Some TV series go from Blu-ray to DVD only

[Forge]

I agree with Gizmo at least up until the part where he says it'll never, ever happen. I think many years down the line when blu-ray players have reached 80-90% of households you will start to see SD TV content on blu-ray discs in order for studios to reduce their cost (fewer discs) as well as reduce the size of packaging for retailers. It's a long way off though.

Sure and by that time BD won't be seen as a step up, it will just be the step we're on. Then there wouldn't be any perceived loss in value by putting SD content on a BD disk. I could see that happening too, and like you said Dave, I think its a long time in coming.

[MrAngles]

I'm not a programmer but is it possible that the entire BD disk is set at 16:9, so even the SD content is streached due to the base code? Have you tried those disks in a SA player and had better results? I'm not a real extra's fan so I rarely ever check them out and all I have is a PS3, nothing else to compare to here.

I only have a PS3, but I don't think that's it, it's handling sd content exactly the same as an old non-upscaling DVD player handles DVDs.

Here's a question, do any standalone BD players upscale standard def content on Blu-rays?

[Ace_of_Sevens]

That would be pants, I would probably rebuy the first few seasons of the X-Files in sd on Blu if each season was only on one disc, especially if the encoding was improved by using higher bitrate AVC. Having so many discs to choose from is the main reason I never watch the show anymore. The only problem is that my PS3 automatically stretches all 4:3 sd content to fill the screen, which is horrible. My guess is they would have to encode pillarboxing into the video stream to fix that issue.

PS3 doesn't upscale Blu-ray content. Your PS3 isn't stretching it. Your TV is. Either you need to hit the aspect ration button on your remote,, then switch it back when done (a PiTA) or you have one of those old HDTVs that thinks all 480p content is widescreen (a bigger PiTA). You could get a receiver that scales for you, a different Blu-ray player that scales for you or a different TV if the aspect ratio button doesn't work.

[Kosty]

I'm doing that right now, and none of those settings change anything for BD playback, only DVDs. On BDs all 1080p content is output at the resolution set in my display settings, and all 480i content is output at 480i, and in the case of 4:3 or non-anamorphic content, it gets stretched to 16:9 by my TV. The only way I know of outputting 480i content as pillarboxed is by upscaling it, which the PS3 doesn't seem to do for BDs at all for some reason. If my display automatically detected 4:3 content and pillarboxed it, and didn't have stupid gray bars, it wouldn't be a problem. It's strange though because the PS3 menu option is called "DVD/BD Upscaling."

Hmm. Try changing the output resolution on the PS3 to 480p when you watch the standard definition content extra content on a Blu-ray Disc that in that 4:3 ratio. If the PS3 is outputting 480i to what it thinks is a 4:3 display you should be able manipulate it with your HDTVs aspect controls.

I have a PS3 I can use to check things tonight. Do you have a example of a few Blu-ray Discs that have the issue for you. I or someone else may have that disc on hand and we can check out some settings for you.

[MrAngles]

Hmm. Try changing the output resolution on the PS3 to 480p when you watch the standard definition content extra content on a Blu-ray Disc that in that 4:3 ratio. If the PS3 is outputting 480i to what it thinks is a 4:3 display you should be able manipulate it with your HDTVs aspect controls.

I have a PS3 I can use to check things tonight. Do you have a example of a few Blu-ray Discs that have the issue for you. I or someone else may have that disc on hand and we can check out some settings for you.

I'm already able to manipulate it with the aspect control on the TV, I just prefer not to, especially since the pillarboxing is gray. Any Blu-ray with standard definition 4:3 or non-animorphic content acts this way, since the PS3 won't upscale BDs for some reason. Good examples would be pretty much the entire bonus discs for X-Men 1 and 2, (particularly aggravating because I don't see the point of these discs being BD at all) and the Fang vs Fiction documentary on Underworld. Also if you put in pretty much any catalog title, the deleted scenes will be in non-anamorphic standard definition.

