[Nergol]

Hey all;

Being an anime fansub fan, I very frequently play video out from my MacBook to my (and friends') TV(s) via the mini-DVI to video adaptor, mostly using VLC. I have mirroring off and the MacBook's screen set to 1280x800 resolution. The problem is that when I hook up to a widescreen TV, I get a centered image that looks about 4:3 with big black bars on the sides. This is especially annoying when I'm playing a widescreen/letterboxed video off my Mac, because it puts black bars at the top and bottom of that 4:3 screen, leaving me with something that's essentially letterboxed on all four sides, and which only takes up maybe 50% of the TV's screen area. I've tried looking everywhere I can think of - Displays Preferences, VLC preferences, everywhere - for someway I can tell my MacBook that what it's sending video out to is a widescreen device with a different aspect ratio than a standard TV or monitor.

So can anyone think of what I can do to quit losing valuable screen real estate when doing video out to a widescreen TV? I mean, I should at least be able to do an aspect ratio equal to my MacBook's screen, right?

[mduell]

You have a widescreen TV without a better input than composite or S-video?

To avoid the double letter boxing, use the zoom option on your TV.

[Cadaver]

Are the DVDs you're watching letterboxed 4:3 discs or anamphoric 16:9?

[ginoledesma]

What about altering the aspect-ratio / cropping from within VLC? You can cycle through these easily by hitting "a" (for aspect ratio) or "c" (for cropping) until it suits your preferences? These are also available under the Video menu.