when I dispaly a 4:3 game at 16:9 what am I seeing?

compboyo · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:14

Are the pixels streched so it looks fatter?

what would you say is the better option

4:3 game at 4:3 on 30 inches picture with black bars on 40 inch screen

or

4:3 stretched in 16:9 mode to full 40" tv.

Alex74 · 10 Sep 2011 at 17:59

compboyo said:
Are the pixels streched so it looks fatter?

what would you say is the better option

4:3 game at 4:3 on 30 inches picture with black bars on 40 inch screen

or

4:3 stretched in 16:9 mode to full 40" tv.

If you have a 4:3 resolution running ingame then yes the image is effectively "stretched" to fill out your screen. Personally I'd say your best bet would be running the game itself at a 16:9 resolution on the 40". Is there some reason you can't do this?

compboyo · 10 Sep 2011 at 18:52

im playing my dreamcast on my widescreen hdtv.

I think the games are 4:3

I can stretch to 16:9 or play boxed at 4:3

there is no option to make the game 16:9

MeMeMeMe · 10 Sep 2011 at 21:16

Try each game, in both settings and see which you like best.
Some games will look awful stretched to a wider aspect, others will look fine.

Mr Krugga · 10 Sep 2011 at 22:13

Rozzy85 · 10 Sep 2011 at 23:24

The Dreamcast was made it an era when the main consumer TV was only capable of 4:3 viewing. The games would have been made with this in mind so they'll be no option or way to force it to display at 16:9.

compboyo · 11 Sep 2011 at 01:25

Rozzy85 said:
The Dreamcast was made it an era when the main consumer TV was only capable of 4:3 viewing. The games would have been made with this in mind so they'll be no option or way to force it to display at 16:9.

right so when I put my tv into 16:9 mode what am I seeing?

the horizontal and vertical stretched....the horizontal stretched moreso, making things 'fat'

Limenote · 11 Sep 2011 at 01:31

the games will only render at 4:3 aspect, you will not get a full widescreen output that is not a stretched 4:3 buffer, play it in a box 1:1 there's no other option unless you like distortion.

Rozzy85 · 11 Sep 2011 at 01:54

compboyo said:
right so when I put my tv into 16:9 mode what am I seeing?

the horizontal and vertical stretched....the horizontal stretched moreso, making things 'fat'

Like you said, you're seeing it 'stretched' because it's treating it as a 16:9 (wider) image. The correct way to view 4:3 content on a widescreen TV is to have black letterbox borders on the side which will be one of the display options your TV will have.

compboyo · 11 Sep 2011 at 01:57

i put tv in 4:3 mode and it plays in a box

Rozzy85 · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:01

As in boxes on the side? You'll have to be more descriptive or just post a picture.

compboyo · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:05

basically 2 black recatangels on either side of the image....vertically the picture goes from top to bottom of tv.

Basically my 40" tv only 30" is used.

like this

[[black][....................image.....................][black]]

Whereas 16:9 is like this

[..............................image.................................]

Rozzy85 · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:08

Yeah, that's how it should look so it's working correctly.

compboyo · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:09

yeh I know its working correctly.

I just wondered what was happening when I view in 16:9 mode

the horizontal is strechted much more than vertical? minimal vertical strecth so it looks fat

Limenote · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:14

compboyo said:
yeh I know its working correctly.

I just wondered what was happening when I view in 16:9 mode

the horizontal is strechted much more than vertical? minimal vertical strecth so it looks fat

you either play it with the black bars or you let your tv stretch the image to fill your screen, you will not get your dreamcast playing fullscreen without that stretching im afraid.

Rozzy85 · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:16

Your TV is just taking the image signal and stretching it horizontally so it will fill the whole screen. There's nothing else to it other than that.

compboyo · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:20

right yeh so there is minimal change in the vertical from 4:3 to 16:9?

Rozzy85 · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:32

Vertically there'll be no difference.

ThomBassmonkey · 11 Sep 2011 at 02:50

Rozzy85 said:
Your TV is just taking the image signal and stretching it horizontally so it will fill the whole screen. There's nothing else to it other than that.

TVs do often give an option of cutting off the top and the bottom of the screen too, but it's not very helpful when the controls and/or UI for stuff is often there.