[Kosty]

I'm already able to manipulate it with the aspect control on the TV, I just prefer not to, especially since the pillarboxing is gray.

I see. Well that is a limitation of the PS3 compared to a higher end Blu-ray player like the Oppo which also has better standard definition upconversion. The PS3 is a superb player for the Blu-ray content and its nice in that it passes through that content pure without any molestation of the 1080p video stream to the display via HDMI. I'm not sure if you are going to get a better solution than being able to change it via your display aspect ratio controls. Its a PiTA though, but its better than nothing if it bothers you.

[Kosty]

I'll have a chance to play tonight with my PS3 and a couple displays and I have Wolverine on hand, so I'll check out a couple things myself late tonight.

[MrAngles]

I see. Well that is a limitation of the PS3 compared to a higher end Blu-ray player like the Oppo which also has better standard definition upconversion. The PS3 is a superb player for the Blu-ray content and its nice in that it passes through that content pure without any molestation of the 1080p video stream to the display via HDMI. I'm not sure if you are going to get a better solution than being able to change it via your display aspect ratio controls. Its a PiTA though, but its better than nothing if it bothers you.

Do players other than the Oppo upscale sd content on BDs? I wouldn't buy a new player just for upscaling extra features, especially since I would lose all the network capabilities of the PS3, but if it's a common feature I'm not sure why the PS3 of all players wouldn't be able to do it. To be honest I don't see why any player wouldn't do it, if they already upscale DVDs.

[Kosty]

Do players other than the Oppo upscale sd content on BDs? I wouldn't buy a new player just for upscaling extra features, especially since I would lose all the network capabilities of the PS3, but if it's a common feature I'm not sure why the PS3 of all players wouldn't be able to do it. To be honest I don't see why any player wouldn't do it, if they already upscale DVDs.

Well its a different issue on upscaling DVDs and its OAR which are 480i content on a MPEG-2 DVD and the standard definition content on a Blu-ray that may be flagged differently or may actually be standard definition sourced but actually when outputted may be missing a flag to tell your display that its not still widescreen content. When you go between HD stuff and SD stuff off a menu sometimes your video chain gets confused .

You think it would be easy enough, but after using a lot of electronic kit over the years I see how it gets confused easy enough. Sometimes its a magical combination of settings that makes it all work well, the trick is having the moxie to discover it for your setup.

But seriously, if you can solve an OAR problem by a click on your remote you are better off than some.

[MrAngles]

But seriously, if you can solve an OAR problem by a click on your remote you are better off than some.

That's true. For some reason my old TV wouldn't allow aspect ratio changes on a 480p signal, so I not only had to change the aspect ratio but I had to disable progressive scan on my DVD player when I watched something in 4:3, then remember to change it all back when watching a normal DVD.

[Forge]

That's true. For some reason my old TV wouldn't allow aspect ratio changes on a 480p signal, so I not only had to change the aspect ratio but I had to disable progressive scan on my DVD player when I watched something in 4:3, then remember to change it all back when watching a normal DVD.

Wow now that would be a PITA. I agree with Kosty though, I think this sounds like a flagging issue on the disk and not so much how your PS3 handles the feed. I'm going to check it out with some disks to see how my set handles this stuff too.

[Ace_of_Sevens]

A lot of TVs ignore flagging. I've owned 3 HDTVs and never had one that would do an AR switch based on flagging. (The first one also assumed all 480p content was 16:9. I had it all of 24 hours.) With my current TV I have to always manually switch the AR when dealing with SD special features on BD.

[MrAngles]

Wow now that would be a PITA. I agree with Kosty though, I think this sounds like a flagging issue on the disk and not so much how your PS3 handles the feed. I'm going to check it out with some disks to see how my set handles this stuff too.

The dumbest thing was that even with a progressive signal the TV knew that the content was 4:3, and displayed a message saying such, despite the fact that it was impossible to change the aspect ratio with that kind of a signal. But this was in 2002, so I was just happy to have a 16:9 set at all.