Total newbie here so please be patient.

Just got the NV-GS70 (PV-GS70 in the US) a few days ago and I'm having some trouble with 16:9. The manual says that "If you play back tape recorded in Cinema Mode on a widescreen (16:9) format TV, playback size is automatically adjusted to fit the TV screen format."

Well, it doesn't seem to work. I've tried both the composite and S-video outputs and what I get is always letterbox (4:3 with black bars). On my widescreen display device that means a 'fat' picture stretched sideways with the black bars present. I then need to switch the display to 'zoom' to get rid of them.

Does anyone know how to get proper 16:9 widescreen (anamorphic) from the video out?

When I transfer the video to the PC, the format is also 4:3 letterbox.
Is this normal? If yes, then how do I get rid of (crop) the black bars?

I figure this should be quite easily done via software but the inlcude software and USB interface are pretty lame. I'm thinking of getting better software and a Firewire card. Any recommendations?

I just tried this out on my DV953 which seems to have an extra widescreen mode that the GS70 lacks (see link below).

Using the full mode on my widescreen HDTV (Sony KV34XBR800) both widescreen modes produced no bars on my TV.

DV953 Widescreen Modes
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-4/74415/DV953Widescreen.JPG

Thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately, the GS70 only has the 'Cinema Mode' and not the 'Wide' function where you can define the aspect ratio.

On the DV953, you can choose between 4:3 (fullscreen) and 16:9 (widescreen). I would therefore assume that the 'Cinema Mode' gives an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

On the GS70, the 'Cinema Mode' should give an aspect ratio of 16:9 as indicated in the manual. Although the recorded material is, the video format is 4:3 letterbox.

When you transfer 16:9 video from the DV953 to the PC, is it 16:9 or 4:3 letterbox? On my GS70, it's the latter.

I'm beginning to regret now not waiting for the GS100. I believe it's much closer to the DV953.

The GS70 doesn't have the video pixels as the PV-DV953/MX5 to produce good 16:9 footage. I presume even the MX3 does it better (more pixels).

Looks like I'll have to live with this then.

What's the best software to use for cropping/converting 4:3 letterbox to anamorphic 16:9 and recording it onto DVD?

I've tried searching for an answer on these forums but haven't been able to find an answer.

Aylwin, I don't know. Perhaps post this question on the MAC or PC NLE forum.