smart mode for viewing 4:3 as 16:9

[dipunm]

I use a sony tv and i REALLY like the smart mode feature... it works really well.

i initially thought it was just another aspect ratio but then i read this:

On a widescreen TV, what does 'Smart' mode actually do?
It's designed to show the full width and height of a 4:3 image, while squashing it into the 16:9 screen. If you look closely, you'll notice that it 'squashes' the top and bottom portions of the screen to fit the picture in. If you don't like watching in 4:3 mode because the picture looks too small and you don't want to watch in Zoom mode because it cuts off part of the picture, Smart is the setting to use.

would this be hard to make? as said it only squashes the top and bottom (maybe proportionally to the distance from top/bottom edge) if this could be done, it would make my day... oh and then it should detect when a 4:3 picture comes up and play it as smart automatically

[mbuzina]

fddshow already has a streching mode which could do this, it stretches the left/right edges while squishing the top /bottom edges (kind of a pincushion effect). But it is not as smart as some TVs (like mine), which balance the output based on the input pretty well (philips).

[dipunm]

hmm, how do i enable this aspect ratio on mp or how do i enable it could you giv me step by step instructions as im new to fddshow

[mbuzina]

Well, approx:
1. Install FDDSHOW
2. Configure it to do the Morphing Zoom (which is a bit difficult and you probably should search the web for fddshow instructions, there are some good ones).
3. Set Config for TV (or Video, DVD) to PostProcessing with fddshow.

Then it should work. Remember that this will require some tweaking to get it right.

(I am not using it, but I know it is possible).

[dipunm]

hmm, i spent quite alot of time on this and i cant find the option... i found on the net something about warped resize so i tried to look for this... still no luck if you know of a site which can set me on the right pathm plz post a link

also it seems cyberlink hav a similar thing on their newer codecs... can this be used? i say this cos i hear ffdshow yealds bad qual pics. and will cyberlinks codec work with all video media types?

[jawbroken]

Originally Posted by dipunm

i say this cos i hear ffdshow yealds bad qual pics.

Any non-linear scaling operation is going to reduce quality somewhat. On a CRT television it is a little different, as you can just modify the ramp for the scanning of rows and columns to be non-linear and squash the image at the top (though you get an increase in brightness unless you also modify the amplitude of the electron gun).

That said, if you are considering watching 4:3 video stretched to a 16:9 television, I would guess that high quality video is not a huge concern? I would give ffdshow a shot first.

[dipunm]

i would give it a try, if only i could find a way to do it... as ii said, ive searched the net, checked through the settings and i cant find anything that resembles this feature.. i read about warped resize, which is what i think is the option (morphed resize doesnt seem to exist even on the net), but theres no such option, and i downloaded what i think is the latest version

*edit*
warped resize is only to do with avisynth which brings me to 2 problems, 1 i dont know how to detect which images to apply this filter to, and 2 this only works on avis not wmv's or mpegs