about the FORMAT or ASPECT RATIO, look on the remote about mid-way top to bottom.There's a row of horizontal buttons (Mute/Format/Info/Favorites). I couldn't find anything in the manualif you don't have the remote...
1606107
I just tranferred 5 hours of VHS tapes (3 tapes) to a Memorex DVD+R DL 2.4X disc with a Sony RDR-VX521 COMBO. The RDR-VX521 can play all three selections, but the Sony DVPCX995V cannot play the stuff on the second layer. This leads me to believe that it will play DL's as long as you don't need to access the second layer.
2028679
I tried hooking up my Panasonic DVD/VCR but it does not display correctly. I have no idea what cables to use, I just used the ones I had on my old Sony, but cannot get a clear picture.
594374
Jacqueline,Search SDCopy. It is a free piece of software that will convert the .MOD files to mpg, and also set the flag for 16:9 aspect ratio which is widescreen, then it will play correctly.Mark
2070206
If a disc is not formatted for widescreen(16:9), it will only show whatever format is on the disc. Does your TV have the ability to stretch or zoom the picture? If so, just do that.
433073
Anybody?....we have tried everything. There is supposed to be an option for av out in the quality video settings. However the options in quality are the same as in panel quality. Very dissapointed right now. How do I get them both to play video as well as hearing the movie?
1094073
All recording is SD (480), but inputs and outputs can be HD. I've found the loss of quality to be acceptable, considering the benefits of SD format (lower cost, record to DVDs, etc). This recorder will accept HD input via the ATSC digital tuner, or SD (480) input from other sources like analog RCA-jack inputs, S-Video, DV from a camcorder, or the now-obsolete NTSC analog TV tuner. All content is recorded in SD (480p I believe) format, and my experience has been that the 4:3 and 16:9 anthropomorphic widescreen modes are handled automatically based on the source. (My Sony TV automatically shows all content in the correct aspect ratio.) This unit can output 480i for older TVs if you need, but does NOT have an RF modulator built-in. It can also output 480p or HD (as 720p, 1080i, or 1080p) via an HDMI cable to your widescreen TV, so you can select which one does the upscaling.
1812743
Hi there K.........how did this unit turn out for you? I've had mine for a couple of years so far, and it plays DVD's great. I gave up on learning how to copy a tape to a disk, but that is the one feature I needed to rid myself of boxes of old VCR tapes. (See my posts dated 2/21/10.) James says I need a tuner, however the inst. book does not mention that. Thanks for the help, Jeanette
1100249
I am not sure either Mr. Turner. I bought this Device to.go.from VHS to.DVD and it has worked very well for me. The whole point of this device was to help get past the macrovision protection. Going in the direction you want, that obstacle doesn't exist.
2125418
Not me but I am using hdmi cable with a samsung 46" LCD LN46B640. It was definitely near HD quality. Watched a regular dvd of inglourious basterds and district 9 this week and the picture quality was nothing short of amazing. In district 9, the helicopter shot over the alien camp was so crystal clear that it looked like 3-d. I'm gonna have to rent the blu-ray version to compare them. I've been happy with the upconversion. I also have a regular sony dvd player (dvp-ns700h/b) that got great reviews and I still use in my bedroom. Is that the one you have? You could even see my 5/14/08 amazon review of the sony dvd player to see how much I love my sony dvd player (dvp-ns700h/b). The Sony dvd player does an amazing job of upconverting. Probably the best outside of an oppo. Maybe even slightly better than the panasonic blu-ray player. Not really sure though because I have been really impressed with dvds in the panasonic. Maybe I will set up both with my television and really compare them. I do suggest you to connect an hdmi to your television though. That may fix your problem. Maybe the sony converts better than the panasonic with the component cables but the panasonic may convert equally well with an hdmi.
2065224
I know this is a really old post, but this might help someone else...Just started converting old videos to dvd and had a problem with this. Figured it out though...when in dvd mode press the input select button at the top of the remote. It will go to L2 and now you can follow the directions from the manual. - Press VCR, play until you get to the point you want to record and hit pause- Press DVD- Press Dubbing
1776107
There are three pages of zoom instructions with illustrations, and here are the basic settings: No zoom > Stretch, Letterbox, Pillar Box > Full Screen > Under Scan > 1.2 > 1.3 > 1.5 > 2.0 > 1/2 > Back to 1:1 again. I like the fact that I can maintain the proper aspect ratio when playing older movies and TV programs from DVD. If there's X/Y scaling, I haven't found it but that doesn't mean it isn't there. I don't know where to look. :-)
1577594
EZCAP.TV 116 USB 2.0 VHS to DVD Converter. Capture & convert video from VHS, Hi8, All Camcorders, DVD player, Satellite TV, etc. Capture Xbox 360/Wii/PS3 in full color. Upload videos direct to YouTube, convert for mobile device or make a dvd. Stream live with Skype, MSN, etc. Supports Windows XP/Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 32/64 bit, Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later. (Electronics) This device is ideal for any analog video capturing. (VHS, 8mm...) Having gone through the easy setup and installation, I made my first atttempt to capture one of my VHS home movies. Fifteen minutes into the video capture, the recording stopped and displayed this message: "VIDEO IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED.VIDEO CAPTURE WILL NOT RESUME". Don't sweat it. All you have to do is disable the protection pop-up. Here's the fix. And trust me, it works. Haven't had a single issue since this fix. Enjoy. You have to edit a configuration file. Navigate to: C:\Program Files\ArcSoft\TotalMedia ShowBiz\com.ArcSoft.CaptureModule\ Open "CaptureModule.ini" with notepad. Add "ProtectOn=0" under "[CaptureModule]" and save. If it does not let you save, it is because your pc user permissions need to be changed. Right click on the file, select properties select "security" at the top click on "users" and click on the "edit" box Put a click in all the boxes and click on "apply" Now it will let you edit and save the file.