Issue with multi media hard disc.

flobadob | 20:48 Mon 20th Sep 2010 | Technology

8 Answers

I got a So Speaky Multi Media Hard Disc today. It is a device onto which you can load various media eg music, videos, pictures etc. and then play them on your TV. I put a few things onto it to test that it works but when I play a video on the TV, which is a 32" LG, the picture does not fill the screen. It is smaller and centred with a black border around it. Does anyone else have one of these or know what the problem may be? Thanks.

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ChuckFickens

You are seeing the film the shape it's meant to be seen, which is in an aspect ratio that is longer and thinner than your TV.

There may be settings on the player to enable you to fill the screen fully, but it will mean either zooming in on it so you lose the edges or stretching it so everything looks tall and thin.

flobadob

Question Author

Chuck, I've got a DVD player which plays AVI files through a USB connection. When I play these files on it they work perfectly, its only when I use the Media Hard Disc that I have the problem. I did mess about with the zoom on the TV and it helps but there are still edges. I'd say if I cannot find a solution to the problem I will try to return it to the shop.

flobadob

Question Author

Does anyone know if this is an issue with all media drives or would others have the option for 16:9 being an output? I've noticed that most videos can be made to fit to the screen messing about with the zoom feature on the TV but it means having to change things about every time you change a video.

ChuckFickens

The trick is to encode the videos in the correct aspect ration and crop them when you rip them from the DVD.

flobadob

Question Author

But Chuck as I said earlier, when I play the same files through the AVI compatible DVD player using a USB stick, they work fine through the same TV. It's only when I play the files using the So Speaky device that the image doesn't fit the screen properly.