Subtitles not showing up on widescreen TV

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I'm staying at my parents house while they are gone this weekend and they have a huge Sony TV. I decided to bring some of my favorite movies over that are anamorphic so that I could fully experience this anamorphic thing. I started out with the Funimation Hong Kong Godfather. In zoom mode on the TV I get the anamorphic experience. But, there's a problem. I can't read the subtitles for the most part. If I go to wide zoom, black bars are at the top and bottom. Is there a way to fill the screen with picture, and be able to read the subtitles?

[lillippa328]

naah dont think so, i remember my first watch kung fu movie on a huge flatscreen (DM2) and it cut off the 2nd line of dialogue....i didnt know, i just thought the diaoluge was broken lol



but then i zoomed out, and fit it on 16x9 and it was all good, right in time for my first viewing of perhaps my favorite old school movie of all time, Heroes of the East!!!!!





but im not the most expertise person on here about TV's n such

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Thanks lillippa, but I really hope you are wrong! People always talk really highly here about these wide TVs and anamorphic DVDs. It'd be weird if on a forum where most people seem to prefer subs to dubs that people would be talking highly of TVs where you can't even read the subs.

[chilly bong]

Make sure the DVD player is set to display the picture as 16:9.

[VenomsFan]

Originally Posted by Morgoth

I'm staying at my parents house while they are gone this weekend and they have a huge Sony TV. I decided to bring some of my favorite movies over that are anamorphic so that I could fully experience this anamorphic thing. I started out with the Funimation Hong Kong Godfather. In zoom mode on the TV I get the anamorphic experience. But, there's a problem. I can't read the subtitles for the most part. If I go to wide zoom, black bars are at the top and bottom. Is there a way to fill the screen with picture, and be able to read the subtitles?

I 100% sure your SONY TV can handle subtitles on a DVD. The issue is this:

1. If you are zooming in, you will be cropping out all sides of the movie's display.
2. You mention its a Sony HDTV, so that will display resolutions up to 1080i (including 1080p/720/480).

The issue is how the DVD was encoded. In order to display full HD/Anamorphic and read subtitles without the black bars, the DVD must be presented in HD(1080i/1080p) format which is the highest resolution - then the subs are optionally displayed on top of that.

What's on the DVD cover art under specs?

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Got it! Thanks for the help guys. The DVD player was set on 4:3, so I switched it to 16:9. I would have never figured this out without help. Thanks so much. Now if my parents ever decide to watch a subtitled movie they are ready to go

I must say this anamorphic thing is pretty sweet. I've been reading about anamorphic Tvs and DVDs here for a long time and I couldn't get my myself to believe you guys, until I experienced it for myself. Only thing I don't like about it is that now I'm noticing flaws in the movie (HK Godfather) that I didn't notice before. Like Wayne Archer's death scene where he's supposed to be dead and he blinks. I never thought I'd get a laugh out of the final fight in this movie