Widescreen vs. Anamorphic

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I did some seaching to answer this question and think I get it now, but just to confirm....
Certain DVD's (usually the el-cheapo ones at the checkout counter at Best Buy) are labeled as "widescreen" but actually display as letterboxed within a 4:3 aspect frame on my 16x9 Panasonic TV. This sucks. The only way to maximize the picture is to use the zoom option, thus losing the resolution. Some culprits - Something About Mary, Spaceballs and What About Bob?. 1st question - is there any way to get around this problem with these DVDs through TV/DVD player settings? 2nd question - is there some labeling I can look for to AVOID these titles? Should I be looking specifically for the word "Anamorphic"? (DVD player [Panny RP-82] is correctly set for 16x9 display...)

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Topic - Widescreen vs. Anamorphic - Bootie Day 05:07:32 05/28/03 (5)

Re: Widescreen vs. Anamorphic - DenisT 04:12:10 06/26/03 (2)

Re: Widescreen vs. Anamorphic - williak 09:39:41 06/26/03 (1)

Re: Widescreen vs. Anamorphic - john 09:32:48 07/18/03 (0)

Re: Widescreen vs. Anamorphic - Quadraflex 02:33:36 06/03/03 (0)

Re: Widescreen vs. Anamorphic - williak 07:29:38 05/28/03 (0)

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