[MEncoder-users] DVD creation problem, settop player cuts off boarder

[Scott W. Larson]

James Hastings-Trew wrote:
> This may be in incorrect observation, but hasn't overscan gone the way
> of the dodo bird, at least with LCD and plasma displays?

If only that were true. Many HDTV displays go out of their way to turn on
overscan whenever they believe they are not displaying something from a
computer. My months-old Samsung LCD will turn off overscan only if you
give it a 1080p signal at 60 frames per second. Any other signal (1080i,
1080p at 24 frames per second) will kick it into overscan.

Apparently this is because many American networks and television stations
continue to put junk on the edges of the screen and rely on overscanning
displays to crop it. NBC had a yellow line on left. ABC had a green bar on
the right for years until they fixed it. Fox continues to send a strange
16:9 bar when broadcasting pillar-boxed 4:3 material which regularly
confuses people into thinking the pillars are "blocking" a full 16:9
picture. Many stations continue to send NTSC sources with
closed-captioning and other services on lines above 22 which people find
distracting.